Apple's Steve Jobs wasn't a fan of the name 'Siri'

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 49
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    It is rather unusual for Apple to acquire a company and product and then not change the name after 2 years of development and integration that took its capabilities far past when the standalone app could do. I wish they would have changed it if only to have prevented the "I had Siri back in 2008 working fine on my iPhone 3G comments."
  • Reply 22 of 49
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    "Siri" is Norwegian for "beautiful woman who leads you to victory."





    Seems they didn't take into account what it means in Japanese.



    "buttocks"



    http://jisho.org/

    Type "siri" into the Japanese box.
  • Reply 23 of 49
    I think the name Sharon Apple would have been awesome. The AI from Macross Plus.
  • Reply 24 of 49
    hittrj01hittrj01 Posts: 753member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rednaxela View Post


    Seems they didn't take into account what it means in Japanese.



    "buttocks"



    http://jisho.org/

    Type "siri" into the Japanese box.



    Just like Nintendo didn't take into account the adolescent sense of humor in America when they came out with the Wii, yet it's still easy to spell and easy to remember, so it still works.
  • Reply 25 of 49
    They should have used Ahnold's voice and could have called it 'Governator'.
  • Reply 26 of 49
    wardcwardc Posts: 150member
    Steve would have called it LISA if he had the chance...



    "Language Input Services Assistant"



    In honor of his daughter Lisa, of course...he named the Mac XL the "Lisa" in 1983, after all...
  • Reply 27 of 49
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by WardC View Post


    In honor of his daughter Lisa, of course...he named the Mac XL the "Lisa" in 1983, after all...



    Er, you have that backward.
  • Reply 28 of 49
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by I am a Zither Zather Zuzz View Post


    Wrong again. I read the bio.



    I saw scant evidence that Steve listened to others.



    You read it wrong.
  • Reply 29 of 49
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MobileMe View Post


    The "cracked it!" remark, is more likely in reference to the APPLE TV SET that they're rumored to be developing.





    That makes no sense. This is a quote from Kittlaus regarding his sense of what Jobs felt about Siri. It's not even a literal Jobs quote about anything.
  • Reply 30 of 49
    bill42bill42 Posts: 131member
    You can't be Siri-ous.
  • Reply 31 of 49
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bill42 View Post


    You can't be Siri-ous.



    "I am Sirious. And don't call me Steve."



    Wait…
  • Reply 32 of 49
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Anyway, it worked out. Siri is a great name. I thought it had more to do with SRI, but it's nice to know it has mythic resonance in Norway.



    I am still amazed at the experience of talking to my phone and having it respond in a semi-human way. And the way she says "while" in two syllables, as in "try again in a little while"—so damn precious. It gets me every time, and I don't even mind that she "can't take any requests right now," which happens more than once a day. It's no wonder to me that Siri's not on the iPad or the iPhone 4, though the noise-canceling must be the other big factor. I can use it in my ancient Volkswagen and she still gets what i'm saying.
  • Reply 33 of 49
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by I am a Zither Zather Zuzz View Post


    Wrong again. I read the bio.



    I saw scant evidence that Steve listened to others.



    Just one of many examples: Jobs didn't want the iPod to work with Windows computers; didn't want to create iTunes for Windows. Everyone stoop up to him (as he expected them to when people believed in what they were saying) and he capitulated.



    Was Jobs always right? No, of course not.



    Did Jobs create an atmosphere of creative tension where great ideas usual won out? Yes.



    Did he "listen to others?" Duh.
  • Reply 34 of 49
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,927member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by I am a Zither Zather Zuzz View Post


    Wrong again. I read the bio.



    I saw scant evidence that Steve listened to others.



    don't forget how Jobs listened to Ron Johnson in the layout of the Apple store with the Genius Bars.
  • Reply 35 of 49
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by malax View Post


    Just one of many examples: Jobs didn't want the iPod to work with Windows computers; didn't want to create iTunes for Windows. Everyone stoop up to him (as he expected them to when people believed in what they were saying) and he capitulated.



    Was Jobs always right? No, of course not.



    Did Jobs create an atmosphere of creative tension where great ideas usual won out? Yes.



    Did he "listen to others?" Duh.



    I like that phrase, "atmosphere of creative tension." That's exactly what his prickliness produced, apparently, for those who could stand up to it.



    Also, the way he would claim others' ideas as his own: he was still listening, just not acknowledging in the usual way. I think he probably knew that others knew that he was playing a game.



    I sometimes imagine that he and Larry Ellison went over the techniques of Samurai and Zen masters on the good-natured infliction of pain, disgrace and humiliation as teaching tools.
  • Reply 36 of 49
    cityguidecityguide Posts: 129member
    What's in a name? In the U.S. Kelly, Chris and Dana are all examples of names used by men and women.
  • Reply 37 of 49
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    And he also didn't like the name "Macintosh" and failed to come up with something better. He can be wrong.



    Ah, but look at the Apple product lineup now and the Apple website. Steve all but eliminated the "Macintosh" name from Apple, so he never warmed up to the name either.



    I like the name Siri, and now that I know the Norwegian definition of the name I like it even more (of course I am of Scandinavian ancestry and thus admit my bias). However, with the passing of Steve, the Siri name is liable to be with us for a very long time, unlikely to be eliminated.
  • Reply 38 of 49
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post


    don't forget how Jobs listened to Ron Johnson in the layout of the Apple store with the Genius Bars.



    Or, more importantly, he didn't want apps on the iPhone. From the biography:



    Board member Art Levinson was among those pushing to allow iPhone apps. ?I called him a half dozen times to lobby for the potential of the apps,? he recalled. If Apple didn?t allow them, indeed encourage them, another smartphone maker would, giving itself a competitive advantage. Apple?s marketing chief Phil Schiller agreed. ?I couldn?t imagine that we would create something as powerful as the iPhone and not empower developers to make lots of apps,? he recalled. ?I knew customers would love them.? From the outside, the venture capitalist John Doerr argued that permitting apps would spawn a profusion of new entrepreneurs who would create new services.

    Jobs at first quashed the discussion, partly because he felt his team did not have*the bandwidth to figure out all of the complexities that would be involved in policing third-party app developers. He wanted focus. ?So he didn?t want to talk about it,? said Schiller. But as soon as the iPhone was launched, he was willing to hear the debate. ?Every time the conversation happened, Steve seemed a little more open,? said Levinson. There were freewheeling discussions at four board meetings.

    Jobs soon figured out that there was a way to have the best of both worlds. He would permit outsiders to write apps, but they would have to meet strict standards, be tested and approved by Apple, and be sold only through the iTunes Store. It was a way to reap the advantage of empowering thousands of software developers while retaining enough control to protect the integrity of the iPhone and the simplicity of the customer experience. ?It was an absolutely magical solution that hit the sweet spot,? said Levinson. ?It gave us the benefits of openness while retaining end-to-end control
  • Reply 39 of 49
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flaneur View Post


    I am still amazed at the experience of talking to my phone and having it respond in a semi-human way. And the way she says "while" in two syllables,



    Like my wife, on both counts (US regional accents die hard)





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flaneur View Post


    and I don't even mind that she "can't take any requests right now," which happens more than once a day..



    All three counts! : )
  • Reply 40 of 49
    rbryanhrbryanh Posts: 263member
    The Hagiography of Jobs has gone beyond tedious. "Steve Jobs didn't like blue socks." "Steve Jobs adored marmalade." "Steve Jobs though hot tubs were tacky."



    There is no journalism in the 21st century, is there? Just the endless churn of celebrity trivia.
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