Is Apple getting Siri-ous in the face of Amazon's Alexa Echo?

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2017
There's a new gold rush in tech, related to voice assistance and a voice-first interface for everything we do at home, in the car and while out and about. What happens if the world's best positioned, most profitable tech company fails to capitalize on it?




Apple introduced Siri back in 2011 as a key marketing feature of iPhone 4s and iOS 5. While much of the technology behind Siri was acquired by Apple, the company integrated specialized voice logic hardware support to make Siri's voice recognition work better.

Voice-first gets mocked by Google, Microsoft

Executives from Google and Microsoft initially went on record as stating that Apple's voice-first Siri was totally the wrong thing to be doing. These weren't just upper-level executives isolated from mobile operations. Andy Rubin, Google's lead developer of Android, insisted that he didn't "believe that your phone should be an assistant" like Siri

Andy Rubin, Google's lead developer of Android, insisted that he didn't "believe that your phone should be an assistant" like Siri.

Microsoft's Andy Lees, who was managing Windows Phone 7 development, was also quick to say he didn't think Siri was "super useful," indicating his company would avoid having its users speak commands to their phones in public.

However, Apple continued to focus on Siri as a way to drive iPhone demand. That strategy focused on making Siri both useful and entertaining, and targeted broad language support. Initially supporting American, Australian and UK English, French and German, Apple announced new support for Siri in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian and Spanish within its first year.

Siri makes Apple money

Siri exclusivity on iPhone 4s drove sales by helping Apple to stand out in the increasingly competitive market for smartphones. Rivals noted this. In 2012, Google Now got introduced as the voice assistant for Android 4.1. However, while Apple's iOS 6 began bringing Siri support to every new device Apple sold, Android 4.1 was limited to a slow, incremental rollout over just the premium fraction of the Android installed base.

In early 2013, Google Now was ported to iOS and the company's Chrome PC browser, two reminders of where Google actually makes its money.

Meanwhile, Apple introduced a new UI for Siri in iOS 7 and announced CarPlay (initially branded "iOS in the Car") as a way to make Siri useful as an extension of the company's initial Eyes-Free voice-first Siri interface for automotive.




Google subsequently copied Apple's implementation of CarPlay a year later, but as with Google Now, Android Auto didn't work across all Android phones; it was only compatible in certain ways with portions of the mostly premium fragment of Android's installed base.

In contrast, just as Siri drew attention to iPhone and iPad, Siri Eyes-Free and CarPlay began attracting considerable attention among car buyers who wanted to leverage their existing iPhone to access entertainment and features such as Maps for navigation (an otherwise very expensive option on new cars).

While CarPlay brought iPhone's Siri to driving, Apple further expanded Siri use cases to wearables with Apple Watch in 2014 and to the living room with the 2015 Apple TV with Siri Remote. That same year, Apple introduced the always-listening "Hey Siri" feature to iPhone 6s models.

Last year, Apple further expanded Siri to macOS Sierra and then made Siri the primary interface for AirPods, featuring beamforming microphones. Siri is now a prominent feature appearing across Apple's entire hardware lineup.

How big are Siri sales? In fiscal 2016, Apple sold over 211 million iPhones, over 45 million iPads, over 18 million Macs and $11 billion worth of Other products, including Apple TV and Apple Watch. A total of $215.6 billion worth of products and services, virtually all of which incorporate voice-first functionality through Siri.

For everyone thinking Apple isn't getting usage data to make Siri smarter, Siri is by far the most used voice assistant than any out there.

-- Ben Bajarin (@BenBajarin)

Siri rivals get massive airplay, generate little money

Apple's Siri critics swiftly tried to catch up. In addition to Google Now, Microsoft introduced its own Cortana assistant tied to Windows 10 in 2015, while Amazon released its own Alexa service connected to its Echo always-on home appliance at the end of 2014.

All three voice-first rivals to Siri offer significant advantages. Alexa, Cortana and Google Now (along with the company's latest machine learning assistant features) all offer to do some things Siri can't. Google introduced always-listening mobile hardware first, and Amazon was first to market with a home appliance that connected to a variety of outside services.

