I’d attempt to put an online journalism spin on this, but well … whatever. This is just an awesome service.
Google has a free and well-done 411 service that lets you browse their listings via voice. For iPhone-less and Blackberry-less peons such as yours truly, this is truly rockin. Just dial up 1-800-GOOG-411. With absolutely no problem, I just found my favorite Mexican restaurant (I intentionally gave an imprecise city) and a local vegan cafe that have given me trouble on regular 411 and 1-800-Free411.
So cool.
More info: http://www.google.com/goog411/index.html
Now back to your irregularly scheduled Journalistopia…
By Erin February 2, 2008 - 11:45 pm
I’ve been using Goog 411 for months, and I have not had one problem. And, for a mildly entertaining treat, The greeting is on a rotation, so you rotate between a man, a woman, and a child. One piece of advice, though– it tends to interpret a cough as “go back”, which can be VERY annoying when you have a cold.
By Laury February 4, 2008 - 12:27 pm
I’m a frequent paid 411 user and always get connected to my
requested listings by professional operators. I’m curious to know what carrier you use and what listings you requested as I find it hard to believe the free automated Goog411 service is superior.
By Danny Sanchez February 4, 2008 - 2:06 pm
I never said it was “superior” in quality to professional operators. However, 411 is decidedly expensive to use. Why pay nearly a dollar to 411 to get an easy-to-find number when you can just try a free service first?
By Laury February 4, 2008 - 3:48 pm
I’d like to do a little research on paid vs. free. Can you share your carrier (unless you called from a landline) and listings requested?