Comments on: The Semantic Web’s biggest problem http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/ ... at the intersection of media, technology, business and the web Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:24:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Anders Ytterstrom http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339683 Anders Ytterstrom Sun, 02 Mar 2008 13:08:08 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339683 You're right about the issue that no one knows what "semantic" means. Hell, my co-workers which has been woking professionally on the web far longer than me asks me all the time what I mean. It's very frustrating.<br><br>Thank god there are interface developers which takes care of that part in a developer team. :) You're right about the issue that no one knows what “semantic” means. Hell, my co-workers which has been woking professionally on the web far longer than me asks me all the time what I mean. It's very frustrating.

Thank god there are interface developers which takes care of that part in a developer team. :)

]]> By: Fraser http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339679 Fraser Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:36:15 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339679 Both of these posts, made me laugh. Mathew, great response. Both of these posts, made me laugh. Mathew, great response.

]]> By: erichoffer http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339682 erichoffer Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:33:22 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339682 Couldn't agree more about the importance of the work on the elements that enable interconnectedness by meaning. Also agree that the masses aren't that interested in the technology itself - as much they are in the experiences that products/tools, which leverage these technologies, will enable. I'd also written some about this here:<br><a href="http://www.secondintegral.com/axonomics/?p=33">http://www.secondintegral.com/axonomics/?p=33</a> Couldn't agree more about the importance of the work on the elements that enable interconnectedness by meaning. Also agree that the masses aren't that interested in the technology itself - as much they are in the experiences that products/tools, which leverage these technologies, will enable. I'd also written some about this here:
http://www.secondintegral.com/axonomics/?p=33

]]> By: rod / techfold.com http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339681 rod / techfold.com Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:12:47 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339681 Correct me if I'm wrong, but the semantic web depends upon the meta data needed to connect disparate bits of information. What you're saying is true - the infrastructure to share and store that meta data may well be ready to go - but where does the data itself come from?<br><br>Unfortunately, the answer is "people" - people being notoriously inconsistent in naming, tagging, storing, and sharing their digital assets. FWIW, I don't think we'll have a truly semantic web app until there's good enough AI to understand digital assets and add consistent metadata. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the semantic web depends upon the meta data needed to connect disparate bits of information. What you're saying is true - the infrastructure to share and store that meta data may well be ready to go - but where does the data itself come from?

Unfortunately, the answer is “people” - people being notoriously inconsistent in naming, tagging, storing, and sharing their digital assets. FWIW, I don't think we'll have a truly semantic web app until there's good enough AI to understand digital assets and add consistent metadata.

]]> By: Chris http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339680 Chris Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:16:51 +0000 http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/02/28/the-semantic-webs-biggest-problem/#comment-339680 I think when considering the problems of the semantic web one should ask oneself what an "irrelevant" search result is. When I get bad results for Google, for example, it is generally because they are misleading, or useless, not because they are syntactically or semantically different. <br><br>Consider the NLP parse of the following two sentences:<br><br>"If you suspect you have the Bill Gates virus you should visit 'www.symantec.com/bill_gates/' and download the patch immediately."<br><br>vs<br><br>"If you suspect you have the Bill Gates virus you should pull the power cable from your computer immediately."<br><br>I know the difference, but my grandmother does not, for example. The underlying "semantic" meaning of a page will be the real hard problem of any semantic web. I think when considering the problems of the semantic web one should ask oneself what an “irrelevant” search result is. When I get bad results for Google, for example, it is generally because they are misleading, or useless, not because they are syntactically or semantically different.

Consider the NLP parse of the following two sentences:

“If you suspect you have the Bill Gates virus you should visit 'www.symantec.com/bill_gates/' and download the patch immediately.”

vs

“If you suspect you have the Bill Gates virus you should pull the power cable from your computer immediately.”

I know the difference, but my grandmother does not, for example. The underlying “semantic” meaning of a page will be the real hard problem of any semantic web.

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