However, there's little evidence that Siri's rival voice services have measurably helped to generate significant revenues (relative to Siri). While Google's flagship Pixel phones promoted intelligent voice assistance features as a strong differentiation from other Android phones, this didn't have an apparent impact on Pixel sales, which drowned in a sea of cheap commodity droid shipments.

The most enthusiastic of Pixel estimates, from Morgan Stanley's Brian Nowak, suggested that Google's Pixel phones might sell 3 million units in its first year, generating $2 billion in revenues, and could double in 2017 to achieve 5-6 million units and $3.8 billion in revenues. If achieved, that's still barely 2 percent of Apple's iPhone business. That's around half the revenue of Apple's first year of Watch sales.


Google voice assistance didn't save Pixel from being a expensive, slow iPhone clone that can't run iOS apps


Cortana is having no success in rescuing Microsoft's stagnant Windows 10 PC market, and did nothing to make Windows Phones or Tablets relevant again. Microsoft's Surface business, carved from backs of its Windows OEM partners, similarly generates less than $1 billion every quarter. That's also less than Apple Watch, but far less than the more than $50 billion in hardware Apple sells in the average quarter.

What about Amazon? While the company avoids reporting sales numbers, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners stated in November that Amazon only sold 2 million Echo units in the first nine months of 2016. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners stated that Amazon only sold 2 million Echo units in the first nine months of 2016

Amazon likes to talk about rates of growth, but at its current scale it would need a lifetime of years to rival Apple's hardware. Even at full retail price, that means Echo revenues for Amazon were at most $360 million across the first three quarters of the year.

Siri rivals laughing all the way to the blank

Siri obviously isn't the only reason Apple has $215 billion in revenues every year. However, the narrative that Apple is falling behind in voice-first services because its rivals have some superior features (like Google's conversational processing) or product offerings (like Amazon's Echo speaker appliance) is massively delusional.

I'm not making up a straw man narrative. Writing for Time, Lisa Eadicicco announced "Amazon Is Already Winning the Next Big Arms Race in Tech!"


Time doesn't call this an editorial


Clearly this idea is not based in economic reality, as Eadicicco admitted early on, writing: "the most convincing evidence of the Seattle-based giant's advantage? Alexa, Amazon's voice assistant, is dominating this year's CES."

Previous CES events have provided "convincing evidence" that consumers want curved smartphones, 3D TVs, smartbands and non-Apple smartwatches, and mobile video game consoles based on Nvidia's Tegra K1. To extrapolate success from CES is simply asinine.

While a variety of appliance makers have licensed Amazon's Alexa voice assistant at CES, the same sort of thing happened among netbook makers licensing Windows, TV box makers licensing Google TV, smartwatches licensing Android Wear, and so on, ad nauseam.

Apple's Siri is not a Blackberry

The idea that Apple could be Blackberried out of existence by a new, superior voice-first UI technology is a delicious notion to Apple's rivals, who have no other hope of ever catching up to the company's massive scale of hardware sales. Even Apple's "beleaguered" iPad business is larger and more profitable than Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Surface and Google's Pixel businesses combined, and then multiplied by ten. Even Apple's "beleaguered" iPad business is larger and more profitable than Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Surface and Google's Pixel businesses combined, and then multiplied by ten

However, Blackberry didn't lose its very profitable smartphone business to a hardware neophyte that had stumbled upon the iPhone's multitouch user interface as part of a skunkworks effort. Apple was already a massive consumer hardware maker before it introduced iPhone, thanks in large part to billions of dollars in revenue from tens of millions of iPod sales.

After iPhone shipped, Blackberry did attempt to leverage its own profits and resources to develop a similarly high powered, multitouch phone. However, its Blackberry Storm wasn't a good product and offered nothing new that iOS didn't. Blackberry's profits cratered as buyers decisively moved from keypad phones to iPhones, which offered to do far more than a messaging-centered Blackberry could.

There is currently zero evidence that Apple's customers are similarly shifting from Siri to other voice-based competition in a way that actually hurts Apple's profitability. The popularity of Echo among Amazon customers offers some indication that there could someday be real profits connected to a voice-based home appliance in the future, but Apple is also aware of this and better prepared to defend itself than Blackberry was.

