Steve Jobs "lost his mind" over MobileMe performance as well. But he "lost his mind" quite a bit later on, after enough gnashing of teeth and hand-wringing.
Instead, the service improved over time.
MobileMe was implemented (and half-assed) under Steve Jobs' watch.
Now I'm not making this comment as a jab at either Siri or the former MobileMe, nor am I implying that Jobs was not concerned about quality. All I am saying is that Jobs, for better or worse, prioritized things a certain way. Tim Cook is doing the same.
Siri is still in Beta. Given that it is just beta software, it works very well. Nobody should expect that beta software will be 100%
That's just an excuse. Apple isn't promoting Siri is being in beta. They're using it as a major selling feature for the iPhone 4S.
I love Apple. Love my Mini, my Apple TV, my iPhone and my iPad, but I don't like the idea of making excuses - even for Apple - when products don't meet expectations.
Siri is nowhere near as bad a clusterf*ck as iCloud, and especially the MobileMe to iCloud transition. Duplicate contacts, duplicate phone numbers per contact, mandatory upgrade to Lion, good luck if you're using an older computer that's not Lion-compatible or an app as common as Quicken. Okay, Timmy, we got the message, you want us to buy a new Mac. Making the transition painless would go a long way towards convincing us to do so.
I guess there's little point in mentioning that 95% of the time Siri works just fine for me, but I don't ask it to find "funky" names of locations, songs, etc. that I know it would be hard to understand. I must be in the minority.
There is nothing special in Siri and what you observed.
Even IBM claimed at least 10 years ago that 99% of challenge was making machine recognize 1% of speech scenarios humans would not have problems with.
After iPhone 4s release I said that Siri is gimmick and most of the users would probably dump this feature after a few frustrating attempts to request something that the assistant will misunderstand.
I disagree. Google understands my speech better in both Spanish and English. Siri of course does not speak Spanish. Problem is neither of them understand me when I mix the two languages which is quite often necessary when living in California with all the Spanish names of places and things. Also in Spanish, quite frequently there is no Spanish word for many modern English nouns so you use the English word instead which is usually spoken without an accent. Both technologies fail miserably in this context. Voice recognition has advanced about 1% from where it was 10 years ago and is miles from where it needs to be to actually be useful. Who wants to repeat themselves twenty times before giving up when the whole point of voice recognition is to simplify common tasks.
Yeah... Spanish is hard for Siri. For example asking Siri to play:
-- el rancho grande --- nothing
-- rancho grande -- got it
-- los coconitos -- returned cocaine blues
-- zacatecas -- got it 2 out of 3
-- y andale -- returned jan and dean
-- las mañitas -- 1 out of 3
-- hay unos ojos -- returned Alan Sherman's Camp Granada
-- estrellita -- 1 out of 3
-- svi za ljubav * -- waiting for the robert e lee
The last was Croatian -- so there you go... nice to hear Al Jolson, though
Here's what I don't get. The story isn't that Steve didn't approve of Siri, or that he lost his mind over it. The story is apparently some former employee's PERSONAL OPINION about what he/she *THINKS* Steve would do. Well, I've got opinions about what Steve *would* do too. So does everyone else. Apparently, Adam Lahsinsky quoting you makes your opinion newsworthy.
This would make a fun poll. Invariably for me, Siri flubs this particular line, whether speaking slowly (with or without clear breaks between words) or normally. Some of its more common misinterpretations are:
"Remind me to put the guess Bacho on ice in an hour"
"Remind me to put the dispatch on Icenhower"
"Remind me to put the guest spot show on ice in an hour"
I don't know about you, but I'm scheduled to kill the dispatcher in about 59 minutes
Indeed. I find these 'Steve Jobs would have..' ...just down-right wrong.
...
Siri is definitely not 'embarrassing', as in my experience its ahead of anything else out there in the consumer space, as well as the implementation.
For the people saying its not 'ready for prime time'- when would have it been ready? Now? In a year? 2 years? I guarantee in 5 years it will still **** up and will not be perfect, as there will still be an infinite number of dialects, accents, and contexts out there. There comes a point where it needs to be released so you can get the data and feedback of millions of users.
Siri is still in Beta. Given that it is just beta software, it works very well. Nobody should expect that beta software will be 100%
This is what drives me crazy. If it truly is Beta, then it should not be touted as a feature and used to sell the device. To me it seems more like they are trying to play both sides of the fence.
Interesting that Siri has so much difficulty with "gazpacho" for others, because it worked first try for me. I'm guessing that people are pronouncing it differently than expected - the word is gaz-PAH-cho, with a short first and second "A" vowel sound.
Interesting that Siri has so much difficulty with "gazpacho" for others, because it worked first try for me. I'm guessing that people are pronouncing it differently than expected - the word is gaz-PAH-cho, with a short first and second "A" vowel sound.
