Perfect Search?

What might a world of perfect search look like? Imagine the ability to ask any question and get not just an accurate answer, but your perfect answer - an answer that suits the context and intent of your question, an answer that with eerie precision is informed by who you are and why you are asking. This answer is capable of incorporating all the world's searchable knowledge into the task at hand - be it  captured in text, video, or audio formats. It is capable of distinguishing between  straightforward requests (Who was the third president of the United States?) and more nuanced ones (Under what circumstances did the third president of the United States forwear his views on Slavery?)

 

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While it's true that most questions don't have an objectively perfect answer, perfect search would provide your perfect answer, as you determine it - in a report form, perhaps, or by summarizing key points of view and trends. This perfect search also has perfect recall. It knows what you have seen and can distinguish between a journey of discovery, where you want to find something new, and recovery, when you want to find something you have seen before. And, quiet important, it is capable of distinguishing between a document and a person - and suggesting that to get the perfect answer, you may well best talk to this person, as opposed to reading that document.

 

- 252 page, The Search by John Battelle