I read an article in Wired magazine and wanted to send the URL to a friend. So I type in www.wired.com and am routed to Wired News, which I didn't want. What I wanted was the article "My Bionic Quest for Bolero", about the author's efforts to reprogram his cochlear implant to hear music, specifically Bolero. It was published in the November issue of Wired. So I typed "cochlear" in the search box, which claims proudly that it is powered by Lycos, and asked it to search Wired magazine. I got 41 search results, not one of which was the relevant article. Indeed, the last article it showed was from 2003, as though it hadn't even indiexed the last few years. Then I typed in "Bolero" since it is in the headline and it said there were no results at all. Then I typed in "Reprogramming the Inner Ear" and also got no results. So I clicked on the link to the current, December issue of the magazine, shown on the left side (don't click on the mini-cover or you'll be sent to a subscription page!). Then I get to browse the November issue by clicking on its link. And the Bolero article is the third article listed in the issue.
But, when I try to email the article, the emailer app tells me I haven't included the URL even though it is displayed and in a very Web 1.0 fashion refreshes the whole page so I lose the text I've typed in my email. So I end up copying the URL from the article into my email program and writing the email there.
The search is broken. The emailer app is broken. The site is designed to sell subscriptions rather than work with the magazine's editorial. And this from the magazine that asks in its current issue: "Who's afraid of Google?"
By the way, I very highly recommend Chorost's book about his cochlear implant. Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human. It lives up to its title in every respect. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618378294/102-0688193-4439361?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance
Posted by: david grady | November 28, 2005 at 09:40 AM