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Luke MacWalker

macrumors regular
Jun 10, 2014
139
128
Absolutely - the trigger words should be less US-Centric as well (perish the thought). English people certainly dont go around using the word "Hey" in the manner that we are expected to for Siri - and definitely not out loud and in public - its embarrassing.

My toddler does know enough however to say "Hey Siri - why are you rubbish" when it fails (yet again) to play a simple playlist.
It is adapted to other languages: in French in France, “Hey Siri” becomes “Dis Siri” (meaning about the same as “hey” with the additional meaning in this case too of “tell me, Siri”).
In Japanese they kept “Hey” though… (“Hey Shiri”).
So I suppose it depends on the language (or country).
 

ErikGrim

macrumors 604
Jun 20, 2003
6,513
5,141
Brisbane, Australia
In hindsight, the iPhone 4S event as a whole had a bit of a somber feeling to it, as Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs passed away the following day. We've embedded a video of the event below, with Schiller introducing Siri around the 19:25 mark.

Not even in hindsight. I remember watching it live thinking how low energy and somber it felt.
 

MallardDuck

macrumors 68000
Jul 21, 2014
1,652
3,196
So that makes Siri the worlds dumbest 10 year old?

It's beyond embarrassing how little it's improved. Right up there with HomeKit as the worst apple products of the modern era
 

MallardDuck

macrumors 68000
Jul 21, 2014
1,652
3,196
Since the Apple TV with Siri remote was first introduced.
A 'feature' I wish I could completely disable. I'm constantly hitting that button by mistake and blocking out the video. It's completely useless. Apple engineers are beyond just the field...they're inside the reality distortion singularity when it comes to siri.
 

Tork

macrumors regular
Oct 14, 2006
224
160
I’ll never forget how noticeably off everyone was during that keynote knowing what was about to happen with Steve.

And on that note, the potential Siri had was insane and it’s so sad to think how much better all of the virtual assistants would be today if he were still with us and made Siri, and therefore the competition, live up to what they should be.
 
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TVreporter

macrumors 68020
Mar 11, 2012
2,028
3,392
Near Toronto
The dumbest Virtual Assistant. There is a free search search service LazyWeb that is 1000X smarter than Siri.

But I have to say when Jobs demonstrated it, it really was something like the Jetsons... a computer that understands you. Wow...
… Jobs did not demonstrate it. He died the next day after they introduced Siri.
 

4jasontv

Suspended
Jul 31, 2011
6,272
7,548
The only time i ever use Siri is on the Apple TV, when i miss something because i didn't understand it or was distracted.

"go back 30 seconds"
"what did she say?"

Both commands never fail.

Very rarely i use it to change music while driving. But it often doesn't play what i want or says something like "currently not available"
This is also the only use case in our house. However, I have noticed a bug recently on the Apple TV where it appears to sometimes turn captions off if they were already on and you ask 'What did she say?"
 

CarpalMac

macrumors 68000
Nov 19, 2012
1,658
4,077
UK
I don’t really give Apple credit for that. Siri was a standalone app that in my opinion, was actually better than it is now. Apple bought it and just took all the charm out of it and then slap their name on it and embedded it into ios.

Oh I agree, they just bought it off a shelf. But comparing to Google and Amazon though, but by deciding to integrate they were way ahead of those two.
 

nwcs

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2009
2,722
5,262
Tennessee
A 'feature' I wish I could completely disable. I'm constantly hitting that button by mistake and blocking out the video. It's completely useless. Apple engineers are beyond just the field...they're inside the reality distortion singularity when it comes to siri.
You're less likely to hit the button with the new Siri remote, though I've not had any real issues using either and avoiding that button. I do like the new remote much better overall, though.
 

darcyf

macrumors 6502a
Apr 25, 2011
781
1,267
Toronto, ON
Siri was acquired, not apple made. Apple just f-ed her up a lot. And in a decade should’ve been able to do something more with it Considering their resources
This is what I’m saying. Under steadier hands they would not have rushed into the acquisition and deployment to be the first smartphone you could talk to. They would have either taken more time in the acquisition process to find a better candidate than the one they went with, or pumped the breaks post acquisition when it became clear the platform they chose wasn’t robust enough.

You’re exactly right that apple have the resources to do better, so clearly this platform has issues that go beyond a lack a will. If they’d taken more time at the outset, like they typically do, the apple personal assistant AI likely would not have been first to market but would most likely be best in class today.
 

