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A Look at the History of Siri and How it Almost Became an Android Exclusive for Verizon

How hard is it?

"Siri dim my screen"
"Siri turn on WiFi"
"Siri turn on silent mode"
"Siri download Honey Boo Boo from iTunes"


I could go on and on. In fact, There are more things I wish I could do with Siri than I actually can do with Siri.
 
Even though I do blame Apple for it and I think they built up too much marketing around it, I believe people use Siri wrong most of the time. I hear countless of times people ask it extremely long questions. Then I also hear them ask it questions that even a human must take a little bit to figure out or figure out the exact meaning. Then I also hear people ask it a questions and it goes "Sorry I didn't get that" and I even come back with "What? I didn't understand a word you said?" In the end it is just computer software programmed by humans.
 
Did anyone see 30 Rock the other night when Jack asked Siri "Siri, find me local hotels" and she responded "You're looking for hookers...is that right?"

Classic! And sad but true. I rarely use Siri much anymore, Google's search app is brilliant. Wish it could set reminders for me, too.
 
It doesn't surprise me Apple released a narrow and feature crippled version of Siri, so it could trickle out capabilities one at a time to have a tool to promote each iteration of hardware. This could easily take 5-10 years to all trickle out.
 
Beezzy said:
Siri will improve over time. The more people that use it is the only way Apple can collect true data on how we speak to Siri, and what we want Siri to do that it can't do already.
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Ah! YOU're the ONE who still uses it! Nice 🙂

Beezzy said:
Google uses it much better because it searches for things it can't do Automatically. Most of us (like myself) hate when the "would you like for me to search blah blah blah" response comes up, Google's just does it and its much faster.
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I was AMAZED on how QUICK and RELIABLE Google recognised my speech - as I was talking! - on my iPhone 3GS!

Not that I am using voice-control at all. It feels kind of embarassing to talk to your device, when what you want is just a few clicks away anyway... It's so 2012, y'know 😉
 
larrybeo said:
"Siri dim my screen"
"Siri turn on WiFi"
"Siri turn on silent mode"
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Are you really that lazy? If you have the screen in front of you, why would you need a voice command to turn down the brightness?
larrybeo said:
"Siri download Honey Boo Boo from iTunes"
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Siri should respond with "Sorry Larry, I can't do that." as she would be protecting you from your own bad choices.
😛
 
The only time I ever use Siri is to send text messages when driving and it's pretty accurate. I just wish there was a way to activate it hands free without having some fancy in-car audio equipment.

Other than that I never use it, mainly because I feel like a dick talking to my phone and also because I tend to find I can find things with my fingers faster than I can say them and have Siri process the result.
 
I use Siri consistently from day-to-day for a variety of functions from creating reminders and appointments, to looking up contact information, voice dialing/texting, setting alarms, playing music, and launching apps. Simply put it makes hands-free operation fluid. But you have to try a variety of Siri's functions and force yourself to remember to use Siri...after that it's not so bad.

Here is the thing with Siri...it's not that bad. But there are two obstacles: there is a learning curve at first (people don't understand the diverse functions it can actually complete) and worst of all: it needs a data connection.

I hope that when Siri is knocked out of Beta (with iOS 7?!) that the data connection is lifted for tasks that Apple's older "Voice Command" function from the 3GS could complete (music, voice dialing, etc). The rest of Siri's functionality set will only improve with time, maybe even opening the API for 3rd party apps (fingers-crossed).

P.S. Can Google Now launch apps, create reminders or perform functions that are OS-driven? I really don't know.
 
KnightWRX said:
I think some of the reasons that Google Now is good vs Siri is because it actively "guesses" what you need, while Siri is something you need to constantly ask things of. Google Now alerts you with things before you even think of asking them.

However, one of the big hurdle Siri faces is its reliance on always-on connectivity. Without a data connection, Siri can't even perform offline functions on your phone (like setting reminders, opening apps, playing music that's stored in your library) which also hurts perception of its use when you're limited for connectivity (low signal areas or plain not having data because being abroad). I don't know how Google Now fares in this capacity, not having really used it.

Anyway, I've disabled Siri, much less time consuming to just touch my way to things than ask it, wait for it to analyse what I want, ask for a confirmation, wait for it to analyse my confirmation.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with the always-on connectivity problem of Siri. I sometimes have spots with no data connectivity and would like to use Siri to simply call x or change the music, but I can't even do, what was possible under voice command! Additionally, when traveling to another country (common in Europe) I'd like to able to use voice commands without paying excessive roaming data charges!

I've also noticed that Google Now is much faster, as it seems to already be analysing what you are saying, as you are speaking versus Siri which "records" your voice, sends the recording to its server and then receive the voice-analysis.

In any case, I'm hoping Apple will step up and deliver serious improvements in iOS 7... competition is (almost) always a good thing and keeps people on their toes!
 
