"It just works"... Eh, not quite

[thosspot]

beta in eye of beholder

My Siri has been out for about a week. Just cant connect to the network. Here's what I've learned so far:
1. People that aren't having Siri problems love to say "it's a beta, relax" while THERE'S is working fine.
2. There are a lot of douchey Apple supporters who just crap on anyone who dares question the company and or its products. No one knows you're a dog on the internet, but they can tell you're a douche. stop it.
3. Betas should be further along than this, particularly Apple's which one would think would have handled this better. At least Jobs would have come out by now and blamed users for Siri's problems
4. Apple's gonna do what Apple's gonna do.
5. iPhone 4S has a few kinks to work out; battery, Siri. I'm fairly confident Apple will remedy these, but that doesnt mean I have to be happy that 1) the batter lasts about 5 hours, and 2) Siri will not work, at all, for many people.

 

[SerrQ]

I 100% understand it it Beta, but I guess my question is, why was it released as perhaps the biggest selling point of the phone? Should more refinement and preparation gone into Siri for a later phone, or was this just a ploy by Apple to sell us an Iphone 4 reboot?

Just be happy that you got it sooner then later.

 

[kas23]

My Siri has been out for about a week. Just cant connect to the network. Here's what I've learned so far:
1. People that aren't having Siri problems love to say "it's a beta, relax" while THERE'S is working fine.
2....

I just love how you brought attention to your poor grammar.

Otherwise I completely agree with you. You forgot; if someone is having trouble with Siri, it must be their heavy accent.

Maybe Steve will tell us we speaking wrong from the grave.

 

[diamond.g]

The Siri suffix issue really is annoying...

 

[miggitymac]

My Siri has been out for about a week. Just cant connect to the network. Here's what I've learned so far:
1. People that aren't having Siri problems love to say "it's a beta, relax" while THERE'S is working fine.
2. There are a lot of douchey Apple supporters who just crap on anyone who dares question the company and or its products. No one knows you're a dog on the internet, but they can tell you're a douche. stop it.
3. Betas should be further along than this, particularly Apple's which one would think would have handled this better. At least Jobs would have come out by now and blamed users for Siri's problems
4. Apple's gonna do what Apple's gonna do.
5. iPhone 4S has a few kinks to work out; battery, Siri. I'm fairly confident Apple will remedy these, but that doesnt mean I have to be happy that 1) the batter lasts about 5 hours, and 2) Siri will not work, at all, for many people.

Well said. Just because it's in beta doesn't excuse the fact that it doesn't work AT ALL for a lot of people. No one expects a beta to be perfect but a beta should still be useable.

Fanboys love to tout the phrase "it just works". So far iCloud and Siri don't "just work" for a significant number of people. The batteries work, but not for very long for a significant number of people.

I don't get why people don't demand more from Apple, but instead think that they can do no wrong. Face it people, they kinda screwed up here. And given their resources and power, there's no excuse for these kinds of screw-ups...they just got lazy.

 

[tigres]

I gotta say that this week w/iPhone 4S has left me befuddled on my decision to upgrade.
Being an english native speaker, without a lisp or accent; I am having about 50% luck with Siri recognizing the words I speak. Drafting an email to Siri is useless, as I have to go in and edit it for words I did not speak. Worked on it last night for a while, and it does not recognize my words beginning with "H" especially proper names in my address book.

Beta, yes. A working beta, not so much for me. In my car, with bluetooth connection is a bust. She cannot understand 60% of what I say, yet normal voice commands work. Call Joe, works with voice command; but Siri responds, which one- tim smith, tim johnson, tim connell, etc.

Do others have better luck? Are there ways to improving this to work closer to 90%?

Not bitching, just trying to decide on this as hands free was the biggest upgrade reason for me.

How are others fairing with these analogies?

 

[BoxerGT2.5]

I don't get why people don't demand more from Apple, but instead think that they can do no wrong. Face it people, they kinda screwed up here. And given their resources and power, there's no excuse for these kinds of screw-ups...they just got lazy.

Because it's apple, brand loyalty is strong here. Don't criticize, don't opine, nothing. Be happy that the nice people in Cupertino blessed the world with another Apple product, turd or not.