Tig Bitties

macrumors 603
Sep 6, 2012
5,515
5,688
Apple should just allow Google search to be default, let users say "Ok Google". Apple would make billions from Google renting that feature. for iPhone.

I have a iPhone 12 Pro Max, and never once used Siri, it's actually never been activated my on phone. But I use Google Assistant daily on my Pixel 4 XL and 5a.
 

MisterSavage

macrumors 601
Nov 10, 2018
4,835
5,734
Apple should just allow Google search to be default, let users say "Ok Google". Apple would make billions from Google renting that feature. for iPhone.

I have a iPhone 12 Pro Max, and never once used Siri, it's actually never been activated my on phone. But I use Google Assistant daily on my Pixel 4 XL and 5a.

So this is a little clunky, but you can create a Shortcut that has Siri pass your dictated query to the Google Assistant.

IMG_F1A24C45EC7F-1.jpeg
 

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
13,042
6,982
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
“Hey Siri, have you got better over the past ten years?”

”here’s what I found on the web about battering pasties and tin shears”

"hey Siri, have you improved over the last 10 years?"
"Hey Siri, has your functioning improved over the last 10 years?"

Siri: 'I'm not sure I understand' is what I get.

That said it did change the entire market and brought new life into smartphones! I can definitely see why Scott had to bring this to Apple and I'm sure ANY executive seeing Siri as an app presented on stage would've done the same.

considering : Apple Knowledge Navigator ... an iPad + Siri concept back in 1987!
 

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
13,042
6,982
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
For the last 10 years, my typical experience with Siri goes like this ( for this example let's say my girlfriend is named Jane Smith, which I have nicknamed in contacts as "girlfriend"):

Me - Hey Siri, call my girlfriend
Siri - I'm sorry, there's not a number for Jane Smith in your contacts
Me - Hey Siri, call JANE SMITH
Siri - I'm sorry, there's not a number for Jane Smith in your contacts
Me - Hey Siri, call JANE....SMITH
Siri - I'm sorry, there's not a number for Jane Smith in your contacts
Me - $&%*$#&% Siri!
Siri - Calling Jane Smith, mobile

i thought Siri was hinting Jane Smith had dumped you, disabled iMessage and iCloud from her new number and thus didn’t update your phone contact for her = iCloud ghosted.
 

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
13,042
6,982
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alexa and Google Home are MILES better than Siri could ever hope to be
At the cost of your privacy and security and with anyone in microphone range able to send commands inaudible to the human ear for your Alexa device to execute. No thanks.

That said Siri has become an embarrassment and a HUGE cost to Apple hiring and paying along with stock options to a former Google AI analyst whom has NOT delivered anything new significantly new!

refined playback voices and a few more make/female voice accents??! Ourchasing Shortcuts iOS app and merging it with macOS and iOS/iPadOS.

their paying hundreds of thousands of US dollars and naming the Googler an executive role with stock options for this?!!!??

Apple shouldn’t even mention on stage at events nor even in print anything about Siri until a major rework with significant features actions and abilities has been done. It’s embarrassing
 

Naraxus

macrumors 68020
Oct 13, 2016
2,205
8,880
At the cost of your privacy and security and with anyone in microphone range able to send commands inaudible to the human ear for your Alexa device to execute. No thanks.
Don't ever use privacy & security when making a pro/con Apple-Amazon-Google argument again. Google & Amazon may not hide what they collect on you but they certainly aren't introducing backdoor spyware like Apple tried/is trying to do. Apple has no moral highground or claims to protection of privacy any more.
 

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
13,042
6,982
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Don't ever use privacy & security when making a pro/con Apple-Amazon-Google argument again. Google & Amazon may not hide what they collect on you but they certainly aren't introducing backdoor spyware like Apple tried/is trying to do. Apple has no moral highground or claims to protection of privacy any more.

Just because Google and Amazon don't create a specific backdoor doesn't mean they're adverse to failed protections and privacy.

1 they didn't even communicate - that's hiding and worse in my mind.
- better the evil you KNOW ... if you don't know you don't know what's going on.

The fact they didn't say nothing at ALL means it went completely unnoticed (regarding CSAM) and thus that's why NO backlash!

'the best thing the devil ever did, is convince the world he didn't exist'.

Apple at least communicated this and THAT is the reason for the backlash they made it known. Google and Amazon, Google especially just implemented this AND specifcally launched pictures sync unlimited for free for a few years.(implemented CSAM on server searching 7yrs prior).
 
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