Apple’s Siri is Turning Technology in the Wrong Direction
List of 'things to say' to Siri. Source: NobleArc on Flickr
Computer giant, Apple, are the second most valuable company in the world at time of press, based on Market Cap, and their shares are worth just under $400; they are the height of innovation, and under Steve Jobs‘ direction, they revolutionised not just the music and computer industry, but the phone, tablet, software and publication industries too, all in the space of 40 years. Their latest innovation, Siri, is a virtual assistant found on the iPhone 4S, known for its humorous conversational nature, and sarcastic remarks, as you ask it anything from: “What’s the chances of needing an umbrella tomorrow?” all the way to “How many calories are in this sandwich?” Siri is most definitely a revolution, but does it completely defy the point of having a smartphone. A phone isn’t supposed to replace a person, after all.
Apple touted Siri as the first contextual voice recognition agent, which is what undoubtedly puts it above any other competitor in the industry. This means you can ask it the same question many different ways; there are no commands to learn. Siri will respond to: “I’m Hungry, what shall I do?” the same as it will respond to: “Find my some nearby restaurants.” Its changes to fit the user, the user doesn’t have to change to fit the software. Yes, it is fantastic, I could go on forever on its capabilities, its bank of knowledge from Wolfram Alpha, and its dictation capabilities, but there are a few concerns over whether this really will change the way we work.
We must firstly understand that the industry is scared of Siri. I wrote a blog post on my blog a little while back, on how Microsoft don’t seem to understand the point of it. They believe they have had the same technology in their ‘TellMe’ feature of Windows Phone 7 for months. It is Apple’s marketing which has given the chance for Siri to succeed. An extract from my post follows.
Microsoft don’t understand why Apple have succeeded with Siri. Apple marketed Siri well, and I assume most of you haven’t even heard of TellMe. Even if Siri wasn’t as good as it is, Apple would have been able to package it nicely and make a huge fuss, causing it to be popular. Thats what Apple did with iPad. They realised what people want, and even though most people don’t need an iPad, they forced everyone to want one.
Marketing helps, considerably, (I didn’t even know TellMe existed until very recently) but Google is worried of what Siri’s capabilities, and the threat to search. Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google, worried that Siri would kill search. Forbes even directly called Siri a “Google Killer”[1]. They are worried that Siri is the future, they worry that no-one will use their services when a user can do everything they want on their phone, just by speaking to it. So, generally, what Apple’s competitors believe is important in realising whether or not the exclusive feature will really take over our Smartphones.
In my opinion, I think that technology isn’t technology if it isn’t buttons, screens, and graphics. If you can interact with something, without even looking at it, it is not how technology is supposed to be, yet that is what it is evolving into. Speech is for interacting with other humans, not a smartphone. I understand we are in an age of excessive information overload. We are in a time when you can get any information you need from your phone, and even base your whole education on it. It helps, but when it is personal enough to advise you in your daily life, it is worryingly just too much. It is not the modern technology which we’re used to.
Apple have been rumoured to be developing a television set for quite a while now, which is expected to revolutionise yet another industry with its integrated web content and apps. What is most notable, is the way of controlling it. Analysts are expecting this TV, to be controlled by voice, specifically, Siri. Now this is where voice comes into it’s own. Steve Jobs was right that no-one wants a huge set of remote controls, getting lost, or muddled up. There needs to be an easy, useful way of controlling it. In Walter Isaacson‘s biography of the late CEO, he quotes Steve on this new device.
I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.
Source: Flickr/by Dan Nguyen@New York City
Talking to a smartphone like it is your friend is rather useless at times (although supremely entertaining) but using your voice to control your TV, really does change things. Of course Apple’s future releases are hidden behind their Cupertino campus’ doors, until a press or developer event is announced, so remember this is just speculation, and the twisting of words!
Technology is a way to gather new data easily and efficiently. It is equally for creating and consuming, and is for entertainment and games too. Technology just isn’t meant to replace a person. Siri, right now, as much as I think it is a stunning piece of software engineering, is a novelty. And being labelled ‘Beta’, an unfinished novelty. Albeit useful, it is yet to find its success. Whether that success comes in the shape of a TV, or some other type of home media hub, we won’t know quite yet. I will be sure to get an article out as soon as Apple announce their next iteration of Siri, with a refreshed opinion, and I am optimistic that it will be a good one. I have faith in Apple, to turn Siri into something magnificent. Something even better than it already is, something other than a virtual person.
I leave you with a humorous exchange between iFixit, the website which tears down the latest technology in order to see what is inside, and Siri, prior to them taking the iPhone 4S apart.
iFixit: “Siri, may we disassemble you for all to see?”
iPhone 4S (Siri): “42″
iFixit: “I didn’t ask for the meaning of life, Siri…”
iPhone 4S (Siri): “42 is the number of seconds you have left until I initiate the self-destruct sequence…”
iFixit: “Message received.”[2]
[1] Computerworld.com
[2] ifixit.com
Featured image courtesy of planetc1 on Flickr
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