 

[RafaelT]

I gotta say that this week w/iPhone 4S has left me befuddled on my decision to upgrade.
Being an english native speaker, without a lisp or accent; I am having about 50% luck with Siri recognizing the words I speak. Drafting an email to Siri is useless, as I have to go in and edit it for words I did not speak. Worked on it last night for a while, and it does not recognize my words beginning with "H" especially proper names in my address book.

Beta, yes. A working beta, not so much for me. In my car, with bluetooth connection is a bust. She cannot understand 60% of what I say, yet normal voice commands work. Call Joe, works with voice command; but Siri responds, which one- tim smith, tim johnson, tim connell, etc.

Do others have better luck? Are there ways to improving this to work closer to 90%?

Not bitching, just trying to decide on this as hands free was the biggest upgrade reason for me.

How are others fairing with these analogies?

Honestly I think your best bet is to just continue using it as best as you can. As has been reported on MacRumors the team working on Siri is one of the largest at Apple. I am sure they are using all the data they are collecting to make daily changes to Siri to improve its accuracy and useability.

The above is not an excuse for why it does not work well for everyone, but I am sure they are working on improving it very quickly.

 

[dotme]

...Do others have better luck? Are there ways to improving this to work closer to 90%?..

Siri rocks for me in the car. The accuracy is astonishingly good, and I have an accent (UK born, Iowa resident for 20 years). I have a Moto T505 in the car. If I use the T 505, or have my iPhone on the desk about 2 feet away and use the built-in speakerphone, Siri gets me most of the time. If I lift to activate, not so successful. For the built-in speakerphone, try different distances (too close can distort the voice, and make it harder to decipher)

I think bluetooth is a mix of a good mic and low background noise. So I'm sure results may vary a lot there...

 

[Taz Mangus]

It's not silly at all. The 4S is just a slightly improved version of the 4. Anyone who thinks it's a huge upgrade is just kidding themselves, period. It's still a great phone, but pretty much just the same as the last version.

I know you see the outside and figure there can't be anything different on the inside. Oh wait, you're not referring to Android phones...

 

[VulchR]

I've had very good luck with Siri, but it's not quite at the natural language point yet. Hence, the big warning 'beta' that Apple has been very clear and transparent about.

As for those who are upset with Siri, it's not f(t) but d(t) that interests me...

 

[takeshi74]

Beta isn't an excuse but anyone that expects a beta product to be problem-free is deluding his or her self or clearly doesn't understand what beta means. Even released products have problems. You can argue what "should" or "shouldn't" be but managing your expectations is your job. Don't blame marketing.

 

[tigres]

Siri rocks for me in the car. The accuracy is astonishingly good, and I have an accent (UK born, Iowa resident for 20 years). I have a Moto T505 in the car. If I use the T 505, or have my iPhone on the desk about 2 feet away and use the built-in speakerphone, Siri gets me most of the time. If I lift to activate, not so successful. For the built-in speakerphone, try different distances (too close can distort the voice, and make it harder to decipher)

I think bluetooth is a mix of a good mic and low background noise. So I'm sure results may vary a lot there...

My Bluetooth is through the car. Seems to be crackleing as well. Never happened on the 3GS or 4. Hmmm

 

[ZipZap]

I gotta say that this week w/iPhone 4S has left me befuddled on my decision to upgrade.
Being an english native speaker, without a lisp or accent; I am having about 50% luck with Siri recognizing the words I speak. Drafting an email to Siri is useless, as I have to go in and edit it for words I did not speak. Worked on it last night for a while, and it does not recognize my words beginning with "H" especially proper names in my address book.

Beta, yes. A working beta, not so much for me. In my car, with bluetooth connection is a bust. She cannot understand 60% of what I say, yet normal voice commands work. Call Joe, works with voice command; but Siri responds, which one- tim smith, tim johnson, tim connell, etc.

Do others have better luck? Are there ways to improving this to work closer to 90%?

Not bitching, just trying to decide on this as hands free was the biggest upgrade reason for me.

How are others fairing with these analogies?

I have had no issues with SIRI other than the network being busy from time to time.

Are you sure you dont have an accent or are speaking clearly. In my experience those with these types of problems simply cannot perceive them.