"Search without a box"

Andrei Broder's (VP of emerging search technology for Yahoo) views on where the search is heading:

"Search today is confined to putting in something and getting something back, a pull model. The next stage is for information to come in a context without actively searching, a push model. My favorite example is GPS. Instead of looking up your way on a paper map, you are in your car, and your GPS navigator gives you directions, shows gas stations near you, and so on. A year or two from now perhaps it will show you where those gas stations are, but only when you are low on gas. So you get information on an “as needed, when needed” basis without explicitly asking for it. In the same vein, we will move from information retrieval to information supply"

via Yahoo Search Blog

Currently we are using FAST as our search engine in Engineering Village and I hope their researchers are paying attention to what Andrei is talking about supplying information within context.