I've heard it pronounced GEH-spa-cho often, which is probably where some of the error originates.
This would make a fun poll. Invariably for me, Siri flubs this particular line, whether speaking slowly (with or without clear breaks between words) or normally. Some of its more common misinterpretations are:
"Remind me to put the guess Bacho on ice in an hour"
"Remind me to put the dispatch on Icenhower"
"Remind me to put the guest spot show on ice in an hour"
As evidenced by the words chosen in the mis-transcribed attempts, you're pronouncing gazpacho incorrectly. It's gaz-PAH-cho, with a hard z (not an s) sound, and short "a" sounds.
Do any of the TV spots mention the "beta" status of this feature? I only checked two, but I only saw "sequences shortened".
I don't think they do - and even if they did, many people (including friends who I have converted to Apple), aren't going to take notice of such messages. They will just focus on how cool and easy-to-use Siri is...and then get disappointed when it doesn't work as expected.
I actually queued up on for the iPhone 4S on launch day and so many of my friends/work colleagues were eager to give Siri a try
I'm not trying to bash Apple by any means - I love their products.
Again, I'm not in the US so it may be better over there...
In short, they only say it's beta in the last sentence at the very bottom of the page.
It's mentioned in the last sentence of the top entry of the FAQ.
I never noticed a disclaimer in the TV ads.
I think that could be done better, because the disclaimers are done as if they're hoping you don't notice it. It seems inappropriate to make a beta feature also your headline feature, and advertise it so heavily without making it clearer.
Or, you know, instead of all that garbage you could have looked at the SECOND word on that page, right after 'Siri'. emblazoned in an impossible to miss, bright orange badge, the only word on that page in such a badge. Did you honestly not see it, or did you pretend to as as to give your narrative weight and? No Cmd-F needed. Here, let me help you out..
For people with eyes, I think this is clear enough. No need to go digging through FAQS, disclaimers, etc.
Comments
Baloney.
Steve Jobs "lost his mind" over MobileMe performance as well. But he "lost his mind" quite a bit later on, after enough gnashing of teeth and hand-wringing.
Instead, the service improved over time.
MobileMe was implemented (and half-assed) under Steve Jobs' watch.
Now I'm not making this comment as a jab at either Siri or the former MobileMe, nor am I implying that Jobs was not concerned about quality. All I am saying is that Jobs, for better or worse, prioritized things a certain way. Tim Cook is doing the same.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hyram Gestan
Siri is still in Beta. Given that it is just beta software, it works very well. Nobody should expect that beta software will be 100%
That's just an excuse. Apple isn't promoting Siri is being in beta. They're using it as a major selling feature for the iPhone 4S.
I love Apple. Love my Mini, my Apple TV, my iPhone and my iPad, but I don't like the idea of making excuses - even for Apple - when products don't meet expectations.
Siri is nowhere near as bad a clusterf*ck as iCloud, and especially the MobileMe to iCloud transition. Duplicate contacts, duplicate phone numbers per contact, mandatory upgrade to Lion, good luck if you're using an older computer that's not Lion-compatible or an app as common as Quicken. Okay, Timmy, we got the message, you want us to buy a new Mac. Making the transition painless would go a long way towards convincing us to do so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tikiman
I guess there's little point in mentioning that 95% of the time Siri works just fine for me, but I don't ask it to find "funky" names of locations, songs, etc. that I know it would be hard to understand. I must be in the minority.
There is nothing special in Siri and what you observed.
Even IBM claimed at least 10 years ago that 99% of challenge was making machine recognize 1% of speech scenarios humans would not have problems with.
After iPhone 4s release I said that Siri is gimmick and most of the users would probably dump this feature after a few frustrating attempts to request something that the assistant will misunderstand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orlando
When previously has Apple ever released something still in beta? I could easily imagine Steve Jobs being upset by that.
Umm . . . Many times?
off the top of my head do you remember
OS X?
FaceTime?
Messages?
I'm pretty sure of these but can think of more that I'm less sure about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
I disagree. Google understands my speech better in both Spanish and English. Siri of course does not speak Spanish. Problem is neither of them understand me when I mix the two languages which is quite often necessary when living in California with all the Spanish names of places and things. Also in Spanish, quite frequently there is no Spanish word for many modern English nouns so you use the English word instead which is usually spoken without an accent. Both technologies fail miserably in this context. Voice recognition has advanced about 1% from where it was 10 years ago and is miles from where it needs to be to actually be useful. Who wants to repeat themselves twenty times before giving up when the whole point of voice recognition is to simplify common tasks.
