Is Sherlock dead?

dogcow · June 29, 2004 12:41PM

Since 10.3 came out I feel like Sherlock was put on the back burner. This is when the Finder's search was separated from Sherlock (after being integrated). Now with spotlight I wonder if Sherlock will simply be removed from 10.4 altogether. Does anyone use sherlock on a regular basis?

hobbes · June 29, 2004 8:38PM

I doubt it'll be removed, but it's clear it's not getting a lot of attention.

I use Sherlock on occasion, mostly for movies, but I never quite got what was so exciting about it -- or Watson, for that matter.

a_greer · June 29, 2004 9:01PM

Did you guys see the same keynote that I did? that is where widgets come in, No shit sherlock (pun intended)

brussell · June 29, 2004 9:52PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dogcow

Since 10.3 came out I feel like Sherlock was put on the back burner. This is when the Finder's search was separated from Sherlock (after being integrated). Now with spotlight I wonder if Sherlock will simply be removed from 10.4 altogether. Does anyone use sherlock on a regular basis?

The inclusion of spotlight doesn't lead to the removal of sherlock, those are two different functions. a_greer is right, the widgets might replace sherlock. But who knows, the widgets seem to duplicate functionality as it is, so maybe they'll keep sherlock.

sam damon · June 29, 2004 11:02PM

The more I think about it, I wonder if the OS 9 indexing parts of Sherlock transplanted to OS X are what we saw during the Stevenote?

talksense101 · June 29, 2004 11:44PM

I think Sherlock is history. There aren't enough channels being developed out there. RSS feed integration in Safari will make this even less useful. Dashboard will take care of the rest.

bouba · July 2, 2004 2:05PM

I wish they could use the sherlock 2 search plugin within safari... instead of just Google.. The search results would include both the web search and the RSS search.. and would only require one search field!

Why should we have to think what kind of information we are looking for?!?!

As for the sherlock3/watson, I believe that the app is really great in panther, with the organisation that was improved alot... unfortunatelly, the lack of international support is killing it, and the lack of channels developped by 3rd parties is killing it..

I would like to see good guitar tabs channels, lyrics finder, and movie, yellow pages for other countries...

buonrotto · July 3, 2004 11:35AM

I agree with bouba. I think the searches would be better utilized if they were more integrated/linked to Safari or Spotlight. Right now, I think they're just out of sight, out of mind.

ichiban_jay · July 3, 2004 5:56PM

I find sherlock very very helpful with it's dictionary, translator, maps, and movie guide. Though I wish for the maps they let you choose how many different (zoomed) images to print out with the guide, It would be helpful to have a couple of shots (one zoomed out to see the major streets, one zoomed right in to see the minor streets). Other then that I find sherlock dead useful, just very unfocused on by apple.

onlyafterdark · July 3, 2004 6:57PM

I dont think that the two types of searches should be linked/merged. They search for two different types of information. Putting the two together would defeat part of the purpose of having the RSS in Safari. People dont always want to be looking for regular web pages. I know for school that this RSS search field is going to come in handy and it will save me time and many frustrations by having it built in right beside the google search field.

Now, that doesnt mean Apple cant (or some third party) integrate the two fields while giving the option to search for websites only, rss only, or both. But leave the option to have two seperate search fields as well.

greggwsmith · July 8, 2004 10:12PM

I have been using macs for over a year now and have never used Sherlock. What is it?

wrldwzrd89 · July 9, 2004 6:18AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GreggWSmith

I have been using macs for over a year now and have never used Sherlock. What is it?

I've been using Macs for a LONG time (since 1986, in fact) - and never found a use for Sherlock. Sherlock is nothing more than a (US-only) utility to search many websites and search engines at once for information. It does this with "channels", which are plug-ins for Sherlock that tell it how to read the results that searches return from a particular search engine/site. (I'm new here - this is my first post on AppleInsider forums. I'm also a MacRumors member, and I'm 'wrldwzrd89' there too.)

mr. me · July 9, 2004 7:41AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GreggWSmith

I have been using macs for over a year now and have never used Sherlock. What is it?

