WireDoo: MC Hammer's 'bold' new search engine
The former rapper and '90s icon unveils a new business venture that takes on Google — and commentators crack wise
The crowd at last week's Web 2.0 summit received news of a new search engine called WireDoo — courtesy of MC Hammer. Yes, that MC Hammer. The 49-year-old former rapper says his foray into the world of algorithmic search will offer "relationship-driven" "deep search" that goes beyond the lists of links provided by Google and other existing engines. For instance, if you search for cars, your results will turn up insurance rates, mechanics, and other related finds. Still: It's MC Hammer, and the internet tends to notice things like when a formerly bankrupt, '90s icon challenges a multibillion-dollar corporation at its own game. Here's what the web is saying:
Talk about being blindsided
"File under: 'Didn't see that one coming!'" says Lanford Beard at Entertainment Weekly. "MC Hammer, he of the parachute pants and wiggly run, is trying to shake up the internet." And no, it's not a "viral video."
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Please Hammer, don't hurt Google
Google? Bing? They "know that your new search engine, WireDoo, is too legit to quit," says Doug Aamoth at TIME. Plus, "hammer time moves much faster than standard technology product development time."
Puzzled
"Huh?" asks Dylan Love at Business Insider.
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Thank you
"Okay, so Hammer is taking on Google," says Alexia Tsotsis at TechCrunch, who was in the "confused" audience when Hammer took the Web 2.0 stage. "I love my job."
A brave undertaking
WireDoo is a "deep search" engine, says Devin Chanda at Complex — "a bold term, even for a man who gleefully sported a banana hammock in one of his music videos."
Too easy?
"I'm really sorry, everyone," says Eric Limer at Geekosystem, "these jokes are pretty much obligatory."
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