I'm generally with you, but I do find dictation quite useful if I want to send a quick text and not bury my face in my phone to type it out.
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Former Apple Employees Reflect on Siri's 'Squandered Lead' Over Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
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Which isn't uncommon with large companies. The larger you are, the slower you move. However, Apple has been known to be as nimble as a startup, but has the funding of a major company. This is why Apple has been so successful.
Problems with Siri isn't indicative of problems with other services or hardware because the teams are different. Different leaders, culture, people, and skills.
Siri could have lead the pack and it still could with the right leadership and vision. I'm waiting for Apple to "Dare to be Great" again. Tim's leadership blow it with the Mac, discontinued products that should have been continued, Apple TV was treated like a toy for too long, HomePod doesn't do all that it should do, way late with getting HomeKit out and I could go on. iPhone is not all that you should be paying attention too. Hold your management team accountable like Steve did to be great. What are you doing with all of these building and people?
If you go into google assistant and look at the logs, you'll be surprised of the amount of information logged in there. And yes, they use it. To sell me stuff, and to improve on the product. But as now, the speaker has not woken up to advertise anything (yet)
It may be a concern for some. But my kids log what I say every day too, and it shapes what and how they ask for, the things they tell me and more. And they get to know me better. It's the same for the product. The more info it has about me, the better it will serve me.
I don't think Apple wants to be a "services company" more than a "product design company"...I think they want to use their expanding product lines to push services... and their financials don't show that they are in the wrong arena at this point and time:
"During the three quarters leading up Apple's FY1Q18, Apple Watch unit sales have been up at least 50 percent year-over-year. From a unit sales perspective, this works out to Apple Watch sales trending at a little less than 20M units on an annual basis. In what will come as a surprise to most people, Apple Watch likely outsold Amazon Echo during the holidays despite Apple Watch selling for nearly 10x more money.
Based on unit sales, the Apple Watch business is currently about the size of the Mac business. When considering that the Apple Watch is less than three years old, for the product to be nearly outselling Mac on an annual basis is quite the achievement. As seen in the chart below, assuming Apple is able to maintain Apple Watch sales momentum, the sales gap between Apple Watch and iPad will continue to narrow."
https://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2018/1/23/apple-watch-is-a-bridge-to-the-future
As for Siri, it is lagging behind Alexa and Google Assistant in some areas, but that doesn't seem to be affecting Apple's financials:
"Thanks to great operational and business performance, we achieved all-time record profitability during the quarter, with EPS up 16 percent”
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/02/apple-reports-first-quarter-results/
Personally, as someone that uses many Apple products, I would love to see Siri get better. However, at this point in time, the product is in the driver's seat. Apple's Siri works good enough to keep most of their buyers on board and spending more money on complimentary products like Airpods, HomePods, and especially the Apple Watch.
The incentive for Apple to improve Siri will just have to come from pride rather than it coming from any real need to compete with Alexa or Google Assistant for dominancy. Personally, I am happy the media is making such a huge deal out of the Siri shortfalls because it may be embarrassing enough for them to devote more resources to it even if it has little to do with selling hardware and services.
Actually I think you’ll find most Apple users just don’t bother with Siri, and the incentive for them to fix it is the fact the competition is mmmiiiilllleeeessssss ahead of them. I use Alexa all the time, hardly ever use Siri.
And this was a story by actual Apple engineers and technicians, not really an attempt by the media to embarrass Apple.
Som of their sales are slowing, the X has not performed as they thought, the only reason it’s made so much money is the utterly obscene mark up on it.
And why mention the Apple Watch? We don’t know how many it’s sold because Apple refuse to tell anyone.. it’s ll guess work.
The ONLY reason they are making mega profits is due to massive mark ups and cut backs, they aren’t selling more so the money comes from somewhere, because their QC is none existent it’s the software, it’s pretty obvious where their ‘resources’ are going, and it has been a services company since the iTunes Store launched really, it’s also a big growing sector for them.
No, the iPhone sold well, but it was being compared to a quarter with an extra week in it. They actually sold more per week than the year before without taking price into the picture.
I don't know how you can say most aren't using Siri. I doubt that. It is great for music, reminders, alarms, calendar etc. It has competitive advantages on the watch, Airpods, iPhone, iPad, etc. I just don't buy that people aren't using it. Personally, I use it more than Alexa because it is built into the watch and iPhone while the Dot does nothing for me until I get home. Not to mention that Alexa isn't used by nearly as many people because it isn't in very many homes compared to the iPhone/iPad/Mac/Touch combo.
Note: Apple has the following comment on "active" users of Siri:
"Siri, now actively used on over half a billion devices"
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/01/homepod-arrives-february-9-available-to-order-this-friday/
They were selling the iPod to push iTunes. It isn't a services company. It is a product company that uses their very popular products to push services. They make most of their money on products. Not even close. What they are trying to do is expand services, so they don't have to worry about selling more and more iPhones in a saturated market. That doesn't make services more important than their core business, though.