If you haven't changed your Dock, then Sherlock has an icon there. Sherlock was originally a local search engine and also searched the Internet. As wrldwzrd89 said, it used plug-ins to access a number of major search engines and content-specific sites. With the advent of MacOS X, the local search function was removed from Sherlock. The Internet search function was enhanced. Greatly enhanced was the content specific information. Sherlock can now perform functions that were previously available using a collection of freeware, shareware, or not at all. Sherlock now has channels that provide a dictionary, a text translater, AccuWeather, NASA Picture of the Day, movie showtimes, stocks, telephone directory, and much, much more. Why don't you launch the utility and click around? You might like what you find.

frank777 · July 9, 2004 5:17PM

Sherlock is dead upon Tiger's arrival, and what killed it is the lack of ease in designing channels.

I'm no programmer. Sherlock intrigued me, but I never found a way to tie it into any of my personal projects. And I would have had to hire a Sherlocker, since designing channels was not a job for the uninitiated.

Dashboard is an attempt to rectify this, by using html as a big part of widget design.

It's all well and good for Apple to give the Tiger preview to developers, but by Christmas 2004 Cupertino needs to have a Widget Designers site and manual, so hobbyists can use the interval between Christmas Day and New Year's productively.

Maybe they can tie widget design into the new visual Applescript too.

Done right, Dashboard will be the new Hypercard, creating a whole new field of hobbyist-programmers. If a lot of Dashboard widgets become readily available, Dashboard will be a real driving force for Tiger and iMac sales.

Keynote has its own fan sites. Whose going to start the first Dashboarders site with tutorials and open ideas for widgets?

hmurchison · July 9, 2004 5:27PM

Quote:

Whose going to start the first Dashboarders site with tutorials and open ideas for widgets?

Already done. The Dashboarder

Expect more to come.

iposter · July 9, 2004 6:30PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dogcow

Since 10.3 came out I feel like Sherlock was put on the back burner. This is when the Finder's search was separated from Sherlock (after being integrated). Now with spotlight I wonder if Sherlock will simply be removed from 10.4 altogether. Does anyone use sherlock on a regular basis?

What's Sherlock?

xenu · July 9, 2004 7:06PM

Sherlock died the moment Apple failed to make it international.

A worthless app.

booga · July 9, 2004 7:11PM

Basically, Sherlock 3 was a rip-off of Watson, a product which has now been bought by Sun and ported to Java, and is being re-released as a Java app codenamed Alameda. If you want a really convenient way to look up movie listings, recipes, definitions, etc., then that's the software to look for.

Dashboard may take over the stock ticker and weather report, but who wants to look up movie listings in an Expose dashboard? Since the answer is probably "no one", and yet Dashboard's API could be used to write such an app, my guess is that someone's going to abscond the API for another data mining app that will give Apple something to rip off for 10.5.

hmurchison · July 9, 2004 7:41PM

Quote:

Basically, Sherlock 3 was a rip-off of Watson

Umm no it wasn't. Apple was working on Sherlock 3 at the same time Karelia was working on Watson. Hasn't it dawned on people why Dan Wood called it "Watson" Sherlock Holmes trusty partner. Why people keep perpetuating this lie is a mystery.

buonrotto · July 11, 2004 8:40PM

Just to set the record straight on Watson versus Sherlock 3, Dan Wood knew Apple's intentions with Sherlock 3 during Watson's development, saw early builds and was even sought by Apple for a position in the company. Chase down some old stuff at Daring Fireball (I think some if it is referenced in more recent posts about Dashboard) for the "paper trail."

foad · July 13, 2004 12:24PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BuonRotto

Just to set the record straight on Watson versus Sherlock 3, Dan Wood knew Apple's intentions with Sherlock 3 during Watson's development, saw early builds and was even sought by Apple for a position in the company. Chase down some old stuff at Daring Fireball (I think some if it is referenced in more recent posts about Dashboard) for the "paper trail."

Here is the archived blog. I hope everyone reads this link. It sheds quite a bit of light on the Dashboard v. Konfabulator and the various other things Apple "ripped-off" from developers.

http://daringfireball.net/2004/06/da...s_konfabulator

Is Sherlock dead?

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