Siri isn't as impressive as marketed (yet)?

[Italianblend]

disclaimer: I know it's beta. I get that. And I'm not complaining about having siri. I like her. And I know updates will be coming.

But she doesn't really do much yet. And at the keynote, they must've demonstrated every single aspect of Siri. And I would too, I'm not questioning their marketing on that. If a product is incomplete, you gotta show off what works.

But who here is a little disappointed at Siri's present capabilities? Simple things like not being able to read past texts, or any e-mails at all. And having to unlock the phone to hear a text. If I'm driving, the point is to not have to touch your phone. She can't use the stopwatch feature of clock, just alarm. She can't "check" for new incoming e-mails. She can only grab weather for the next 12 hours, but she can display the weather for a week. She can't open up apps.

I don't think they could've done anything differently though. I mean, they wanted to get the 4s out before the holiday season and Siri just wasn't done yet. If they didn't market Siri, they probably wouldn't have sold this many 4s', so I guess it was a good move on their part.

But with speech recognition being around for several decades now and the ability for programs like dragon to do so much more with speech (open programs, etc), seems like a letdown so far.

So, what has disappointed you most about the current state of Siri?

 

[flyboy0]

disclaimer: I know it's beta. I get that. And I'm not complaining about having siri. I like her. And I know updates will be coming.

But she doesn't really do much yet. And at the keynote, they must've demonstrated every single aspect of Siri. And I would too, I'm not questioning their marketing on that. If a product is incomplete, you gotta show off what works.

But who here is a little disappointed at Siri's present capabilities? Simple things like not being able to read past texts, or any e-mails at all. And having to unlock the phone to hear a text. If I'm driving, the point is to not have to touch your phone. She can't use the stopwatch feature of clock, just alarm. She can't "check" for new incoming e-mails. She can only grab weather for the next 12 hours, but she can display the weather for a week. She can't open up apps.

I don't think they could've done anything differently though. I mean, they wanted to get the 4s out before the holiday season and Siri just wasn't done yet. If they didn't market Siri, they probably wouldn't have sold this many 4s', so I guess it was a good move on their part.

But with speech recognition being around for several decades now and the ability for programs like dragon to do so much more with speech (open programs, etc), seems like a letdown so far.

So, what has disappointed you most about the current state of Siri?

I hate it how she cant talk to me and ask me questions randomly.

She cant pick up my calls for me or talk to the other person for me.

She can't laugh with me or laugh at my jokes.

Geez people, are you guys kidding me? You are asking for things that arent possible. Relax. It is still beta mode. We know it will get better. But you want it to read your emails!??!?!?! You know that emails sometimes comes with disclaimers, ads, etc. How in the world is Siri supposed to know all of this??

 

[mcdj]

You might want to change your title. Your list of missing features is mostly valid (except for "having to unlock the phone to hear a text."...that would be a security breach), but Siri does everything presented in the marketing. While good marketing can inspire the imagination, the imagination is not the promise.

 

[peapody]

Not disappointed. As with new things, there is always improvement to be had. Siri does a lot of things I didn't think she would do, and I find myself using her a lot more than I thought I would. I can see why she can't get new emails unless push is activated. I think it is good that Apple gives us a choice about the push because battery would be adversely affected. Other than that, I am excited to see what new changes are in store.

 

[David R]

I didn't think I'd use it at all but I have actually been really impressed with it.

I have been using it to set alarms and schedule meetings, it's faster than doing it manually. For example, earlier today I said "schedule a one hour long meeting at 1:30 pm about McGraw Hill" and it did it without missing a beat.

It's also great for quick texts "tell Jason that I'm on my way" - it recognizes the word "that" and it doesn't include it in the text and it just sends a text that says "I'm on my way"

It's not magical, but it does make a lot of tasks easier.

 

[Italianblend]

(except for "having to unlock the phone to hear a text."...that would be a security breach).

On a password-protected iphone, I can see that argument. But if I have no passcode protection activated, it's not a security breach at all, as anyone could grab my phone and slide to unlock, then check my e-mail anyway.