Yeah... Spanish is hard for Siri. For example asking Siri to play:
-- el rancho grande --- nothing
-- rancho grande -- got it
-- los coconitos -- returned cocaine blues
-- zacatecas -- got it 2 out of 3
-- y andale -- returned jan and dean
-- las mañitas -- 1 out of 3
-- hay unos ojos -- returned Alan Sherman's Camp Granada
-- estrellita -- 1 out of 3
-- svi za ljubav * -- waiting for the robert e lee
The last was Croatian -- so there you go... nice to hear Al Jolson, though
The story isn't that Steve didn't approve of Siri, or that he lost his mind over it.
The story is apparently some former employee's PERSONAL OPINION about what he/she *THINKS* Steve would do. Well, I've got opinions about what Steve *would* do too. So does everyone else. Apparently, Adam Lahsinsky quoting you makes your opinion newsworthy.
Still not much use in the UK. Turned it off after the first two weeks of owning my iPhone 4S.
Maybe Siri will be out of Beta for iOS 6....
I bet when Siri comes out of beta it will be much better,
but I don't think it will be this June...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cpsro
This would make a fun poll. Invariably for me, Siri flubs this particular line, whether speaking slowly (with or without clear breaks between words) or normally. Some of its more common misinterpretations are:
"Remind me to put the guess Bacho on ice in an hour"
"Remind me to put the dispatch on Icenhower"
"Remind me to put the guest spot show on ice in an hour"
I don't know about you, but I'm scheduled to kill the dispatcher in about 59 minutes
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slurpy
Indeed. I find these 'Steve Jobs would have..' ...just down-right wrong.
...
Siri is definitely not 'embarrassing', as in my experience its ahead of anything else out there in the consumer space, as well as the implementation.
For the people saying its not 'ready for prime time'- when would have it been ready? Now? In a year? 2 years? I guarantee in 5 years it will still **** up and will not be perfect, as there will still be an infinite number of dialects, accents, and contexts out there. There comes a point where it needs to be released so you can get the data and feedback of millions of users.
I totally agree!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hyram Gestan
Siri is still in Beta. Given that it is just beta software, it works very well. Nobody should expect that beta software will be 100%
This is what drives me crazy. If it truly is Beta, then it should not be touted as a feature and used to sell the device. To me it seems more like they are trying to play both sides of the fence.
Interesting that Siri has so much difficulty with "gazpacho" for others, because it worked first try for me. I'm guessing that people are pronouncing it differently than expected - the word is gaz-PAH-cho, with a short first and second "A" vowel sound.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
User: "How bout' dem Yankees?"
Siri: "Fugetaboutit!"
or
User: "hey Siri"
Siri: "youtakintame?"
Quote:
Originally Posted by parksgm
Interesting that Siri has so much difficulty with "gazpacho" for others, because it worked first try for me. I'm guessing that people are pronouncing it differently than expected - the word is gaz-PAH-cho, with a short first and second "A" vowel sound.
I've heard it pronounced GEH-spa-cho often, which is probably where some of the error originates.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cpsro
This would make a fun poll. Invariably for me, Siri flubs this particular line, whether speaking slowly (with or without clear breaks between words) or normally. Some of its more common misinterpretations are:
"Remind me to put the guess Bacho on ice in an hour"
"Remind me to put the dispatch on Icenhower"
"Remind me to put the guest spot show on ice in an hour"
As evidenced by the words chosen in the mis-transcribed attempts, you're pronouncing gazpacho incorrectly. It's gaz-PAH-cho, with a hard z (not an s) sound, and short "a" sounds.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM
Do any of the TV spots mention the "beta" status of this feature? I only checked two, but I only saw "sequences shortened".
I don't think they do - and even if they did, many people (including friends who I have converted to Apple), aren't going to take notice of such messages. They will just focus on how cool and easy-to-use Siri is...and then get disappointed when it doesn't work as expected.
I actually queued up on for the iPhone 4S on launch day and so many of my friends/work colleagues were eager to give Siri a try
I'm not trying to bash Apple by any means - I love their products.
Again, I'm not in the US so it may be better over there...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
I've heard it pronounced GEH-spa-cho often, which is probably where some of the error originates.
Yep, looks like that's the case, as my previous post illustrates.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM
Apple might say Siri is beta, but so far, only in very fine print. I had to do a Ctrl-F / Cmd-F to find the word beta in this page:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/siri.html
In short, they only say it's beta in the last sentence at the very bottom of the page.
It's mentioned in the last sentence of the top entry of the FAQ.
I never noticed a disclaimer in the TV ads.
I think that could be done better, because the disclaimers are done as if they're hoping you don't notice it. It seems inappropriate to make a beta feature also your headline feature, and advertise it so heavily without making it clearer.
Or, you know, instead of all that garbage you could have looked at the SECOND word on that page, right after 'Siri'. emblazoned in an impossible to miss, bright orange badge, the only word on that page in such a badge. Did you honestly not see it, or did you pretend to as as to give your narrative weight and? No Cmd-F needed. Here, let me help you out..
For people with eyes, I think this is clear enough. No need to go digging through FAQS, disclaimers, etc.