We don't know how many Echos sold, either. However, analysts are able to estimate the numbers by extracting what companies say, the product category growth, etc.
Just to make this easier to grasp, they made over 85 percent of their revenue from products. My guess is the services like Apple Music and Apple Pay would die without the iOS platform:
https://sixcolors.com/post/2018/02/apple-reports-its-holiday-2017-earnings-today/
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I was super interested in reading this, because I've always thought that Apple squandered their lead on Siri. I was upset to find out that Apple had no interest in purchasing Viv to enhance Siri, or to just keep a more advanced AI out of the hands of their competitors. I, however, will not pay $39 a month or $399 a year just to read this one article.
So obvious this is a story to get people thinking about bringing Scott Forestall back.
I, for one, welcome him back fully with open arms.
Tim is worse than Gil Amelio.
I, for one, welcome him back fully with open arms.
Tim is worse than Gil Amelio.
Small peeve of mine, but just want to point out that Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and "Hey Google" are not AI. They are not "intelligent" in the least. They are merely voice-driven interfaces to activate scripted behaviors.
For example, when I tell my Amazon Echo, "Alexa, set the heat to 70," it responds, "The heat is now set to 70" (on my Nest thermometer). But if I say, "Alexa, what is the heat set to? it responds, "Sorry, what device?" because that particular command was scripted to use "thermostat" instead of "heat," and the Echo has no mechanism for learning how I talk or substituting words.
We're probably close to simulated AI, where these devices have a scripted learning engine where it might ask me what words I might use to mean other words.
True AI will be when the technology is freely writing its own algorithms to learn, and not constrained to the algorithms written by its developers. When AI hits, you will have whole conversations with your device, and not just COMMAND/RESPONSE.
Some of this has to do with bad bluetooth microphones in most cars, some of it is Siri itself. HomePod most likely has the best microphones out of any device with Siri and I've noticed it makes far fewer mistakes than the others.
No, the iPhone sold well, but it was being compared to a quarter with an extra week in it. They actually sold more per week than the year before without taking price into the picture.
I don't know how you can say most aren't using Siri. I doubt that. It is great for music, reminders, alarms, calendar etc. It has competitive advantages on the watch, Airpods, iPhone, iPad, etc. I just don't buy that people aren't using it. Personally, I use it more than Alexa because it is built into the watch and iPhone while the Dot does nothing for me until I get home. Not to mention that Alexa isn't used by nearly as many people because it isn't in very many homes compared to the iPhone/iPad/Mac/Touch combo.
Note: Apple has the following comment on "active" users of Siri:
"Siri, now actively used on over half a billion devices"
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/01/homepod-arrives-february-9-available-to-order-this-friday/
They were selling the iPod to push iTunes. It isn't a services company. It is a product company that uses their very popular products to push services. They make most of their money on products. Not even close. What they are trying to do is expand services, so they don't have to worry about selling more and more iPhones in a saturated market. That doesn't make services more important than their core business, though.
We don't know how many Echos sold, either. However, analysts are able to estimate the numbers by extracting what companies say, the product category growth, etc.
Just to make this easier to grasp, they made over 85 percent of their revenue from products. My guess is the services like Apple Music and Apple Pay would die without the iOS platform:
https://sixcolors.com/post/2018/02/apple-reports-its-holiday-2017-earnings-today/
Ok, firstly you have no facts from Apple to back up your sales claims, they don’t exist, analysts ‘guess’, again not reliable sources.
Also their services are growing, and I think your pie chart is wrong on the proportion of iPhone profits? A waiter with an extra week does not make a company half production of one of its flagship products.
It’s also silly to suggest they sold the iPod Toich to push iTunes because lots of people use them for the App Store and it’s apps.
And Siri, I do not know a single person with Apple products, and I know quite a few, who use it, I know one who frustratingly try’s to use it and t never works.
Think about it, how many Apple owners who are normal and not fanboys or girls use Siri? Reading on here I can see plenty of people who find it frustrating as it doesn’t work.
I think the biggest issue with AI assistants is simply that people aren't comfortable talking to them in public. It just doesn't feel right and I've never seen anyone do it elegantly. Actually I've probably never once seen anyone use an AI assistant on their phone in public. Which is why I only ever use it when alone, if ever. It's useful for asking the time when you're half asleep and your phone is across the room, or for setting up quick reminders. But anything else is just unnecessarily complicated and prone to failure.
I don't think this was about 'privacy' as much as Apple dropping the ball.
