This really does seem like they've come full circle - back in the day the reason we went to ASK JEEVES was because we had specific inquiries in the form of a question, such as "when was George Washington born" - the inquiry was posed in question boxes, and the answers came back in similarly projected forms. It took how many years for them to recognize their original spot in the market? - Kevin from FriendFeed MT Plugin

They should seriously focus on usability in niche segments. Google is good for generic terms but not many people know how to really use it effectively. Some functions (like define:, conversions etc.) are basically command-line operated. Ask was always considered a simple(=easy to use) tool and they should stick with it. After all Macs are getting market share not because supporting more apps than Win but because of design and usability. - Marcin Grodzicki from FriendFeed MT Plugin