You lost me with Alexa.
The Hound is very good.
I use Siri often and despite messing up on some basic things she does a lot correct. I want to see progress but people overestimate Google Assistent. It sucks and is easy to mess it up. They all suck.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Walt Mossberg Calls Siri 'Too Limited and Unreliable' to Compete in 'Coming AI Wars'
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The Hound is very good.
I use Siri often and despite messing up on some basic things she does a lot correct. I want to see progress but people overestimate Google Assistent. It sucks and is easy to mess it up. They all suck.
You would think that the Siri engineering team and execs must use Google voice search on their I devices. As crippled as it is on IOS it still is better for searching than SIRI. On an Android phone vs Siri on IOS is not in the same decade. Gotta go my Apple watch just dinged, and told me to breathe, Thanks Apple great priorities . 
He aint wrong, Siri is almost completely useless. Beyond setting timers and reminders (and it still manages to **** those up half the time) it is useless.
Ask it a question that Google Now can answer easily and you'll often just get a small browser result that isn't specific to your query and doesn't have the answer.
Apple needs to do more than double down on Siri.
Ask it a question that Google Now can answer easily and you'll often just get a small browser result that isn't specific to your query and doesn't have the answer.
Apple needs to do more than double down on Siri.
Interesting.
I have had little games with friends at work siri v.s. Google and they are about equal with being dim-witted at various types of questions. Both (in my personal use) have hearing / comprehension issues at times, and love to auto correct words that make absolutely zero sense in the given context of what is being dictated.
IMO, They are both far better than they were in their early beginnings though. On an Aside, it is nice to see Walt be more critical about Apple for a change. It was almost like he was best friends with Jobs, and daren't say anything negative for far too long.
I have had little games with friends at work siri v.s. Google and they are about equal with being dim-witted at various types of questions. Both (in my personal use) have hearing / comprehension issues at times, and love to auto correct words that make absolutely zero sense in the given context of what is being dictated.
IMO, They are both far better than they were in their early beginnings though. On an Aside, it is nice to see Walt be more critical about Apple for a change. It was almost like he was best friends with Jobs, and daren't say anything negative for far too long.
I really am beginning to wonder just what Apple has been working on the past year. These rumored new Macs better be amazing because right now nothing seems to be happening. The majority of major developments have all come from developers (which is a good thing). The biggest thing to happen to iPad was a fully functioning Microsoft Office. Apple Music still needs work (especially with the personalized playlist). Yes I listen to classical while studying but no I do not want to transition from classic rock to classic music
I sometimes get frustrated with Siri.
When it works, it is like magic, but sometimes the simplest things seem to confuse her.
One of many examples:
I ask Siri to take me to the closest gas station in an unfamiliar area I was driving in. She takes me to a closed down gas station. I ask her again to take me to the next closest one, she then directs me to the closed down one, saying it is the only one in the area. Which was not true.
I ask about every couple miles to direct me to the closest gas station, she kept giving me the closed down one. I found one myself, and asked her again just to see what she would say. She again directed me to the closed downed station, which I was about 10 miles away from it.
When it works, it is like magic, but sometimes the simplest things seem to confuse her.
One of many examples:
I ask Siri to take me to the closest gas station in an unfamiliar area I was driving in. She takes me to a closed down gas station. I ask her again to take me to the next closest one, she then directs me to the closed down one, saying it is the only one in the area. Which was not true.
I ask about every couple miles to direct me to the closest gas station, she kept giving me the closed down one. I found one myself, and asked her again just to see what she would say. She again directed me to the closed downed station, which I was about 10 miles away from it.
It's true, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa do more in an easier to use more reliable way. I've heard that Siri lags because they are trying to get Siri to understand more conversational ways to say things to not require the user to use a particular phrase but frankly if that is so the technology just isn't there yet. Siri is NOT reliable and now I only use it for the most basic of functions like checking the temperature. They have improved her copying down what I say at least. The "hey siri" listen function barely worked on my 6S and is a bit better on my 7 but it fails at least 50% of the time and I look like an ass so I stop trying. even what used to be reliable, holding down the button on the phone and talking at the chime, is now difficult since Apple removed the Siri chime with the button in iOS 9 and iOS 10 so you don't know how long to wait before starting to talk. Siri is a mess and the explanations of why Google and Amazon are progressing are not holding water anymore.
why do i need to be connected to internet to set a timer?