Shasterball said:
Siri is still crippled and barely useful - especially in loud situations. It's been relegated in my experience to setting up reminders and asking about sports scores...
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Would be cool if you can say "Siri Turn on Bluetooth" or something like Siri" Find Wireless Networks"

I think last years update about dining out and sports scores was a total fail, I use the ESPN app, and Yelp! for all that and it works perfectly. I think touting last year that Siri can now give you sports scores was a piddly little improvement not even worth talking about, who cares, give me something that is valuable especially when I am driving and can not hold my phone, or instead of having to go thru the Settings, WiFi settings, there should be a Pulldown or pop up for those things like Android has, one reason I used to JB for SBSettings, worthwhile tool.
 
Will Siri finally be out of beta when they return full functionality it originally had? When will that be - iOS 23.4?
 
KnightWRX said:
I think some of the reasons that Google Now is good vs Siri is because it actively "guesses" what you need, while Siri is something you need to constantly ask things of. Google Now alerts you with things before you even think of asking them.
Click to expand...

yup. i love how it learns your usage.. say for example: i take a couple of bus and subway routes for my work commutes. after just a short time, google now learned which bus and subway lines i take automatically. so now when i walk near a stop or station, google now will alert me of the schedule, and what time the bus or subway will arrive.

same with sports. it automatically learned which teams i follow, and it will give me the upcoming schedule, game info, and results.
 
Siri still sucks no matter its on ios or android phone. I feel like voice recognitions on mobile platform as a whole needs improvement.
 
ds2000 said:
Siri is useless, in our house all I ever hear people using it for is "X minute timer" when cooking and the occasional whats the sport score. It is quite handy at opening apps..... unless its noisy.

We are all tech savvy people, 4 iPhone 4's in the house and we hardly use it.
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AustinIllini said:
None of your have siri unless you have 4 iPhone 4S's
Click to expand...

So tech savvy they don't even know what model iPhone they have

:majorfacepalm:
 
Beezzy said:
Siri will improve over time. The more people that use it is the only way Apple can collect true data on how we speak to Siri, and what we want Siri to do that it can't do already.
Click to expand...

I'd agree, however since it release all thats' happened is that if anything it's gotten slower at responding. They have done bugger all with it since it came out back in 2011.

It reminds me a bit of 'Dashboard' on OS X. I remember when they announced that , it was seen as a MASSIVE improvement to OS X. It's all but abandoned now, and never saw any updates.
 
Siri is only useful when it enables tasks that are harder or take longer to do by touch.

1. As such, I only use Siri:

a. In the car. ("play song X", "How do I get to the nearest Post Office.", "Call my wife".)

b. When using "Find my friends". It is much easier to say "Where's my wife?", then to tap my way to the app.

2. It is very annoying that Siri requires connectivity to do offline tasks (play music, launch an app, take a note, etc.). Currently, if connectivity is unavailable, Siri responds saying "I'm really sorry but I can't take any requests right now." Why not instead have iOS respond by automatically switching to Voice Control?
 
larrybeo said:
"Siri dim my screen"
"Siri turn on WiFi"
"Siri turn on silent mode"
"Siri download Honey Boo Boo from iTunes"


I could go on and on. In fact, There are more things I wish I could do with Siri than I actually can do with Siri.
Click to expand...

Basic TV listings would be a start. In the UK its pretty much limited to just wolfram alpha stuff, opening apps, texting/calling/events/etc, telling the time/weather and saying "i dont understand, do you want me to search the web".


If they allowed apps to hook into it that would be great.

"Siri, tell my tivo box to record the Australian Grand Prix on March 17th"
"Siri, Increase my maximum bid on ebay to £50 for that Apple Poster I'm watching right now".
"Siri, could you get Shazam to find out the name of this tune"
"Siri, start playing my rock playlist on Spotify"
"Siri, open up home automation and turn the heating up 2 degrees"

The siri proxy hacks that have been released seem pretty decent. I did see one that allowed you to use a Raspberry Pi to control physical devices.
 
kas23 said:
Siri. Apple's "innovation" at it's finest.
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Exactly, it had a wrong start as a beta app. I admit that Jobs was still around when this happened, but I found it strange that Apple delivered such a half-baked product known their concern for perfectness.

Also their decision to not make it available for iPhone 4 was very strange (Google products are availiable).
 
Siri came with my iPod Touch 5G, thank goodness, and I use her often because that keyboard is so tiny. Email, texts, appointments, notes, etc. Took her less than a couple seconds to list the movies playing at the local (and only) theater.

I'm in a low population area, so her response time is very fast. I think Siri is terrific.
 
I kept asking it why it couldn't find anything I'd asked for and it failed to provide me with an answer for that either. Then told me to stop swearing at it.

I don't use Siri any more.
 
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