Consider Microsoft's defense against the web

For a better example of how economic power influences the tides in technology development, consider Microsoft in the mid 1990s. Like today's Apple and iOS, Microsoft had established Windows as a solid software development platform governing the primary, mainstream embodiment of personal computers, evident in its revenues.

Microsoft's control over PCs and apps with Windows was initially threatened by Netscape, Sun and their combined potential platform of Java apps running within a web browser. Many rivals of Microsoft predicted that Windows was on borrowed time and would not recover from an erosion of platform strength caused by a shift to web apps, particularly in the enterprise.

However, Microsoft had tremendous resources buoyed by its extremely profitable software licensing. It leveraged this to develop a copy of both the Netscape web server and Sun Java, then tied both to Windows. The web aspirations of Netscape and Sun quickly faded, and Microsoft adopted their various advantages into its own offerings.

The difference today is that Apple's iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS aren't being broadsided by an innovative new voice-first paradigm that Amazon, Google and Microsoft freshly minted. Apple was developing Siri before its rivals even thought it was cool.

Apple's Siri advantages

While Apple's competitors have developed certain ideas that appear superior to Apple's current Siri offerings (in services, hardware and third party connections), Apple also has voice-based strengths of its own. Apple leads globally in the breadth of languages Siri supports and understands.

Siri also plays into Apple's strength in accessibility, as well as the company's efforts to lead in security and privacy. Siri also maintains a clear edge in the presentation of specific answers, notably sports scores and information on games, players and broadcasts.




Apple also worked to tie its HomeKit automation framework to Siri, enabling users to control lights, locks and other features with their voice before even releasing a touch-based interface in iOS 10's Home app.

Apple's Siri also has a far greater number of voice-based users than any other voice-interface rival. In fact, most of Amazon's users also have access to Siri. So when iOS 10 introduced new Siri Domain expansions for third party voice features, both users and developers were already aware of the potential opportunity.

Further, Apple's interlocking strategic developments means that developers building support for Siri Domains and Intents can also leverage the same work to build third party service extensions for Maps.




Moving from Alexa to Siri is not difficult. In contrast, moving from iOS devices and the rest of Apple's platform to new hardware running a different ecosystem, just to access another voice assistant, is a much more difficult transition for users to make.

Apple is already doing what it needs to do

While rivals have copied Apple's work with Siri, Apple has also been quick to adopt voice-first innovations that originated elsewhere, including always-listening features and beamforming with multiple microphones. It has also erased third party connections as an outside exclusive.

Siri has also made the jump from iPhones to Apple's Macs (following Google and Microsoft bringing their voice services to PCs) and TV appliances (following Amazon's lead in voice-based TV guidance). Apple also debuted Siri across both of the company's wearable products as a key feature. In fact, there has even been some criticism that AirPods might require too much use of Siri.

In addition to expanding and entrenching where Siri can be used, Apple has also been working to improve the sophistication of Siri, particularly in its ability to remember expanded context (beyond current tasks like assigning yourself a name or saying how to pronounce names of your contacts) as well as its ability to work with third party apps and services.

Apple's 2014 establishment of a corporate office and R&D center in Cambridge (below) and its 2015 acquisition of VocalIQ--a startup that originated with the University of Cambridge Dialogue Systems Group and focused upon automotive projects with carmakers including General Motors--show a clear investment in voice-first interfaces beyond simply following others.




A report from last November detailed job listings stating, "Apple is entering an exciting phase in Siri development, and we are aiming high both in terms of what Siri can do and the software engineering practices we follow in developing it. You will be working in a team of highly talented software engineers and speech scientists to expand the capabilities of Siri."

That makes it a bit premature to assume that the barely profitable experiments in voice-first assistants conducted by Apple's rivals are winning or leading in any meaningful way, although it does allow lazy journalists to generate sensational-sounding reports.

