Sherlock Now Seems Elementary

I’m always searching for a better way to find things--to find files on my hard drive and to locate information on the Internet. One of my latest finds can help with the latter; it’s a $29 program called Watson, and it’s one of a growing number of specialty browsers: programs that complement or even replace conventional Web browsers for some surfing chores.

All recent versions of the Mac’s system software include a search feature called Sherlock. (Watson, Sherlock--can a program called Mrs. Hudson be far behind?) Sherlock excels at locating files you’ve misplaced on your hard drive. Choose Find from the Finder’s File menu, type part of the name of your missing file and then press Return. Sherlock can even search the text within files--handy when you can’t remember what you named a document.

Sherlock also has Internet searching features, but I’ve never warmed up to them. One problem is that Sherlock displays ads in its Internet-search window, and I see enough of them on the Web already. What’s more, using Sherlock for most Internet searches doesn’t save much time.

Sherlock simply displays search summaries in its window. To get the information you’re seeking, you have to click on a summary to launch your Web browser.

Therein lies the Watson difference. Like Sherlock, Watson lets you locate information on the Internet. But unlike Sherlock, Watson displays the information it finds right in its own ad-free window. And, with a style that would please another famous sleuth, Watson gives you just the facts: Your search results aren’t cluttered with slow-downloading graphics and advertisements.

Watson’s single window sports a row of icons called tools, each corresponding to a different kind of search. Looking for a ZIP Code? Click the ZIP icon and type an address. Watson reaches out and touches the U.S. Postal Service Web site and retrieves the information. Other tools search for items on EBay and for sites on the Yahoo directory. You can also track airline flights, get stock quotes, convert currency values, look up phone numbers, locate recipes, search for images and peruse local movie listings. In each case, Watson acts as an intermediary between you and one or more Web sites, retrieving the information you requested and then displaying it.

Some of Watson’s tools are delightfully slick. When you search for movie listings, Watson displays a snazzy window containing the logo of each movie, a plot summary and even a QuickTime movie preview. A conventional Web page looks primitive by comparison.

Behind the scenes, Watson is merely repackaging information already being published by ordinary Web sites. In fact, some might argue that Watson and programs like it are cyber-leeches, sucking information from sites whose owners might rather that you view their pages directly--along with their sponsors’ advertisements.

I asked Watson’s developer, Dan Wood, about this aspect of specialty browsers and about whether he obtains permission from the sites whose content Watson retrieves. Watson “flies under the radar at this point,” he said. If Watson becomes so popular that site operators find it affecting their advertising business, Wood said he could adapt Watson’s tools to display ads. “We don’t want to circumvent the data providers, but complement them,” he said.

Accordingly, most of Watson’s tools include links to the sites on which they rely. In this regard, Watson tries to create a kind of cyber-symbiosis.

Try out Watson by downloading it from www.karelia.com. The downloadable version is fully functional, but stops working after a while and can’t be expanded as new searching tools are released. And one more thing: Watson is available for Mac OS X only. Indeed, Sherlock’s stylish sidekick is a fine example of how OS X’s glitzy graphics can enhance the Internet experience.

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Jim Heid is a contributing editor of Macworld magazine. He can be reached at jim@jimheid.com.