Sherlock 3 looks A-W-E-S-O-M-E

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in Mac Software edited January 2014
Think Secret has another installment in their Jaguar preview series. Some stuff about Inkwell is in there, and a lot of screenshots of Sherlock 3. I was shocked and amazed. You should check 'em out.



I was never a fan of Sherlock under OS9, but the new version looks like it has hooks into all kinds of useful websites. It lets you:
  • Track packages through Fedex, UPS, etc.

  • Translate with Babelfish

  • Get movie showtimes, theater information, and link to previews. :eek:

  • Search American Heritage Online dictionary, & thesaurus

  • Get news stories, etc.

It looks like Sherlock 3 will be a fully-realized productivity app, especially when you consider the ability of third parties to build custom pluggins.



Like I said, freakin' awesome.



-mithral
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    I'll take it you've never seen/used <a href="http://www.karelia.com/watson/"; target="_blank">Watson</a> before. <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />



    Apple's new Sherlock 3 practically copies Watson verbatim in most areas. Many people are crying out that Apple has "stolen" the Watson concept and is giving it away for free, hurting Watson's developer. IIRC, Watson's deveoper has publicly stated that he has not been approached by Apple for Sherlock 3 and is upset by their outright copying of Watson, but he will continue watson's development as a competitor to Sherlock 3.



    edit: added URL.



    [ 06-05-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
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  • Reply 2 of 26
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    I'd rather just use Apple's free Sherlock 3. If it does what Watson does...
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  • Reply 3 of 26
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    [quote]Originally posted by Mithral:

    <strong>Think Secret has another installment in their Jaguar preview series. Some stuff about Inkwell is in there, and a lot of screenshots of Sherlock 3. I was shocked and amazed. You should check 'em out.



    I was never a fan of Sherlock under OS9, but the new version looks like it has hooks into all kinds of useful websites. It lets you:
    • Track packages through Fedex, UPS, etc.

    • Translate with Babelfish

    • Get movie showtimes, theater information, and link to previews. :eek:

    • Search American Heritage Online dictionary, & thesaurus

    • Get news stories, etc.

    It looks like Sherlock 3 will be a fully-realized productivity app, especially when you consider the ability of third parties to build custom pluggins.



    Like I said, freakin' awesome.



    -mithral</strong><hr></blockquote>



    My reaction was the same; however, some brushed metal interace inconsistancies and bloatedness remain.



    1. Look at the bottom-right window pane. It is closer to the edge than the pane above it.



    2. Look at the bottom of the entire Sherlock window. There is so much wasted space there.



    <a href="http://www.thinksecret.com/features/jaguarsherlock3ink/images/sherlockyellowpages.html"; target="_blank">http://www.thinksecret.com/features/jaguarsherlock3ink/images/sherlockyellowpages.html</a>;



    [ 06-05-2002: Message edited by: sjpsu ]</p>
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  • Reply 4 of 26
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    [quote]Originally posted by pscates:

    <strong>I'd rather just use Apple's free Sherlock 3. If it does what Watson does...</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Well, yes, so will I, but that wasn't exactly the point...



    The point? Apple is turning a little bit more Microsoftian every day and this is just another example. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
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  • Reply 5 of 26
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,464member
    [quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:

    <strong>

    Well, yes, so will I, but that wasn't exactly the point...



    The point? Apple is turning a little bit more Microsoftian every day and this is just another example. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Not true.



    Microsoft destroys companies by



    1. Announcing a Microsoft product that doesn't exist thereby stalling the particular SW catagory.



    2. When said program does ship it's buggy until 2 Revisions later.



    3. Microsoft takes credit for the innovation.



    I may purchase Watson if they can continue to evolve their product above and beyond what Apple has done. Watson being Aqua helps.
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  • Reply 6 of 26
    hobbeshobbes Posts: 1,252member
    [quote]Many people are crying out that Apple has "stolen" the Watson concept and is giving it away for free, hurting Watson's developer. IIRC, Watson's deveoper has publicly stated that he has not been approached by Apple for Sherlock 3 and is upset by their outright copying of Watson, but he will continue watson's development as a competitor to Sherlock 3.<hr></blockquote>





    Has Dan publicly said he's upset? I've sort of read it between the lines (who wouldn't be?), but haven't seen in a public statement.



    Apple is definitely acting increasingly Microsoftian (bundling apps, losing the "not invented here" issue, releasing very unfinished software, shipping -- relatively -- on deadline) but I think there's a question of degree. Apple doesn't go nearly as far as MS at the game they play, i.e. Utterly Ruthless.



    Personally I find the Sherlock/Watson issue awfully gray. Apple was clearly influenced by Watson, but have made no bones about it, and have given it a lot of (due!) accolades.



    OTOH, they're practically pushing Dan into doing a Windows port, which does Apple no good at all. You'd think someone at Apple could have handled the situation with some more finesse.



    p.s. StarfleetX, the TextEdit dialog screen shot on your site is *very* funny. I'm assuming it's your creation...



    [ 06-05-2002: Message edited by: Hobbes ]</p>
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  • Reply 7 of 26
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    I heard someone hint that Apple was already working on Watson-like features in Sherlock before Watson came out. I don't remember now where I saw that though, so I can't confirm it.



