Goodbye, Answer Man — Hello, Alexa
In the data and information space irony sometimes lands on our doorsteps. Take, for example, Outsell’s Information Industry Headlines from March 8: Answers filed for bankruptcy while Alexa joined hands with WebMD to offer medical advice. I remember when Answers was a shiny new object in the dot-com era — ask a question, get an answer. I mean, how simple is that? They were curated answers, and humans might have been involved, how quaint. Fast forward nearly two decades and two headlines on opposing axes about companies providing similar services appeared on the same day.
Answers went by the wayside, or at least into bankruptcy, so it can reorganize itself. Meanwhile, Alexa sits in our living rooms, kitchens, or on our bathroom counters able to channel Web MD — and play Bach. Do we really want Alexa to answer our most pressing medical questions? Do we want Jeff Bezos and his gang at Amazon using the questions we ask Alexa to figure out what products to recommend and sell us or which to stock at any of Amazon’s dozens of shipping centers? Remember, Amazon declared it would tie Alexa to its ecommerce app just last week. That’s a little too close to home for me.
And then there’s Google. By providing search links, it became the answer man of the last decade. Who needs Answers.com when you can put something into a search string and let Google work its magic? But Google is becoming so yesterday. Ask a question and the first thing you get are links to not-so-relevant ads. You have to scroll to find what might seem like a real answer. Then, as you scroll, links trying to sell you things you don’t want or need follow you for the next week.
With Alexa — it’s a voice for gosh sakes. A voice sitting on a bastion of goods and services of which Amazon is in the business of selling. Oh so tempting. I applaud Web MD for adding its own “skill” to the more than 10,000 already available on Alexa. Rightly so, they want to be where the puck is going, and that’s mobile and something other than text-based interfaces. That’s essential for all data and information businesses, especially those operating consumer applications … but, I don’t want the guys at Amazon and WebMD knowing my medical questions. My doctor, yes, but maybe he or she is going to be replaced by Watson (See Blog, MD Anderson & Watson Break Up, March 20, 2017), and then we’ll all be talking to machines.
Perhaps we can take solace that, on the same day these headlines came out, Amazon dropped its fight to protect Alexa’s first amendment rights. Our world is certainly going mad when these three headlines landed at once. God help us all.
Anthea C. Stratigos is Co-founder & CEO of Outsell, Inc., the leading research and advisory firm focused exclusively on data, media, information, and technology. Join our exclusive global community supporting over 3,000 executives , advance the business of data, see around the corner, grow revenue, and build truly meaningful relationships. Contact us today to start your journey!