It seems like the search results coming out of Google are getting less and less relevant.  It is nothing I can put my finger on, given the practical art that is a search engine, it's just that I've been finding a lot of things missing from results.  Things I know are out there.

It used to be that if something was out there on the net, it was in Google.  All you had to do was figure out the right way to ask for it.  Lately, that simply has not been the case.  I regularly run across key blogs, press releases from major companies, and even Usenet postings that are simply not in the search results.  I've often had to find these answers using other search engines or the old fashioned way, by following "useful links" on sites that I frequent.

This problem seems to have escalated about 4-5 months ago.  I've checked with co-workers and they tell me that they've noticed it too.  I hope they fix it soon because the old results are sorely missed.

Microsoft recently released the Tech Preview of their Microsoft PhotoSynth product.  All I can say is: WOW!  This thing has the potential to change not just the way that personal photos are used, but rather, much of the way that the Internet is used now.

If properly executed, this could finally connect the Internet to the real world.  Imagine any picture as a gateway.  You could go to a company’s website (like Best Buy) and actually view their corporate headquarters, inside and out.  Big deal, right?  Get this – you could also find the store nearest you and, using a picture of the facade, zoom into the store and, using service features linked to the images, open a chat with the store’s customer service rep.  You could read the hours on the door, walk around the store.  You could see what the Manager’s Specials are.  If the store is particularly aggressive, you could even see what is on their bargain racks.  You could even see where the store is in the mall for those “Strike Mission” shopping trips.

Want to see what the Vegas strip looks like at night?  Find a picture of it and zoom in.  Servers would have to be set up to manage photo volumes in the same manner that they do html page now, but once the infrastruture is in place, you can go anywhere in the world, simply by looking at a picture of it.

But why stop with present day?  Similar archives can be set up of anywhere, anytime.  Want to see the 1964 Worlds fair?  You can tour everything that there were pictures of.  Naturally, these things are a little more difficult as those images would have to have their gps data figured out and analyzed by hand, but the potential is there.

I realize that this tool is only the very first in a generation of such tools and can’t quite do what I suggest, but the possibilities only grow as the technology matures.

Edit: Updated on 7/23/2012 to fix broken links

It looks like we are on track to have our hands on the final release of SharePoint 2007 soon.  Microsoft has just released Office 2007 System to the manufacturers with a current release date of November 30th.  The press release does not name SharePoint specifically, but since SharePoint has been part of the Office 2007 System for the entire beta, it’s a safe assumption.

Here is the full Microsoft press release

Update:
In an update from Andrew Connell, it appears that the bits will be available on November 16th.