Sherlock = Nearly Worthless To Me.

mrmistermrmister
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Does anyone write new Sherlock channels? is there some reason why Apple hasn't expanded Sherlock in any way since Jaguar, and it has nowhere near the speed or tool range of Watson? Everyone was worried that Sherlock was going to kill Watson off, but instead it's so much less than Watson that it almost serves as an advertisement.



This isn't intended as a flame fest...I'm certain some people don't want to pay for Watson, so a free Sherlock is better than nothing. But do people actually use it, day to day, and what do you use it for? And has anyone found themselves using it more than Watson, in cases where they have both?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    ibrowseibrowse Posts: 1,749member
    I used it once since the new Sherlock came out with Jaguar. I used it yesterday to find out where and when I could see X2. For it's potential, it could be disappointing, but for the little I have used, I was glad it was there.
  • Reply 2 of 16
    mrmistermrmister Posts: 1,095member
    When I used it for movies I found that it left out a bunch of theaters, and then the times were incorrect once. Never had the problem with Watson--but it may just be coincidence, if both tools pull from the same database.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    junkyard dawgjunkyard dawg Posts: 2,801member
    I use the dictionary often. Added a weather channel and I use that lots, but unfortunately the server it get's it's info from is down much of the time. I added a channel for guitar tabs and use it almost every day. Sometimes I use the mapquest channel that I added on, but not often. It doesn't work so well, really.



    I think Sherlock is good, but it could be the shit if Apple invested some time in writing MANY channels for it. Not just 5-10, but something like 50-100. Then provide a channel manager for users to pick out which channels they want in the toolbar, and provide access for the rest via a menu. Will Apple do this? No, because they cater to the lunkhead user set who can't even figure out how to use Sherlock as is.
  • Reply 4 of 16
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    I use the dictionary (thesaurus), eBay, and stocks (gotta keep tabs on AAPL )...
  • Reply 5 of 16
    trevormtrevorm Posts: 841member
    I literally havent used it since prior to the introduction of 10.2



    IT sucks
  • Reply 6 of 16
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    It sucks? Click and drag to the trash.
  • Reply 7 of 16
    overhopeoverhope Posts: 1,123member
    Well, it's completely useless to me, but I'm the UK...
  • Reply 8 of 16
    nijiniji Posts: 288member
    -watson is much faster, with better data sources

    -with google built into safari, really not much need for sherlock
  • Reply 9 of 16
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by niji

    -with google built into safari, really not much need for sherlock



    I've never used Sherlock to query online sources, nor have I ever tried Watson. I find that I can get any information I want/need directly from the Web.



    The fact that Jaguar dumped Sherlock as the OS-level find utility alone made the upgrade price worth it to me. I couldn't stand Sherlock's clunky big window just to search my HDD. I was overjoyed to get Classic's simple find utility back with Jaguar!



    Escher
  • Reply 10 of 16
    darren smithdarren smith Posts: 26member
    Check out Sherlockers for a fairly large number of channels for Sherlock.



    Darren
  • Reply 11 of 16
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    I use the Yellow Pages and Movies features a few times a month.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    sledgehammersledgehammer Posts: 505member
    I used to use sherlock's various channels back in my OS 9 days, I had added a bunch of different ones. I think I opened sherlock once after it was changed for Jaguar, just to see it. I use Watson's weather channel at least every other day, even though I have WeatherPop (which, btw, is great, I just find Watson better when I need specifics on the forecast). I use the reference channel frequently and the phone channel a lot. Watson is always how I check for movie listings, and although I search eBay from the website, I use Watson to monitor any auctions I want to keep an eye on. [cheesy conclusion]Watson may have been Mr. Holmes's sidekick, but things are definitely the other way around on my computer[/cheesy conclusion]



    SH
  • Reply 13 of 16
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Sherlock is so slow (even on broadband) that it's quicker to walk out to my mailbox, get the paper, come back in the house, open it up, and look through the movie listings than it is to find movie listings with it. Well, not really, but it's more relaxing to do it that way than it is to use Sherlock.



    Watson is so fast and cool. But not worth $30. Maybe $15-$20.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    hobbeshobbes Posts: 1,252member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Luca Rescigno

    Sherlock is so slow (even on broadband) that it's quicker to walk out to my mailbox, get the paper, come back in the house, open it up, and look through the movie listings than it is to find movie listings with it.



    Heh, I agree. I've actually been using Sherlock a bit lately, but I would find it far, far more useful if it was about 2x faster, across the board.



    Why on earth is the thing so slow?
  • Reply 15 of 16
    supergroversupergrover Posts: 53member
    That's strange, Hobbes. Mine isn't slow at all.



    I really like the stuff offered at sherlockers.com. Thanks for pointing it out, Darren.



    I do have some problems, however, with content just not being there. I downloaded the Billboard one, and all the pulldown menus are there, but no content. And similar problem with The Weather Channel one. Content doesn't load much of the time, especially the 10 day forecast.



    Does anyone know what's up with that? (I suppose I should ask someone at sherlockers or poke around for an FAQ.)
  • Reply 16 of 16
    hobbeshobbes Posts: 1,252member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by SuperGrover

    That's strange, Hobbes. Mine isn't slow at all.



    I really like the stuff offered at sherlockers.com. Thanks for pointing it out, Darren.



    I do have some problems, however, with content just not being there. I downloaded the Billboard one, and all the pulldown menus are there, but no content. And similar problem with The Weather Channel one. Content doesn't load much of the time, especially the 10 day forecast.





    Sherlockers.com is pretty neat. The other site is sherlock.clan-mac.



    No problem here with content or loading channels, just speed.



    This is from an iBook 500 and a G4 Cube (especially the former).



    Loading channels just take far too long -- 5-10 seconds for each channel... It's esp. noticable with Safari being so goddamn fast. Compare with Watson, even.



    Anyway, I'm sure it'll be get better -- either with Panther or with my new 15" Aluminum PowerBook, when it arrives. Right now, on current hardware, it feels -- to me -- like a pretty unoptimized v1.0 rushed out of the door.
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