
Announcing Wolfram Alpha Pro - cleverjake
http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2012/02/08/announcing-wolframalpha-pro/
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edanm
I love Wolfram Alpha. Every time I think about it, I think it's a grand
achievement and an absolutely amazing tool.

I just wish I had any idea what to do with it.

Once in a long while, I'll think of trying a query on it. Mostly for city
populations, past Academy Award winners, etc. But I have nothing to do with it
on a day-to-day basis.

What do Hacker News users use it for?

~~~
gjulianm
Mathematics. Plot a difficult function, search limits, derivatives,
integrals... Wolfram is the master of calculus. It only fails when I make
queries about sets.

~~~
gxs
Mathematics indeed. It can handle complex integrals quite well too.

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staunch
The thing I wish they would do is have data analysis/visualization API. I send
data in predefined supported formats ("User Retention Data", "Google
Advertising Campaign", etc) and they send back
deep/amazing/interactive/visualization reports.

Some companies have tried to create reporting/dashboard services, but I bet
Wolfram could do far better job than anyone else has. I could easily see tens
of thousands of businesses powering their back office dashboards off Wolfram
and paying $100-$200/mo for the privilege.

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joshu
<http://www.tableausoftware.com/>

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staunch
Thanks. I think actually checked them out previously and just did again. I'm
sure it was my allergy to "Contact us for pricing", and server software that
runs on Windows, that put me off trying it myself. I guess that's "Enterprise"
software for you. Maybe it's worth the pain in this case. Those graphics are
perty.

~~~
glaugh
A very prevalent allergy.

It's a bit buried, but Tableau Public is available for free download.

<http://www.tableausoftware.com/public>

I forget what its limitations are but I remember thinking they weren't too
bad.

Also I think your larger point still stands. Tableau is great, but there's
still room for more vertically customized analytical reporting.

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markerdmann
The problem with Wolfram Alpha is this: it's _awesome_ when a query works, but
often it either doesn't understand your query on the first try, or it just
doesn't have the data or computation you're after.

Siri has the same UI problem. You either have to read through the list of
commands and memorize a few, or you have to deal with the constant frustration
of trying something three times before giving up and doing it manually.

That said, these UIs are fun for a coder. :-) It'd be cool if somebody were to
track and curate interesting Wolfram Alpha queries in a blog/tumblr/subreddit.
The closest thing I could find was this:

[http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-search-terms-put-wolfram-
alp...](http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-search-terms-put-wolfram-alpha-good-
everyday/)

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programnature
Dude did you look at the link?

The new features are all about bypassing that. You just give it the data,
instead of a language-esque query.

And there is a lot more UI too, for manipulating plots and such.

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markerdmann
Sorry, I guess I went off on a tangent not directly related to the link you
posted. :-) You're absolutely right. Have you used the new Wolfram Alpha UIs
for anything serious yet? How did you find them?

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aorshan
That is huge. Completely changes the dynamic of how you can interact with
Wolfram Alpha.

It is also sure to help plenty of new students with their homework in a
completely different way.

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davyjones
As a sucker for 3D models, I was drooling all over this:

"When one says “downloading data”, one might think just of data behind tables
and plots. But Wolfram|Alpha Pro can download all sorts of other data too: 3D
geometry data (say to use for a modeling program or a 3D printer), sound data,
graph connectivity data, molecular specification data, etc.—in altogether more
than 60 formats."

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Shank
Is it me or is the site running at an unbelievably slow pace right now?

Also: Large datasets can apparently screw off, their filesize limit is 1mb.

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Schwolop
Wow. When they start offering site licenses for this, every university in the
world is going to buy one.

(edit: my bad, they already do)

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the_cat_kittles
Has anyone actually used wolfram alpha regularly? What did you use it for? Not
that I think its dumb (well... maybe I'm a little skeptical), but I just
haven't thought of any way to use it.

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metajack
I don't use it as much as Google or anything, but I find myself there once or
twice a week. Usually it's things like geographic info (population, size),
currency or timezone conversion, or various other sort of small things like
that.

I enjoy it quite a bit, and I should probably use it for many more things.

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27182818284
I use it for quick social arguments and commentary a lot.

E.g., if you know the average age of a senator, and you want to know roughly
what it was like when they were 18, you can do
[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=minimum+wage+1969+adjus...](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=minimum+wage+1969+adjusted+for+2011)

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jwr
I breathed a sigh of relief. I was worried that Wolfram has been investing so
much into Alpha, all the while not making any money from it. Such unstable
arrangements do not last.

This looks like a viable way to earn money with that excellent service, which
means it won't disappear any time soon. I'm glad to see that.

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veb
I love Wolfram Alpha and I'm definitely excited to trial the 'pro' version. I
find it more helpful for looking up conversions, anything to do with
money/finance and looking for a short history on stuff.

It's quite exciting watching what they do, definitely one of the few companies
I respect, for some reason! :)

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tucson
what kind of money/finance info do you find in this tool that you don't in
yahoo or google finance?

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twodayslate
I hate monthly subscriptions. I would much rather pay a flat fee. Why do no
companies do this anymore?

~~~
pixelmonkey
Might have something to do with profits. Take a look at this calculation:

[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%24299+as+percent+of+%2...](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%24299+as+percent+of+%28%244.99+per+month+for+30+years%29)

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notknotnot
Query: how many edges has a complete graph?

Result: Consult complete graph.

So not a very intelligent algorithm, no AI

