applekid said:
Isn't all of these searching tools, how should I say it... Pointless?
I couldnt' disagree more. With having larger and larger hard disks on the horizon and greater multitudes of file types from various programs on the horizon, searching is going to be the next big thing.
Really, do you know of that many Mac and PC users searching their millions of files?
The reason... search functionality has been woefully slow and painful on Mac/PC. You have to set your system to index files, or have it run an index in the background that's slow and kludgy. On Windows a file search on a 30 gig drive can take upwards of 10 minutes to complete.
Don't they know how they organize their own files?
For those that live by chaos theory, or are organizationally challenged... the answer is no. Having a search functionality doesn't require them to have to learn to overcome their natural instincts. You could argue it makes us lazier, and perhaps you're right... but it doesn't change the fact that some people aren't organizational types and Apple, Microsoft, and others see the point.
Not to mention, I was more than content with the current searching abilities in OS X.
Adequate, maybe. Spotlight is lightyears ahead of it in terms of speed. Time is money. That's before you get into meta data searching. Hand's down that's one of the more awesome features of the new OS. That and searching PDF files.
Windows XP's search method was too complicated, yet also too user-friendly that you had to be a really naive user to figure it out, IMHO.
I consider it kludgy and unintuitive. It's too limited in the # of options for power users, but too slow and cumbersome. By the time a search can find all of the various files, you could've scoured the drive with a fine tooth comb yourself. Once again, time is money and fast-paced search programs are a tremendous asset for the near instantaneous levels of speed they bring. Consider it the previous Mac search functionality on sterrhoids. It's faster, it's more efficient, it's more extensible, expandable. It won't intrude on your user experience like the previous type, click enter/go, and wait. That's a good thing.
My dad and I said that these search tools are almost a step back. When we saw Steve Jobs type in an application in Spotlight's search field to find the application, it reminded us of how DOS worked. We almost are killing of the graphical user interface!
A strict GUI will never be the answer because as always noted, key-commands are faster. I was once a naive purveyor of GUI = the future but the fact is, it's somewhere in between. Spotlight's blend of speed and expanded search functionality is a MAJOR step ahead. Combine that feature in Tiger along with Core Image's amazing capabilities, Dashboard's "layered" philosophy of keeping your commonly used widgets in a separate easy accessible depository, add in Expose from the previous OS release, and the other 100+ odd features and one's I'm sure "NONE" of us have seen yet... and I think it'll be the best OS X release thus far by a landslide, and it's not like Jaguar and Panther weren't runt kittens themselves.
But, for those of you that feel search tools is what you need, I don't mind having a Google Desktop for the Mac. Some competition would indeed help.
I agree, but I also feel that it will have it's shortcomings too. It requires an index, something Spotlight to my knowledge doesn't require because things are extended in the file system to provide a built in database of sorts. It might be an improvement to the classic search functionality, if you can get past the sponsor ads and non-Applecentric interface, but... it's not the whole 9 yards like Spotlight will be. Consider it like Search 2.0 (I'll say 1.0 was Sherlock from OS 9), before Spotlight defeats Search 1-2 altogether.
Now if Google can bring more to the plate than that, give it an Apple-centric interface, find a different way to generate revenues for the products release, they might be on to something. Maybe instead of Google search, how about a totally unique product? On pre-OS X 10.4 machines, it provides the Google search functionality, on 10.4 machines the feature automatically degrades away (i.e. let's have it so you can shut on/off features of the Search functionality, and add-in SDK developed Google search modules to the mix; it'd only require a system version check to determine whether to shut it off by default, and they could even allow you to decide via a dialog on install if you still want it when you have Spotlight already), but give it additional elements, like a resurgence of Sherlock/Watson functionalities. Froogle integration into the bar/dropdown/menu item/dockling or whatever they choose. How about a high speed internet search with similar instantaneous results to Spotlight on typing (I'm sure Google could work out a technology with their servers using some unique low-bandwidth protocol), along with tabs for yellow/white pages, restaurant search and reviews, built-in Froogle comparison shopping, RSS, ATOM, and XML searches from the OS (not just Safari, might be able to harness the HTML libraries used for Safari for this). Maybe even add Fed Ex, USPS, and UPS tracking to it too. Apple has shown the way with this level of thinking. The iTunes program doesn't open Safari to take you to the iTunes music store. Google's Search functionality (on broadband computers or dial-up machines connected) could do net-based searches from within it's own unique program and then spawn a window within Safari, Firefox, Chimaira, or whatever browser program you choose. If you have multiple browsers installed, hell you might even be able to command-key click to bring up a dialog to choose the browser to send the result to for further research.
Moral of the story... Google Search by itself won't achieve much with Spotlight on the horizon, and it's futile to create a program that dead-ends at 10.4 unless you have more up your sleeve. Yet a Google program devoted to the Mac, as a search tool, doesn't necessarily have to be a clone of the PC version. In fact, if Google wants it to be successful, I'd venture to say it needs to be much more to have a market to work with and some semblance of a future. The Mac Google Search Bar could be the forebearer for where the Google Search Bar goes for Windows as well. One hand often washes the other... and what better of a way than to use the Mac platform to inspire and push/drive search functionality on the PC for a company like Google that's trying to take themselves a step farther. It's not a bad idea, but it requires a much expanded vision.
