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Apple Announces World Cup Content Coming to Siri, Apple TV, News, App Store, iBooks and More

69Mustang said:
"Specific to the World Cup, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac owners can ask Siri questions like:
  • When does France play Australia?
  • What teams are in group A?
  • Who is on the England squad?
  • Who won the Argentina-Iceland match?"
Why is this a thing? I ask with a slight bit of snark, but a whole lot of curiosity, and a crap ton of why the hell would you announce this? I honestly don't know if Google and Amazon have to "update" their respective knowledge bases for Assistant and Alexa in a similar fashion, but I seriously doubt it. Even if they had to do the exact same thing, at least they were smart enough not to advertise that fact. It makes Siri seem as if it has to be spoon-fed special knowledge just to appear smart. Not a good look imo.
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This is a one off tournament. All the info changes each World Cup. All the knowledge bases will have to be updated on all services.
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tito2020 said:
to late to the game android has it
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Football scores for all the top leagues have been available for several years. This is specific to the World Cup.
 
funandblindness said:
This is a one off tournament. All the info changes each World Cup. All the knowledge bases will have to be updated on all services.
Click to expand...
Bud, I was primarily pointing out the mistake in advertising the fact that Siri has to be manually updated for the World Cup. Neither GA nor Alexa have to be updated like that. I was just being kind. Siri has always been terrible with sports and required manual updating for special events. Everytime there is a special event, Apple toots the horn with a "hey look, we updated Siri with event specific info". Info that Siri should already know since they can't lean on the privacy crutch to excuse it.
 
69Mustang said:
Bud, I was primarily pointing out the mistake in advertising the fact that Siri has to be manually updated for the World Cup. Neither GA nor Alexa have to be updated like that. I was just being kind. Siri has always been terrible with sports and required manual updating for special events. Everytime there is a special event, Apple toots the horn with a "hey look, we updated Siri with event specific info". Info that Siri should already know since they can't lean on the privacy crutch to excuse it.
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To be fair, other assistants might very well be getting backend updates related to the World Cup and all kinds of other things, it's just that we may not necessarily hear about it.
 
C DM said:
To be fair, other assistants might very well be getting backend updates related to the World Cup and all kinds of other things, it's just that we may not necessarily hear about it.
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It's the first thing I stated in the thread. It's the whole point I was making.
69Mustang said:
but a whole lot of curiosity, and a crap ton of why the hell would you announce this? I honestly don't know if Google and Amazon have to "update" their respective knowledge bases for Assistant and Alexa in a similar fashion, but I seriously doubt it. Even if they had to do the exact same thing, at least they were smart enough not to advertise that fact. It makes Siri seem as if it has to be spoon-fed special knowledge just to appear smart. Not a good look imo.
Click to expand...
But seriously, neither Google nor Amazon update their info that way. I read an article a while back about how Google does it's "web magic". It's not this goofy manual update for special event stuff. For a company that likes it's secrecy, this is type of info Apple should be keeping secret. No one needs to see behind the curtain on Siri and her Wizard of Oz World Cup knowledge. Imo, of course.
 
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69Mustang said:
It's the first thing I stated in the thread. It's the whole point I was making.

But seriously, neither Google nor Amazon update their info that way. I read an article a while back about how Google does it's "web magic". It's not this goofy manual update for special event stuff. For a company that likes it's secrecy, this is type of info Apple should be keeping secret. No one needs to see behind the curtain on Siri and her Wizard of Oz World Cup knowledge. Imo, of course.
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And for the common denominator consumer who really doesn't know any better hearing about it might actually make them think that Apple is actually doing something while others aren't. As you've pointed out, a good part of it can be just perception, and that can be different for different sets of people.
 
Is there an option to opt out? Boring game for some. If they do this for this world cup then have the decency to do it for others, such as Rugby? Or have they and will they?
 
Hey Siri, show me today's match highlights.
Siri: Opening lights...
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TheTruth101 said:
The revenge and it was when Maradona did that goal with his hand and they won. It was called "The hand of God!" lol. That was in Mexico 1986.
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To be fair, though, he also scored one of the best goals (if not the best) in the entire football history when he dribbled the entire English team like they were dummies, goalkeeper included.
 
