Wolfram Alpha Pro democratizes data analysis | Hacker News Reader

Wolfram Alpha Pro democratizes data analysis

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97 pointsssclafani13 comments

Isn't there an inherent contradiction between 'democratises' and "$4.99 a month"?

Well, one of the main tools for data analysis, R, is already free ("democratized"). That said, automated access to datasets, natural language parsing and other AI goodies lower the barrier to entry for non-professionals.

No? It just means that anyone can do it. You don't have to be part of an "aristocracy" (government or academic) to have access to these tools.

If you had to pay $4.99 to vote I suspect people might complain about how "democratic" that was. It's at worst a bit of an over-reaching use of the word, and not some horrible evil conspiracy to exclude poor children from doing maths on the interwebs.

You do pay a lot more than $5 to vote in the form of taxes. If you stop paying your taxes, will you still have your right to vote after your sorry ass lands in jail for defrauding the IRS?

There you go, so much for free democracy.

> If you stop paying your taxes, will you still have your right to vote after your sorry ass lands in jail for defrauding the IRS?

In Europe, yes, you can still vote. Even if you are a convicted of murdering the people who came to take you away for not paying your taxes.

Further reading: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11674014

For some crimes, the sentences can include temporary removal of some rights, including the right to vote.

Not really. People often talk about the Internet democratizing lots of things (music, news, etc.), but you have to pay for the Internet.

I spend more on coffee in two days. People seem to think everything should be free. Wouldn't it be better if everything was simply affordable?

I love Wolfram|Alpha but I don't use it all the time. In fact sometimes I go months without using it. I'd love to see some other sort of payment schedule... Like free suscription and a modest charge per query & data transfer.

You can apply to be a tester for this and get free access here: http://preview.wolframalpha.com/pro

Yah I wouldnt use the term "democractize" to describe a service that's $5 a month. Democracy, the best system money can buy!

The term is here being used to indicate that it is increasing access to something that has previously been limited to far fewer people. It does not need to make it available to everyone to still be vastly more accessible than before.

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