This is a huge failing. This is where the Hound seems most advanced. The ability to remember a conversation is happening not just a few random words for a command.
One of the keys to "AI" when it comes to a an electronic personal assistant is context. Imagine this: You're walking down the street and someone walks up to you and says "Menu?". You will likely be confused/think the person is crazy/think you misunderstood them. Now. you're sitting at a table in a restaurant and a waiter comes to your table and says "Menu?". It make perfect sense because of the context.
This, I think is a major hurdle that programmers haven't yet figured out how to get over. Siri doesn't work well because it can't inject context into your question or command. Granted, this is just one component but I think it's an important one.
This, I think is a major hurdle that programmers haven't yet figured out how to get over. Siri doesn't work well because it can't inject context into your question or command. Granted, this is just one component but I think it's an important one.
Also I agree with him that Apple squandered their lead. Siri came out way before the other voice assistents. Back in 2011 I had it on my iPhone 4S which I got on launch day.
It was very basic back then and found it hard to understand you, however the features that it could do were limited and have remained so for a long time.
It took them forever just to add a basic command like "turn on bluetooth". It has been clear from the beginning that Apple just doesn't care enough about Siri and assistants. To them it's an auxiliary feature. They need thousands of engineers working on this like Google have to make it worthwhile.
As a developer it actually annoys me that they bought the company that made Siri stuck it on the phone then did nothing with it. No wonder the original developers left to make Viv (since purchased by Samsung). It's clear that once Apple got it they sat on it.
It was very basic back then and found it hard to understand you, however the features that it could do were limited and have remained so for a long time.
It took them forever just to add a basic command like "turn on bluetooth". It has been clear from the beginning that Apple just doesn't care enough about Siri and assistants. To them it's an auxiliary feature. They need thousands of engineers working on this like Google have to make it worthwhile.
As a developer it actually annoys me that they bought the company that made Siri stuck it on the phone then did nothing with it. No wonder the original developers left to make Viv (since purchased by Samsung). It's clear that once Apple got it they sat on it.
I think a lot of Siri's problems are systemic to the company, and similar to why MS seems to have had troubles with innovation in the past: they try to be everything to everyone: Laptops, desktops, power machines, phones, MP3 players, tablets of varying sizes, watches, TV boxes, cars, not to mention ancillary products like WAPs, displays, etc. They're stretched too thin; all the market valuation in the world won't help that. Get back to focusing on a few things, make them better than anyone else, and do some R&D on one or two other "new" things, at most.
I just asked Siri "should i buy a samsung note 7" and it took me to my notes.
Ugh
Ugh
Considering the supposed objectivity of journalists, Walt and Steve certainly had a special kind of relationship in the latter years of Steve's life. A certain kind of respect and awe from Walt's side, and the need for a trustworthy and 'Apple-friendly' media insider from Steve's perspective.
I would have loved to be a 'fly-on-the-wall' during one of their leisurely strolls in Palo Alto.
"Siri "seems stagnant" and is "too limited and unreliable" compared to other services".......this Sums up Apple as a whole at the moment. It could be its motto......or epitaph.
So frustrating when Siri don't know what you mean when asking, but in the answer "she" answers with the very thing she did not understand when telling her, like: (in Swedish on 1 of our form of "hour", have not tried the English version)
Me: - Set the timer on 1 hour
Siri: - How long time?
Me: - 1 hour
Siri: - I don't know what you mean, for how long?
Me: - 1 HOUR......
Siri: - I don't understand
Me: - 60 minutes
Siri: Setting timer on 1 hour
Me: - Set the timer on 1 hour
Siri: - How long time?
Me: - 1 hour
Siri: - I don't know what you mean, for how long?
Me: - 1 HOUR......
Siri: - I don't understand
Me: - 60 minutes
Siri: Setting timer on 1 hour
Because the voice recognition is done on Apple servers, not your device. Voice recognition is very hard and takes a lot of compute.