 

[ksoze]

Siri had several $100 million into her (mostly from our tax money) before she was adopted by Apple last year. In that short time since, she has been integrated into the phone at a top level. The challenge will be to allow third parties to use the VR engine and tap into Siri's ability to take voice -> tasks.

The original VC investors who helped fund Siri when she was initially spun-off from SRI also believe the real future is in opening Siri up and allowing her to have access to all apps, hardware, etc. This beta version is a window into what can be done and is hopefully a beginning. I believe Apple knows that Siri's ability to drive hardware sales will be dependent on how deep she can go. For just skimming the top, it is pretty impressive.

 

[theperipheral]

I don't know if you're using a passcode lock or not, but I don't and she reads my texts when I'm locked.

As far as everything else, she's pretty much amazing.

 

[Number 41]

There's always been a balance with smartphones between lifestyle use and business use. Right now, Siri is definitely slanted towards the latter, IMO. For those people who own iPhones for business reasons (keeping extensive calendars and schedules, being on the road for work, etc.), Siri seems to have a lot of utility. You can make notes quickly to the phone, schedule and change meetings on the fly, set reminders for yourself, answer mail while on the road, etc. Those are all great business features (with some lifestyle applicability), but not exactly what I own a smartphone for.

The next step for Siri will be to integrate it with features useful to those of us whose jobs don't require regimented schedules, who don't meet with clients or other people, and who don't work on the road. The features the rest of us are looking are features that tie into our lifestyles as opposed to our jobs -- things like:

- Using Siri to post to twitter, search recent tweets, or read back tweets from certain people / mentions from certain people.

- Using Siri to plan things like dinner (getting reservations or interfacing with places that offer take-out), movies and sporting events (searching for showtimes / buying tickets), transit (bus / subway / rail schedules), or travel (searching flight times, checking on-time status, etc.)

- Using Siri to get TV schedules (searching for certain genres of movies or certain shows/movies) or to DVR shows remotely.

- Using Siri for current information beyond stocks and weather (and into things like headlines, sports scores, movie reviews, upcoming events nearby, etc.)

Siri is first generation beta. I'm confident a lot of these features will find their way in at some point in the future. It's a marathon, not a sprint. I think Apple recognizes that this technology can be transformative if done correctly, but the main mistake they can make is overreaching and turning the consumer off early because Siri can't perform tasks well.

 

[nathanlloyd]

Not knowing directions, traffic or businesses in the UK - that annoys me!

 

[lifeguard]

On a password-protected iphone, I can see that argument. But if I have no passcode protection activated, it's not a security breach at all, as anyone could grab my phone and slide to unlock, then check my e-mail anyway.

Would be cool if you could program her to only recognize my voice. That way when I say Siri read my texts she would. But if you told her she wouldn't because it she doesn't know you.

 

[Italianblend]

Would be cool if you could program her to only recognize my voice. That way when I say Siri read my texts she would. But if you told her she wouldn't because it she doesn't know you.

Yes, that would be perfect!

 

[bandofbrothers]

I hate the use of different coloured fonts in a thread, period !

 

[Italianblend]

Put a little color back into your life!

 

[mobilehaathi]

So, what has disappointed you most about the current state of Siri?

She lacks the capacity to love.










You need at least a quad-core processor and 100GB of memory for that.

 

[LIOC]

Hi, first post!!

I wish Siri was better integrated with content. You can't ask something like "List all my song's by arist 'x'."

or

"play 'y' genius mix".

or

"show me the last email from 'z'"

 

[dieburnbot]

She has a hard time understanding me half of the time. I dunno. The only feature I really use is asking her a stores name and she tells me the address so I can put it in my car's gps. Or I ask her to call someone for me.

 

[Italianblend]

Hi, first post!!

I wish Siri was better integrated with content. You can't ask something like "List all my song's by arist 'x'."

or

"play 'y' genius mix".

or

"show me the last email from 'z'"

Yes, these would be good!