Google v AltaVista - Re: Big Alphas (was Re: FS: HP AlphaServer DS15)

Toby Thain wrote: For me it was PageRank that made all the difference. I remember when searching on the Internet meant using Archie or Veronica to find interesting files on public FTP servers. When I created my first web site ("Mosaic page") in 1994, you were supposed to send an email to UIUC so they could update their page listing all the home pages in the world. By the time Altavista came along, the web had grown enough that indexing it all on a single workstation was a great demo of what the Alpha could do and it was what DEC did to impress many pontential buyers. It soon evolved into a separate business. But as the web continued to grow, it became less and less useful as it became common for the link you were looking for to be on page 8 or later of the results. In 1998 I switched to Google because PageRank meant I rarely had to look beyond the top half of the first page of the results to see what I was looking for. The "I'm feeling lucky" button was meant to show off this feature. -- Jecel