Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
There is more involved than a straight translation from audio to text, another component is to make sense of what is being said and learning from past queries, that is the AI part.
 
Sure, it runs locally. But as has been pointed out multiple times, a significant part of Siri runs on Apple's servers. You have no idea about Apple's backend capabilities are at this point.

It's been SHOWN to work once a device (any device) has the Apple 4S ID to send along with the audio clip.

As someone else said - the only "technical" limitation is that Apple's servers are only accepting 4S IDs. That's a choice, not a limitation.

Now - what I will grant you is that Apple's servers are already hammered with 4S users and they are getting shoddy results with Siri from the reports I've read. If Apple were to add iPhone 4 users - the servers would no doubt be obliterated. So yes - "technically" it might be an issue. But it has nothing to do with the phone.
 
It's been SHOWN to work once a device (any device) has the Apple 4S ID to send along with the audio clip.

Yep.

Now - what I will grant you is that Apple's servers are already hammered with 4S users and they are getting shoddy results with Siri from the reports I've read. If Apple were to add iPhone 4 users - the servers would no doubt be obliterated. So yes - "technically" it might be an issue.

Which was my point exactly.
 
Sure, it runs locally. But as has been pointed out multiple times, a significant part of Siri runs on Apple's servers. You have no idea about Apple's backend capabilities are at this point.

That is not a technical reason for why Siri cannot run on anything other than the iPhone 4S. In fact, its not a technical issue at all. If they saw fit, they could access computational power provided by others (e.g. Amazon); i.e. there is no technical reason why Siri must rely on Apples own data centers. For various reasons they opt to do so, but neither of those reasons are rooted within technical limitations.

p.s. technically, they could've done all sorts of things to manage capacity - if that is the main problem. For example, they could've limited use for non-4S holders, or simply prioritized requests coming from the same.

(That said, i was only referring to the client-side of things. Technically, SIRI can run on a 3GS. That was the statement made).
 
Last edited:
There is no (technical) reason that you are aware of.

No - I believe your point was that (we) weren't aware of any technical limitations. We just explained that we're well aware of what they are and aren't.

If you want to be exacting.
 
That is not a technical reason for why Siri cannot run on anything other than the iPhone 4S. In fact, its not a technical issue at all. If they saw fit, they could access computational power provided by others (e.g. Amazon); i.e. there is no technical reason why Siri must rely on Apples own data centers. For various reasons they opt to do so, but neither of those reasons are rooted within technical limitations.

Apple's current backend capability is a technical limitation. Unless you are just trying to get into a semantic argument.

No - I believe your point was that (we) weren't aware of any technical limitations. We just explained that we're well aware of what they are and aren't.

I quoted three claims that there are no technical reasons. I pointed out a possible technical reason. You agreed with the reason. Not sure where the argument is here.
 
Apple's current backend capability is a technical limitation. Unless you are just trying to get into a semantic argument.



I quoted three claims that there are no technical reasons. I pointed out a possible technical reason. You agreed with the reason. Not sure where the argument is here.

There's no argument. There's just your semantics at play. There is no technical reason why Siri does not work on, for example the iPhone 4. Siri can and does work.

If you want to talk server limitations - then would you agree that iTunes Match does not work? Because there seems to be a lot of server side issue there...
 
There's no argument. There's just your semantics at play. There is no technical reason why Siri does not work on, for example the iPhone 4. Siri can and does work.

You shifted the argument. Here is what I responded to. "...there is no (technical) reason why the current implementation could not be included on all iOS devices."

Yes, there appears to be no technical reason not to include it on a single iPhone 4 or iPad 2 or whatever. Or some limited subset.

However, there is a possible technical reason not to include in "on all iOS devices."
 
If granting non 4S devices access to Siri has no impact on sales of 4S, and Apple have no other revenue stream than the 4S to "make money off of Siri" then you have no case. In short, you're arguing that on the one hand they have to make a profit out of Siri, and on the other, you are saying that giving everyone access to Siri would not change profits.

I don't necessarily think granting non 4S devices access to Siri has no impact on sales of the 4S, sure it does but I don't think thats the whole reasoning behind not giving iPhone 4 users Siri so much as it is that they want to cover the cost of buying Siri. Sure apple is making profit in other ways, but apple is a business its objective is to grow and increase profit(not reduce) and keep share holders happy. Apple shouldn't have use other revenue streams which can be used for other company objectives to cover the cost of Siri. "you are saying that giving everyone access to Siri would not change profits", I don't know how you came this is conclusion.

Also, I don't really care if apple gave non 4s users Siri. I just find it stupid that some people think apple has to give them Siri. iPhone 4 users bought their phones knowing what features the phone came with, apple never promised to add features besides the ones that came with the phone. So apple doesn't really owe iPhone 4 users anything. A lot of people will moan and cry but most still won't turn away from apple, chances are they'll be back buying the next iPhone.
 
