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Will Apple Charge for Its Siri Chatbot?
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I’ll believe it when I see it. Siri still hasn’t mastered playing a song or playlist, or responding correctly to home requests consistently. One second my iPhone works great, the next it fails. So I have to talk to the HomePod or Siri Remote. These are simple requests that worked fine ten years ago.
Me: Hey Siri! How to spell ninety
Siri: 90 (says ninety) 9 0 (and says nine zero) !
How much should they charge for this?
Siri: 90 (says ninety) 9 0 (and says nine zero) !
How much should they charge for this?
What a silly question. Someone has to pay, Apple are a business not a charity. There are significant extra power and water costs in AI over good old gramma Siri's "Re: FW: Re: Re: FW "LOL I found this on the web for you sweety" stuff.
The user can pay sub
The devices go up in price
You become the product to sell
Pick 1 or more of those options: It's simple stuff, really.
Me, I prefer they leave it. Siri is good at timers, she can turn lights on an off. And I think Ai is very ethically impure for my use at all. However, a lot of people do use it, and it's not my place to stop them, so I honestly hope for that cohort they move to providing hooks that people can choose thier replacement engine. Claude, Grok, Chat, Perplexity, Qwen, zAI, whatever. I am a person for options. People need the ability to use iumportant tech in a way that suits them
The user can pay sub
The devices go up in price
You become the product to sell
Pick 1 or more of those options: It's simple stuff, really.
Me, I prefer they leave it. Siri is good at timers, she can turn lights on an off. And I think Ai is very ethically impure for my use at all. However, a lot of people do use it, and it's not my place to stop them, so I honestly hope for that cohort they move to providing hooks that people can choose thier replacement engine. Claude, Grok, Chat, Perplexity, Qwen, zAI, whatever. I am a person for options. People need the ability to use iumportant tech in a way that suits them
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Hey Goo-ple Siri!
“Hey! I take offense at that. I am an entirely Apple developed, on device, new and improved Siri!”
I’m sorry. That was a cheap shot. Hey Siri, how do I turn you off?
“It’s ok. Your question is easily answered in the requirement that you have a solution of 25% Diethyltoluamide. Then you’ll have it!”
What are you talking about, Siri, I just want to turn you off.
“Of course. I understand and have answered your question. That is the active ingredient of OFF! Would you like to know more about mosquitoes? I’m much more conversant on such subjects now that I’m improved!”
“Hey! I take offense at that. I am an entirely Apple developed, on device, new and improved Siri!”
I’m sorry. That was a cheap shot. Hey Siri, how do I turn you off?
“It’s ok. Your question is easily answered in the requirement that you have a solution of 25% Diethyltoluamide. Then you’ll have it!”
What are you talking about, Siri, I just want to turn you off.
“Of course. I understand and have answered your question. That is the active ingredient of OFF! Would you like to know more about mosquitoes? I’m much more conversant on such subjects now that I’m improved!”
Well, Apple could make it one of its environmental goals to reduce energy use by Siri and I am sure they will. That 0.24 watt hours will be cut in half by by eliminating “Here is what I found on the web” from the chatbot’s repertoire.
“… needs serious compute power.” Wouldn't that mean Apple hast to get into data center construction? If so, an environmental challenge for the company. Where to build to rely on renewable energy for cooling? This would be the answer of the Mighty Man to whom you gave the golden gift: I know of a big beautiful icy island … 😊
I don't get it. I thought Apple had already announced they were going to offload much of "Apple Intelligence" to Gemini (Google Intelligence). This announcement plus the stampede of Apple "AI" developers to other companies seems a strong indication that "Siri AI" or "Siri Chatbot" is really just Gemini re-branded somehow. Am I wrong?
Ever since I realized the only thing Siri can do reliably is set alarms and timers, there’s absolutely no chance I’m paying for that. Not a dime. Forget it.
Siri is basically the biggest punchline in the tech industry. It used to look shiny and promising, and now it’s just… garbage. And the best part? Apple themselves are the ones who tossed it straight into the trash.
If you’re willing to pay for a countdown timer, then honestly, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to Siri. It’s absolutely worth every penny — very possibly the smartest subscription decision you’ll ever make in your entire life.
Siri is basically the biggest punchline in the tech industry. It used to look shiny and promising, and now it’s just… garbage. And the best part? Apple themselves are the ones who tossed it straight into the trash.
If you’re willing to pay for a countdown timer, then honestly, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to Siri. It’s absolutely worth every penny — very possibly the smartest subscription decision you’ll ever make in your entire life.
Knowing Apple, this thing is going to be so locked down with "safety" guardrails that it's just going to be Gemini (which is already super restrictive) on a leash drugged to a stupor in a straightjacket with a gag in its mouth.
I’m sorry. This is not what I want Siri to do. I want Siri to use apples competitive advantage (it’s certainly real to all my installed apps). Make Siri an agent that can work inside my apps. Let me ask Siri to do things for me, not a glorified search engine with watered down silly features within their apps. Someone is missing the bigger picture and Apple will let this slip away. Siri has a chance to be so much more, not a clippy
Apple will eventually push people out of their “premium” hardware ecosystem if they keep charging a top dollar for the hardware AND make you pay a subscription cost to use modern day features.
It would be good if this were true. But our data is so valuable it’s hard to imagine the company allowing it’s users any control.
Protecting one’s data is becoming ever more complex and difficult. Even if these tech giants didn’t sell it, the value of collecting our data for their internal use is priceless.
We have always paid a premium to have Apple devices, although in the not too distant past, we did have to pay for iWork and OS products.
Sadly Apple has realised, as most 'accountant' led companies do, that regular payments, are better than one off's, as they can generally be 'forecasted'.
I am sad it has come to this, as subscriptions are the single most cause of debt, and then defaults, as people rack up, a subscription here, a subscription there, and fail to note they add up, and cause financial hardships to sum. Importantly to me, at least, is that Apple doesn't force AI down our throats, and gives us the option to either chose not to use it, or to use the LLM of our choosing.
Sadly Apple has realised, as most 'accountant' led companies do, that regular payments, are better than one off's, as they can generally be 'forecasted'.
I am sad it has come to this, as subscriptions are the single most cause of debt, and then defaults, as people rack up, a subscription here, a subscription there, and fail to note they add up, and cause financial hardships to sum. Importantly to me, at least, is that Apple doesn't force AI down our throats, and gives us the option to either chose not to use it, or to use the LLM of our choosing.
