Debate is veering to search engines (google, bing, yahoo search, ask search) and probably Bing started it by trying to position itself as a decision engine.

Searches are being categorized into “tapping into consciousness” and tapping in to “memory”. We presume that by “memory” it is meant the memory of the web. Real time searches are being equated with consciousness presumably of the web too or is it our consciousness? 

Real time searches as on today is merely updating the results in chronological fashion. That is if your search is for a particular subject. It is true that mere chronological sorting brings in lot of unwanted results too. This can be eliminated by a quality filter. But our consciousness is the sum total of our experiences based on which we arrive at a decision. Merely organizing the results of a search does not help a person who does not have prior information on that subject.

One way of organizing a search of listing the latest occurences after filtering them with a choice of opting to know more about the search and categorizing it in the usual manner.  Another is displaying the pulse of real time searches by indicating the most searched topics of the day and by providing the results.

There is another important method that is tailoring the search to individual preferences which is stored in his history or on his home page. When the individual exercises his option all the latest updates of his favorite sites and favorite topics can be provided under one heading.

The last thing is can the search engines help an individual when he does not know the exact word for his search for e.g Latest technical jargon doing the rounds which he wants to catch up with. Then he may want to know the latest discoveries and theories of the universe. These cannot be categorized by a single word and can be different sites on different subjects under the heading of “Universe”. May be he wants to know the latest singles released by various artistes etc.,

Yes, there is a need for integrating chronological search with memory search. One can be provided as an option to display when the other is searched for.