Computers are infamously known for working in a regimented fashion. They lack the very thing that makes us human – the ability to reason. A database or a search engine can return keyword matches in milliseconds with sometimes clairvoyant qualities. Getting results that are based off of something that isn’t a string is much more difficult. Draw a picture and get your computer to return images that look like your drawing. Sing part of a song and have it tell you who the artist is. I hope that computing in the future breaks these walls down and makes tasks like this become as easy as keyword searches are now.
Midomi.com is doing just this. Using the near-ubiquitous flash player, Midomi connects to your microphone and records what you are singing. My success rate was 4 out of 5 songs – the longer you sing, the better your chances at finding the correct artist seems to be. Maybe its just because I am a good singer 🙂
Seriously, check this one out – it will make you smile.
Zone of Mr. Frosti 