Maybe at some level, they know that Siri isn't a great product. Apple got Siri to replace 'voice command', which personally worked very well, and they didn't get what they wanted. Perhaps stung by that, they haven't been ready to open it all up. There could be contractual obligations as well. Personally, I think that Apple should open Siri to the public domain, and let people out there hack at her innards and MAKE Siri be a better 'assistant'. Other people have done this, it can't be that hard. It just doesn't look like Apple has the ability/will/inclination/drive to tackle Siri and get it better. Perhaps the whole Siri process is flawed and needs to be ground up reinvented. Given Apple's recent history with embarrassing programming glitches, whoever is doing their programming, the heavy lifting, isn't capable of testing and fixing their software before it ships.
Maybe part of the 'Siri Disaster' is Apple realizing that they can't fix it. Bringing in outside programmers and outside eyes on the process and procedures is probably what they need. In other words, they need to 'Think Different'...
Either way, time is ticking, and people are watching and waiting...
Yes, we use analysts data if companies don't supply it. If you don't want to use analysts data, then we can't even say the Echo has sold much of anything because Amazon does not provide any numbers on Echo sells.
You are discounting the fact that Apple had one extra week to sell phones in the prior year. If you take a simple daily average, they sold more per day in the last quarter than last year. Yes, if I have an extra week to sell a product, I can sell less per day and still sell more over the period. So if you are a waiter, do you make more when you work one week vs not working at all? If you make zero in either case, you need a new line of business because waiting tables isn't working out for you.
"The revenue upside came despite a shortfall in shipments of Apple's most important product. At this time last year Apple sold 78 million iPhones, but this year, it only sold 77.3 million units. The year-ago quarter was one week longer, which accounts for the decline."
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-fiscal-q1-2018-earnings-iphone-sales-revenue-eps-2018-2
Anecdotal data isn't compelling. MacRumors probably has more Apple haters than fanboys. I would rather use the number supplied by Apple since they have the actual evidence. It is like your complaint about using analysts numbers. They are the only thing we have because Apple/Amazon do not provide numbers in certain categories. However, analysts aren't making assessments based on MacRumor complaints and what their neighbors are doing, they are extracting information from the data provided by Apple and making estimates. No, it isn't as reliable as getting the exact information from Apple, but it is beats anecdotal evidence every day of the week.
By the way, the great thing about active Siri users is that we don't have to use estimates or anecdotal information, Apple has given us the number.
Once again, my main disagreement is that Apple is a product company pushing services. That is easy to see in their financials.
I'm a bit suspicious of this recent wave of articles that are not favorable of Siri. It smells like part of Apple's stealth marketing plan leading up to WWDC where they'll unveil a dramatic improvement to Siri. They'll make passing mention of the criticism, and then say how they are "listening to customers", and ... "announcing the new and improved Siri".
If that happens it would be a good thing. Improving Siri is needed.
If that happens it would be a good thing. Improving Siri is needed.
I don't know, the subject ebbs and flows over time. We have articles going back a while about it. The reason it is at the forefront right now is because of the release of the HomePod and not much else to talk about.
I would also be weary generally of using numbers from first parties. Remember Silicon Valley in the episode where Jared contracts oversea shops to inflate numbers? Publicly, those numbers are "real", but they were subjective to manipulation.
This happens quite often in the tech world where users and sales are often twisted to conform to a company's motive.
It is still the most reliable number we have available. Of course, we have numbers for Enron to point at the fact that any number provided by a company can be lies. Of course, people can get fired, go to jail, and lose everything if they lie, but it doesn't stop it from occurring.
However, until the claims are proven wrong, I will go with first party evidence. In the case of Apple, they have a lot more eyes on them than you average tech start up.
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Which is even better because the "eyes" want them to succeed because it's making them richer.
You're right. No company will publicly admit they're abusing numbers until they get caught. But it's nearly a given that almost every public company does some tweaking of its numbers which is why solely trusting first party "evidence" and not looking at the bigger picture seems a bit misinformed.
There are people in government that would love to take Apple and/or Cook down a notch. Don't believe everyone wants them to do well.
What is the bigger picture? The number of devices that have Siri built in? If that is the case, chances are the numbers are accurate. Personally, if we want to trust anecdotal evidence, I use Siri daily. My boss uses Siri daily. The people I know with iPhones use Siri for something every day. That is 100 percent of all iOS users I know. Therefore, instead of taking Apple's numbers, lets go with my numbers and say it is around a billion active users. Apple must be showing a conservative number so they can tout the incredible amount of Siri growth that was experienced after bringing the HomePod to market. Yep, lets go with that instead.
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that's even beside the point. Siri is cumbersome. Alexa is just smooth and natural. That's the really crummy thing about Siri - apple hasn't gotten the bare basics refined. As with apple maps, they need to throw Siri out and start over.
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I never bothered with Siri besides setting alarms ... But then when I tried a standalone Alexa, I was hooked. I ask it all the time for everything that I would normally have googled. It's just so natural and easy
It sure works fine, but it is not Apple. It is basically TomTom. Apple only does the graphics which are the best. Google uses Google database.