    But it is strange that Apple has been best buddies with the Watson people - inviting them to come on stage during that OS X presentation, for example - if they were ripping them off at the same time. I think there's something else going on here that we don't know. They really are just too similar.
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  • Reply 8 of 26
    bellebelle Posts: 1,574member
    I think Apple could argue that Sherlock formed the basis of a context-free front end to internet searching before Watson was a twinkle in Karelia's eye.
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  • Reply 9 of 26
    hobbeshobbes Posts: 1,252member
    [quote]But it is strange that Apple has been best buddies with the Watson people - inviting them to come on stage during that OS X presentation, for example - if they were ripping them off at the same time. I think there's something else going on here that we don't know. They really are just too similar.<hr></blockquote>



    Not really -- if you think of Apple as a large, realpolitik company (and, ahem, CEO) with multiple (and sometimes at cross-purposes) goals and aims.



    Scenario 1.

    Steve Jobs sees Watson. Steve Jobs loves Watson. Thus, Apple gives Dan and Watson lots of attention and awards. In fact Steve Jobs loves Watson so much he says, Make Sherlock like this! They do.



    Scenario 2.

    The UI/Sherlock team and Dan get the same idea at about the same time, Dan perhaps a little before. Apple notices Watson while Sherlock 3 is still in development and has to decide what to do. No matter what, it's going to look like they copied Watson. So (instead of ignoring it) they they praise it to high heaven, and award it. Then they announce Sherlock 3.



    I think No. 1 is the more likely, but who knows.



    [ 06-05-2002: Message edited by: Hobbes ]</p>
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  • Reply 10 of 26
    frawgzfrawgz Posts: 547member
    I think there should be better visual indication of what channel you're in (besides the title at the top). I guess this sounds a lot like wanting better visual indication of which app is active in the dock.



    Still, though.. the brushed metal seems to make highlighting awkward if Sherlock is using Cocoa toolbars.
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  • Reply 11 of 26
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    [quote]Originally posted by sjpsu:

    <strong>1. Look at the bottom-right window pane. It is closer to the edge than the pane above it.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    That's an image well, so the well's outline (which highlights) has a thickness.



    <strong> [quote]2. Look at the bottom of the entire Sherlock window. There is so much wasted space there.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I wonder how all the plug-ins use this space? That is, is this space wasted due to lack of content to fill it with only in this case, or is it chronic?



    I wish non-brushed metal Aqua windows would adopt the alternate color list views!
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  • Reply 12 of 26
    barracudabarracuda Posts: 27member
    Watson looks so much better than Sherlock 3! They have made really suburb use out of Apple's Aqua design with drawers and sheets. etc. The icons in Sherlock 3 are also really sub-par for Apple. Especially the Flight tracker icon....they need a better looking jet! Not all of the icons have shadows either...very inconsistent...this must be a very early build being shown on Think Secret. I really don't understand why Apple feels the need to develop something that already has been done...and been done well! Watson even received rewards frm Apple! Why doesn't Apple just include Watson with Jaguar? It would encourage other developers to come up with really ACE (killer) applications!
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  • Reply 13 of 26
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    I first heard of Watson in the Power of X presentation at MWSF. I bought Watson only after Sherlock 3 was previewed. It's the same thing behind Napster...you have to see/hear/demo something before you want it...
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  • Reply 14 of 26
    mithralmithral Posts: 68member
    [quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:

    <strong>I'll take it you've never seen/used <a href="http://www.karelia.com/watson/"; target="_blank">Watson</a> before. <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Holy crap. You're right. I've never used Watson, but Sh3 is eerily similar. That's too bad?I would have liked to see Apple at least buy the guy and bring him into the development.



    As a budding developer, I'm not sure I like the precedent.



    -mithral
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  • Reply 15 of 26
    macmattmacmatt Posts: 91member
    So, Apple's doing to watson, what microsoft did to netscape??? <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
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  • Reply 16 of 26
    undotwaundotwa Posts: 97member
    [quote]Quote By Steve Jobs from Pirates of Silicon Valley:



    Good artists copy, great artists steal <hr></blockquote>



    Which is precisely what Apple did. They stole the original Mac UI (and enhanced the original greatly), and stole Watson (and IMHO enhanced greatly).



    Watson's author got the idea from Sherlock, well that's what he saids. He saids it is Sherlock on overkill. So Apple is simply doing a feature set upgrade . Who cares if they are similar to Watsons? Make a good idea, expect it to be copied. After all, that is how people show that you've produced good software.
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  • Reply 17 of 26
    wdegrootwdegroot Posts: 15member
    For all the people complaining about the pictures of sherlock 3 and how unfinished it looks, remember that it IS unfinished. expect it to be very nicely polished by the time it's released.
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  • Reply 18 of 26
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    [quote]Good artists copy. Great artists steal.<hr></blockquote>



    To give this line some more leverage and context, Pablo Picasso first said this.



    In general, I think this case is a lot like the Apple look-and-feel lawsuit of days old. It's impossible to protect your idea once the cat is let out of the bag. Apple found that the desktop metaphor was inevitably going to crop up on other platforms, and there was really nothing they could do about it.
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  • Reply 19 of 26
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,464member
    [quote]Originally posted by Belle:

    <strong>I think Apple could argue that Sherlock formed the basis of a context-free front end to internet searching before Watson was a twinkle in Karelia's eye.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Belle hits the bullseye(again)



    Watson IS Sherlock on Steroids and it's foolish to think that Apple wasn't thinking along the lines of Watson. This is not theft because had Karelia thought up something unique it would be patented.
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  • Reply 20 of 26
    mithralmithral Posts: 68member
    [quote]Originally posted by hmurchison:

    <strong>



    Belle hits the bullseye(again)



    Watson IS Sherlock on Steroids and it's foolish to think that Apple wasn't thinking along the lines of Watson. This is not theft because had Karelia thought up something unique it would be patented.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Yeah, okay. Good point.



    -mithral
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