Great ideas?

So I'm amazed to find the world is spinning out of control, specifically now regarding Powerset. Where to begin? I'll start with the fact that I've tried the service. Powerset is supposed to be able to handle "natural language processing" or NLP. So, I typed in "what is the best way to make money on the internet?". The response? Independent music.

Moving right along....

My experience is very similar to that of a wide range of other users. The overwhelming response appears to be that the site sucks. So how did it ever get to this point?

First off, I blame us - anyone who uses the internet. We go nuts for the idea that someone might knock off the big bad category leader...which is in this case Google. We love the David v. Goliath story so much we just keep stepping up to the plate to listen to this garbage over and over again. Folks, it's 2008....its time to stop talking about search engines for crying out loud.

Next, I blame the Venture Captialists who dumped $12.5M into this project. Now relative to the average joe, $12.5M is a lot of money. But relative to Google, $12.5M is their daily cafeteria budget. How far exactly did you expect to go on $12.5M when you are competing against a company with a market capitalization of $182.55B. That's B for "Billion". If you take away the VC money for Powerset, the difference is $170B. That is so ridiculous, its almost beyond comprehension. Seriously...that is a stupid, stupid investment - but you know sure as shooting there will be another VC firm to pony up money for the next would-be Google-killer. Guaranteed.

Finally, I blame the Powerset people. Natural Language? I've spent the past 10 years mastering the art of finding what I want through the use of keywords. Even if Powerset was the worlds best NLP search engine, what kind of victory is that? No one uses internet search that way, and there is a really, really good reason why we don't: its not easier. Why would the next big thing be harder to use than Google? Its just senseless. These people need some more cynical friends.

So if you, a blog you own(i.e. TechCrunch), or your media distribution network (i.e. Reuters) could be so kind, please stop spinning helplessly out of control over an idea that was dead before it even started. Let's start getting hyped up about really cool ideas, and let the junk fall into the bin where it belongs.