So they've hacked into Apple Servers proving they are crooks. This is no different than someone cutting into your cable line and stealing your cable and internet.
 
Apple's current backend capability is a technical limitation. Unless you are just trying to get into a semantic argument.

And there is no technical reason why that backend capability cannot be extended. Thus, there is no technical reason why SIRI cannot run on the 3GS. The reason why it doesn't, is by choice. Not by technical limitations.

But, i don't really care about taking that discussion further. My point is, and was, that there is no technical reason that a (e.g.) 3GS cannot run SIRI. And that is, evidently, the case.

p.s. scroll back a few pages and you see that i mention myself that server (over)load may very well be key reason for not rolling the service out to every device.

You shifted the argument. Here is what I responded to. "...there is no (technical) reason why the current implementation could not be included on all iOS devices."

Yes, there appears to be no technical reason not to include it on a single iPhone 4 or iPad 2 or whatever. Or some limited subset.

However, there is a possible technical reason not to include in "on all iOS devices."

I get your point, and in essence we seem to agree. Lets leave it at that.
 
Last edited:
So they've hacked into Apple Servers proving they are crooks. This is no different than someone cutting into your cable line and stealing your cable and internet.

Not the same. What's required is the Apple 4S ID - which they had legitimately. I'm not saying what they did was right or legal. But your analogy is off-base.

ETA: it would be as if you were authorized to have cable on one box and you disabled that box and was able to get a different box to accomplish the same thing. Again - not legal or right - but not the same as stealing cable.
 
So they've hacked into Apple Servers proving they are crooks. This is no different than someone cutting into your cable line and stealing your cable and internet.

Non-analogous.

----------



----------

I don't necessarily think granting non 4S devices access to Siri has no impact on sales of the 4S, sure it does but I don't think thats the whole reasoning behind not giving iPhone 4 users Siri so much as it is that they want to cover the cost of buying Siri. Sure apple is making profit in other ways, but apple is a business its objective is to grow and increase profit(not reduce) and keep share holders happy. Apple shouldn't have use other revenue streams which can be used for other company objectives to cover the cost of Siri. "you are saying that giving everyone access to Siri would not change profits", I don't know how you came this is conclusion.

Also, I don't really care if apple gave non 4s users Siri. I just find it stupid that some people think apple has to give them Siri. iPhone 4 users bought their phones knowing what features the phone came with, apple never promised to add features besides the ones that came with the phone. So apple doesn't really owe iPhone 4 users anything. A lot of people will moan and cry but most still won't turn away from apple, chances are they'll be back buying the next iPhone.

Nevermind.
 
And there is no technical reason why that backend capability cannot be extended. Thus, there is no technical reason why SIRI cannot run on the 3GS. The reason why it doesn't, is by choice. Not by technical limitations.

Right, you're basing the 'no technical limitations' on a couple of test uses on a device?

You have to realise that Apple probably did thorough daily usage testing, using it day in and day out, so in that, they probably encountered it being sluggish after a time or some other problem making it fall short of Apple's standard.

As I said, a coupla little tests do not prove there is no technical limitation...
 
Right, you're basing the 'no technical limitations' on a couple of test uses on a device?

You have to realise that Apple probably did thorough daily usage testing, using it day in and day out, so in that, they probably encountered it being sluggish after a time or some other problem making it fall short of Apple's standard.

As I said, a coupla little tests do not prove there is no technical limitation...

I am basing it on the fact that processing is done server side, and that any processing happening client side has been proven to be processing just fine.

Apple indeed chose not to roll it out to all devices, but it evidently has nothing to do with these devices being technically incapable of running the service. If you have any shred of evidence suggesting otherwise, put forth. Else, give it up. Its working, and apparently working just fine - to little surprise.
 
I am basing it on the fact that processing is done server side, and that any processing happening client side has been proven to be processing just fine.

Apple indeed chose not to roll it out to all devices, but it evidently has nothing to do with these devices being technically incapable of running the service. If you have any shred of evidence suggesting otherwise, put forth. Else, give it up. Its working, and apparently working just fine - to little surprise.

Again you're basing you're argument on some random uses as a test. Come back here after a few weeks of regular usage on a 3GS with substantial evidence that it works perfectly and then maybe you'll have a valid point.
 
Users of old phones didn't pay Nuance

My guess is that it's all about payments to Nuance. Apple baked a big license payment to Nuance for their speech recognition technology into the iPhone 4s pricing. Since previous phone purchasers (non 4s UDIDs) didn't pay for the service, they don't get the service.

The free Dragon apps probably don't cause enough server load to bother Nuance, unlike Siri.