C DM said:
And for the common denominator consumer who really doesn't know any better hearing about it might actually make them think that Apple is actually doing something while others aren't. As you've pointed out, a good part of it can be just perception, and that can be different for different sets of people.
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Yeah this argument might hold more weight if the common denominator consumer actually read Apple press releases (which is what this is btw). These press releases are typically picked up by the tech press, which is typically read by tech fans who do know better. Tech fans like you and me. The tech crowd (fans and press alike) is where the perception of Siri is the lowest. This press release doesn't help change that perception of Siri. It reinforces it.
 
69Mustang said:
"Specific to the World Cup, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac owners can ask Siri questions like:
  • When does France play Australia?
  • What teams are in group A?
  • Who is on the England squad?
  • Who won the Argentina-Iceland match?"
Why is this a thing? I ask with a slight bit of snark, but a whole lot of curiosity, and a crap ton of why the hell would you announce this? I honestly don't know if Google and Amazon have to "update" their respective knowledge bases for Assistant and Alexa in a similar fashion, but I seriously doubt it. Even if they had to do the exact same thing, at least they were smart enough not to advertise that fact. It makes Siri seem as if it has to be spoon-fed special knowledge just to appear smart. Not a good look imo.
Click to expand...
You're overthinking it. If I live in household that has Siri and Google or Siri and Alexa or all three, the first thing I'm going to do (assuming I even care about soccer/football) is ask Siri about these games. Now if she offers a useful response, it will create a positive experience connected to Siri so that I'm more likely to go back to her next time instead of Google or Amazon. If you have already made your AI assistant choice or do not even have access to Siri then this press release is obviously not for you. Regardless of what you think about Siri, it's used by more people worldwide than its competitors so a non-targeted press release like this is probably the most effective way to get the word out.
 
69Mustang said:
"Specific to the World Cup, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac owners can ask Siri questions like:
  • When does France play Australia?
  • What teams are in group A?
  • Who is on the England squad?
  • Who won the Argentina-Iceland match?"
It makes Siri seem as if it has to be spoon-fed special knowledge just to appear smart. Not a good look imo.
Click to expand...

It does rather give the impression they're building an AI feature set & knowledge database one line item at a time, at a rate of about 4 or 5 every 6 months. At this rate, Siri should pass the turing test around the time of the Heat Death of the Universe.
 
69Mustang said:
"Specific to the World Cup, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac owners can ask Siri questions like:
  • When does France play Australia?
  • What teams are in group A?
  • Who is on the England squad?
  • Who won the Argentina-Iceland match?"
Why is this a thing? I ask with a slight bit of snark, but a whole lot of curiosity, and a crap ton of why the hell would you announce this? I honestly don't know if Google and Amazon have to "update" their respective knowledge bases for Assistant and Alexa in a similar fashion, but I seriously doubt it. Even if they had to do the exact same thing, at least they were smart enough not to advertise that fact. It makes Siri seem as if it has to be spoon-fed special knowledge just to appear smart. Not a good look imo.
Click to expand...

I wonder why this is a thing, but for a different reason. Like... I could swear that this is just standard functionality going back to day 1 of Siri... when does X sports team play/what was the score of the X team game? Narrowing down such a specific question to what teams are in groups, sure, I can see that... Olympics use group pooling, other world cup competitions do... but the others... why?
 
69Mustang said:
Yeah this argument might hold more weight if the common denominator consumer actually read Apple press releases (which is what this is btw). These press releases are typically picked up by the tech press, which is typically read by tech fans who do know better. Tech fans like you and me. The tech crowd (fans and press alike) is where the perception of Siri is the lowest. This press release doesn't help change that perception of Siri. It reinforces it.
Click to expand...
And various ones are picked up by general press and media and, in particular in relation to Apple, pop up in places like CNET or Yahoo! or Forbes or MSN or WSJ or CNN or even local newscasts. I mean I get the idea of what you are saying, and just pointing out that there can be other sides to it all.
 
