
Erm...
..."everyone" calls W-A a "failure" ...now I'm just wondering what that means? Are we talking about internet users as a whole? Don't forget, these are the same people who think icanhazcheezburger is worthy of a bookmark.
Alpha shows a good bit of promise, but it's not totally there yet. Also, it's not FOR everyone. My impression, thus far, is that people seem to think Wolfram is touting it as a Google-buster. Which, uhm, has never been said. It's a source of data and statistical knowledge, not an Internet meme gathering service like G or Y!.