Maybe Apple/Nuance should offer Siri as an in-app purchase for $99/annum?
 
Again you're basing you're argument on some random uses as a test. Come back here after a few weeks of regular usage on a 3GS with substantial evidence that it works perfectly and then maybe you'll have a valid point.

The point is already valid. Just because you don't accept it as valid doesn't invalidate it.

And since (bad) analogies prevail - If I break a piece of glass by dropping it off a roof - I can pretty much state that the glass breaks. I don't need to keep breaking sheets of glass to prove it.
 
The point is already valid. Just because you don't accept it as valid doesn't invalidate it.

And since (bad) analogies prevail - If I break a piece of glass by dropping it off a roof - I can pretty much state that the glass breaks. I don't need to keep breaking sheets of glass to prove it.

Until you have thorough usage testing on a 3GS rather than the odd couple of mess arounds for giggles then there's just no debate. Come back here when that's done and you'll have a point.
 
Until you have thorough usage testing on a 3GS rather than the odd couple of mess arounds for giggles then there's just no debate. Come back here when that's done and you'll have a point.

No thanks. Most of the people who are not in denial have enough proof. Thanks for your warm suggestion though. Much appreciated. Have a great day.
 
Again you're basing you're argument on some random uses as a test. Come back here after a few weeks of regular usage on a 3GS with substantial evidence that it works perfectly and then maybe you'll have a valid point.

Care to explain why you think "regular usage" would change anything? And then why that change is determined by lesser capabilities of any device not the 4S (including iPad 2), and not e.g. software. Until you do, you have no argument at all.

----------

My guess is that it's all about payments to Nuance. Apple baked a big license payment to Nuance for their speech recognition technology into the iPhone 4s pricing. Since previous phone purchasers (non 4s UDIDs) didn't pay for the service, they don't get the service.

The free Dragon apps probably don't cause enough server load to bother Nuance, unlike Siri.

Maybe Apple/Nuance should offer Siri as an in-app purchase for $99/annum?

solid point, assuming you are correct.
 
No thanks. Most of the people who are not in denial have enough proof. Thanks for your warm suggestion though. Much appreciated. Have a great day.

You're the one in denial, i just want evidence of it working fine over a reasonable period and then i'll agree. proof of it working a few times to prove they can hack it is TOTALLY different to regular real world usage. As i said, Apple would have tested it in various ways over a few months and probably didn't allow it in the other devices due to it slowing down or some other problem.

Care to explain why you think "regular usage" would change anything? And then why that change is determined by lesser capabilities of any device not the 4S (including iPad 2), and not e.g. software. Until you do, you have no argument at all.

I have every basis for a debate, see my comments above. you both are just in denial.

the reason why i say about regular usage is cos you can use something once or twice for messing about and it can work fine, but under regular use and also stress testing, you can see problems after constant use. It's a common thing to do in any environment from software design to the production industry, if you don't know about daily use testing or stress testing, that explains alot....

obviously you 2 cannot listen to reason and logic so on that note, i'm outta this thread until some common sense appears.....
 
You're the one in denial, i just want evidence of it working fine over a reasonable period and then i'll agree. proof of it working a few times to prove they can hack it is TOTALLY different to regular real world usage. As i said, Apple would have tested it in various ways over a few months and probably didn't allow it in the other devices due to it slowing down or some other problem.

Or they didn't allow it in other devices to give themselves an extra marketing bullet point for the 4S.

It works on lower end devices. Anyone not wanting it to be the case is in serious denial. It's ok that Apple is limiting it based on a marketing perspective, it's not the first time they've done this (Free Find my iPhone anyone ? ).
 
You're the one in denial, i just want evidence of it working fine over a reasonable period and then i'll agree. proof of it working a few times to prove they can hack it is TOTALLY different to regular real world usage. As i said, Apple would have tested it in various ways over a few months and probably didn't allow it in the other devices due to it slowing down or some other problem.



I have every basis for a debate, see my comments above. you both are just in denial.

the reason why i say about regular usage is cos you can use something once or twice for messing about and it can work fine, but under regular use and also stress testing, you can see problems after constant use. It's a common thing to do in any environment from software design to the production industry, if you don't know about daily use testing or stress testing, that explains alot....

obviously you 2 cannot listen to reason and logic so on that note, i'm outta this thread until some common sense appears.....

Ok - go, LOL.

I am sure Apple tested it. I am sure it worked fine. I'm sure they decided that Siri was a marketing differentiator and also that servers wouldn't be able to take the load putting everyone on Siri.

You say you want more proof. I say no more proof is needed. You aren't any more right in stating that you want more than I am to say I'm already convinced. Until YOU can prove otherwise, it works. How's that for ya? :)

Apple supposedly also tested their antenna on the iPhone 4 in high tech labs. Nuff said.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.