Andy-
>Dave's done a great job creating a impressive system for his client > I don't doubt that, but it appears to be very much a niche application with clearly delineated data structures. I have yet to see a succesful implementation of any software that can really allow non-tech users to answer *un-anticipated* questions like "what were our profit margins for legacy products in the last 8 quarters" (let alone the questions that people really want answers to - like "what products will be big sellers in two years time"). The examples you give are EXACTLY the kinds of questions a well-designed natural language system can answer. In fact, I use a variety of your first example in many of my commercial systems pitches. If you database can aggregate sales and costs, then you can configure English Query to understand what "profit" means and get an answer to any question that deals those concepts. Likewise for "big sellers". Dave _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