400 said:
Is there an option to opt out? Boring game for some. If they do this for this world cup then have the decency to do it for others, such as Rugby? Or have they and will they?
Click to expand...
what you mean option to opt out?
 
400 said:
Is there an option to opt out? Boring game for some. If they do this for this world cup then have the decency to do it for others, such as Rugby? Or have they and will they?
Click to expand...
They have done it for various events and tournaments and sports before. There's often the built-in support for a lot of these things, and then some expanded for some more special events basically. I think they've done it for Cricket before, as I recall.
 
69Mustang said:
"Specific to the World Cup, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac owners can ask Siri questions like:
  • When does France play Australia?
  • What teams are in group A?
  • Who is on the England squad?
  • Who won the Argentina-Iceland match?"
Why is this a thing? I ask with a slight bit of snark, but a whole lot of curiosity, and a crap ton of why the hell would you announce this? I honestly don't know if Google and Amazon have to "update" their respective knowledge bases for Assistant and Alexa in a similar fashion, but I seriously doubt it. Even if they had to do the exact same thing, at least they were smart enough not to advertise that fact. It makes Siri seem as if it has to be spoon-fed special knowledge just to appear smart. Not a good look imo.
Click to expand...
This. Are we supposed to have a running catalogue in our brains on what Siri can and cannot answer?
I can't understand why, from day 1, Apple hasn't just kept an anonymized list of most asked questions and checked them off one by one. Hopefully Apple's AI Chief hire from Google will get things on track.
 
wigby said:
You're overthinking it. If I live in household that has Siri and Google or Siri and Alexa or all three, the first thing I'm going to do (assuming I even care about soccer/football) is ask Siri about these games. Now if she offers a useful response, it will create a positive experience connected to Siri so that I'm more likely to go back to her next time instead of Google or Amazon. If you have already made your AI assistant choice or do not even have access to Siri then this press release is obviously not for you. Regardless of what you think about Siri, it's used by more people worldwide than its competitors so a non-targeted press release like this is probably the most effective way to get the word out.
Click to expand...
Not overthinking it. Just thinking about it from the perspective of a techie. Siri is almost universally considered the worst of the AI assistants. Announcing that you have spoon-fed data to your assistant doesn't do anything to change that. That's something that Apple should have kept to itself. All it does is highlight what Siri couldn't do previously.
 
69Mustang said:
Not overthinking it. Just thinking about it from the perspective of a techie. Siri is almost universally considered the worst of the AI assistants. Announcing that you have spoon-fed data to your assistant doesn't do anything to change that. That's something that Apple should have kept to itself. All it does is highlight what Siri couldn't do previously.
Click to expand...
Most people are not techies so they don't think like you. Most people don't think of Siri as the best or worst. They just know their phone has Siri but not much more than that. So in this case, Apple cares much more about those people than about you.
 
400 said:
Is there an option to opt out? Boring game for some. If they do this for this world cup then have the decency to do it for others, such as Rugby? Or have they and will they?
Click to expand...

Yes. Don't ask Siri about it. Boom. You've just opted out. It's quite possible that the same sorts of features will be available for other sporting events. By the time the RWC rolls around again, there probably will be support for rugby scores etc.
 
69Mustang said:
"Specific to the World Cup, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Mac owners can ask Siri questions like:
  • When does France play Australia?
  • What teams are in group A?
  • Who is on the England squad?
  • Who won the Argentina-Iceland match?"
Why is this a thing? I ask with a slight bit of snark, but a whole lot of curiosity, and a crap ton of why the hell would you announce this? I honestly don't know if Google and Amazon have to "update" their respective knowledge bases for Assistant and Alexa in a similar fashion, but I seriously doubt it. Even if they had to do the exact same thing, at least they were smart enough not to advertise that fact. It makes Siri seem as if it has to be spoon-fed special knowledge just to appear smart. Not a good look imo.
Click to expand...

That's not true at all. See this: https://www.blog.google/products/search/fifa-world-cup-2018-on-google/
 
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