Texperts Review

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the newly launched Texperts service and commented about how I didn't think it was worth £1 to ask a question.

Rhodri Thomas, Director of New Business Strategy at Texperts, contacted me shortly after offering me the chance to test out the service for free for a whole week. During the week I could ask as many questions as I wanted and not be charged. This would be a great opportunity to test out the speed and accuracy of the service.

In total I asked around 20 questions and I've listed some of them below along with the answers and response times.

Q. What is the world's rarest bird? A. Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) thought to be rarest; extinct in native habitat but >60 in breeding program. Other contenders Night Parrot and Ivory Billed Woodpecker (two species which may or may not be extinct). Response time: 4 minutes.

Q. When did the first human die of AIDS?
A. The world's first known case of AIDS has been traced to a sample of blood plasma from a man who died in 1959. Over 20 million have died of it since 1981.
Response time: 6 minutes.

Q. What is the best selling beer in the world?
A. Budweiser has been the world's best-selling beer since 1957, and is distributed in more than 70 countris. Carling is Britain's best-selling beer.
Response time: 2 minutes.

Q. What is the most remote village in Britain?
A. Inverie, on the Knoydart, Scotland is the most remote village in the UK. Britain's most remote mainland pub is also in the same village.
Response time: 5 minutes.

Q. Who was the top scorer for Everton FC in the 1985-1986 football season?
A. Gary Lineker was Everton's top scorer in 1985/86 season. He scored 40 goals in all competitions. Graeme Sharp was second with 22.
Response time: 13 minutes.

Q. Which airline has the worst safety record and which has the best?
A. Air Canada has been ranked as the world's safest airline. Surinam-based SLM is considered the worst, with a death rate of 238/million passengers.
Response time: 8 minutes.

Q. Is civil war a good thing?
A. Generally no - leads to bloodshed, but recently Iraq's political leaders come closer to a unified leadership after bombings almost started civil war.
Response time: 8 minutes.

In general, I was very impressed with the answers and the response time varied from 2 minutes to 13 minutes. I'm not sure how their infrastructure is set up but it's impressive how the question is routed to the appropriate Textpert and returned so quickly. You can even respond to the answer to clarify or ask a further question.

There were a few responses that I wasn't happy with but I wasn't charged for them and the Texpert offered research the question further if I wanted. Here's an example.

Q. What is the coldest recorded temperature for the town of Newport, South Wales (UK)? A. Did you mean Newport (Shropshie)? It had the lowest recorded temperature in England : -26.1C on 10th January, 1982.

Q. No, not Newport (Shropshire), Newport (Wales) - east of Cardiff.
A. Many apologies for the poor first answer. Unfortunately details of the Newport, South Wales are not currently available. If you contact us tomorrow we will call the MET office. Many apologies for this. No Charge.

So even though the Texpert didn't answer the question he did offer to find out the next day (I didn't respond so never did find out the coldest recorded temperature for Newport).

Speaking to Rhodri via email, he did offer some insight into how the Texpert system works. Many people, myself included, think that there is someone at the other end who quickly does a Google search or consults Wikipedia ("the enemy of anyone who wants real knowledge") but they actually employ a team of real experts (PhD students, professionals, people who also work in creative industries) who consult over 250 different sources as well as search engines.

Overall, my opinion of the service has changed a lot and whilst I would still go hunting for the answer myself most of the time (I enjoy a challenge) when time is of the essence, Texperts is an invaluable tool. Be careful though, it can easily become additive!

P.S. If you think you have what it takes to become a Texpert, try having a go at the Tex-Factor quiz.