It’s simple really, the Internet’s greatest self propagating industry (besides porn) is quite obviously the search engine. Empires have been created with the seemingly simple task of finding what other people want. The trouble is, a good Search is isn’t so simple. Mankinds greatest mindshare is now over 4 Billion pages strong and rising by the hundreds every day. Without an effective way to filter and present requested material, we’d be in the middle of mankinds greatest cluster funk. Yahoo! took an early stab and has managed to stay in the game, I remember sending people to Infoseek (now go.com) as my preferred engine in the mid to late ’90s. Once searching the present was perfected, we then set out to search the past and when that got old (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun) we started searching the Search.

Now that general web searching has been conquered our attention turns from global to local. A new breed of search engine is now on the prowl at the request of your query. Finding local restaurants, shops, and services is now driving new revenue opportunities and providing web searchers a higher level of customized, and convenient way to find things in a small geographic area. So at the prompt of a friend, the discussion began, what makes the best local search? Several have already laid down their cards: Google Local, Local.com, City Search and Zip Mouse. What I find interesting about all of the local search engines I’ve used is that they have all failed to provide me one complete request to a simple search. I’ve used a dozen different Searches with different theories of organization from hierarchical, linear, to context word searches, and they have all failed. So what was my unsolvable puzzle? I need an oil change. I’m relatively new to the city and I have no idea where I can take my car for an oil change that meets the following basic requirements (which I imagine everyone would consider relevant when looking for such services): good price, quality service, convenient location relative to me, and offering the correct products (in this case the right kind of oil). Sure I can bring up a list of services centers in my area but none contain important decision making details such as price, product brands, and the reassurance that they are proficient in servicing my unique model of vehicle.

I’m beginning to think this one case where one size will never fit all. The above engines nerver start out specifc enough so there is no hope of me ending with specifics. I need something for me. While my next door neighbor the Porsche owner will have very different needs, I need something that fits my specific brand and picky service requirements. I need a search engine that makes me feel like part of a unique club, one with reviews by others who share my strict requirements and similar automotive experiences. I want to read about the services company X offers before I bother with a phone call, I want to see additional, relevant services and products. Once I’m content that I’ve quickly found the service provider meeting my needs, I’ll gladly pony up the cash. I’d bet these businesses might just do the same to be featured on such a specific local Search.

Build it and they will come?

Oops, too late. Sorry.

Along with giving the booth worker a heart attack after closing the new portable’s display, the following are my first impressions of everyone’s favorite new ‘Book.

- MagSafe: Genius. No polarity on the plug. Not to hard, not to soft, the magnet seems like the right strength. Booth workers assure us that having a magnet of such strength neighboring the other laptop components is “not an issue”. *cough*

- Relocated wireless antennas: Fear. They are now located at the base of the display hinge (the matte silver insert). Does anyone else remember the joys of wifi on a titanium PowerBook? Booth worker response: “It’s better than the previous generation”. So is the current hydrogen bomb.

- 8 is Great! No wait, the marketing fluff said 4x faster. Whatever. It was noticeably faster, Safari page renders where better than G5 towers I’ve worked on. The IR port on front is distracting and ugly, it’s a shame they can’t solve that (little) aesthetic issue. We can put men on the moon but IR port covers will forever remain a startling black-red.

- Built-in iSight camera: A natural conclusion. I’m sure these will appear in every CPU from now on (except of course towers). If they don’t appear in the next rev of the displays, someone missed a meeting.

- $1,999: Worth every penny.

Although I seem to travel a regular amount as of late, this travlers convience made me double-take as I was walking through a concourse in the Atlanta airport.

Impulse buyers beware.