In 2017, Siri looks to be a key area of advancement at Apple.
ai46kevin kee
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 154
    Amazon echo is over rated.  I think it will fade in time.
    Amazon people who have never used voice assistance will be impressed for a while with Alexa.
    Time will tell.
    andrewj5790ben20lostkiwiwatto_cobrakevin kee
  • Reply 2 of 154
    Amazon echo is over rated.  I think it will fade in time.
    Amazon people who have never used voice assistance will be impressed for a while with Alexa.
    Time will tell.
    As a user of both the Echo (I have three) and Siri, I can tell you that the hardware and language recognition is far superior in the Echo.  Granted, the hardware is much larger, but the fact that I can speak at a normal volume from across the room is impressive.  

    As the AI piece notes, Amazon may not have the market share, but they sure have come to market with a strong offering.  
    SoliDaekwanasdasdbloggerblogdamn_its_hotirelandirelandjahbladeargonautajbecker8
  • Reply 3 of 154
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,189member
    The iPhone will never sell.
    calibaconstanghmurchisonDaekwanboredumb
  • Reply 4 of 154
    Apple should be embarrassed by how bad Siri works. Actually doesn't work. I love saying Hey Siri what time is it in the middle of the night and Siri replying if I want to see Time magazine cover or anything else abut time magazine.

    Do whatever you want manually the first time, you're going to have to do that way anyway. I gave up doing things twice trying Siri
    calianantksundaramDaekwanwilliamlondonbloggerblogxzumikesay98argonautking editor the grateSpamSandwich
  • Reply 5 of 154
    No need to worry, Apple has actually been working on this a very long time. I don't think we're even close to the end.
    edited January 2017 jay-tration alwatto_cobraSpamSandwich
  • Reply 6 of 154
    idreyidrey Posts: 647member
    justme12 said:
    Apple should be embarrassed by how bad Siri works. Actually doesn't work. I love saying Hey Siri what time is it in the middle of the night and Siri replying if I want to see Time magazine cover or anything else abut time magazine.

    Do whatever you want manually the first time, you're going to have to do that way anyway. I gave up doing things twice trying Siri
    Interesting! English is my second lenguage and I use Siri in English, I have an accent and siri understands me pretty well. It use to be harder the first few years but now Siri understand me about 90% of the time as long as there is not much noice.
    jay-twilliamlondonapplepieguylostkiwiration alstanthemanSpamSandwichjony0
  • Reply 7 of 154
    Regardless of how the technologies affect the bottom lines of each company, Apple does have catching up to do with the quality of the Siri experience compared to both Google and Amazon. Siri feels very restrictive compared to competitors, requiring more precise phrasing to get an adequate answer. The other two feel more freeform and conversational, particularly Google Now.

    One reason behind this is that Google/Amazon are not afraid to use customer data to bolster AI learning, which will potentially allow them to stay ahead of Apple. Apple has painted themselves into a corner a bit by being so loud and proud about customer privacy. While their stance on privacy is obviously highly respectable, the reality is that AI software needs real world input to improve and Google/Amazon (particularly Google) are in a position that may offer exponential rather than incremental improvements.

    I'd also like to point out this bad assumption in your article:
    "In contrast, moving from iOS devices and the rest of Apple's platform to new hardware running a different ecosystem, just to access another voice assistant, is a much more difficult transition for users to make."

    At least in the case of Alexa, nothing is further from the truth. I was given an Echo Dot as an unexpected Xmas present and found it delightfully easy to use. It has quickly replaced "Hey Siri" as my go-to for voice control of lights and common questions like weather. The fight here might not be about which technology makes the most money, but which voice service gets the most mind share first, becoming the "Google" or "Kleenex" of voice assistance.
    williamlondonlostkiwiargonautSpamSandwich
  • Reply 8 of 154
    Regardless of how the technologies affect the bottom lines of each company, Apple does have catching up to do with the quality of the Siri experience compared to both Google and Amazon. Siri feels very restrictive compared to competitors, requiring more precise phrasing to get an adequate answer. The other two feel more freeform and conversational, particularly Google Now.

    One reason behind this is that Google/Amazon are not afraid to use customer data to bolster AI learning, which will potentially allow them to stay ahead of Apple. Apple has painted themselves into a corner a bit by being so loud and proud about customer privacy. While their stance on privacy is obviously highly respectable, the reality is that AI software needs real world input to improve and Google/Amazon (particularly Google) are in a position that may offer exponential rather than incremental improvements.

    I'd also like to point out this bad assumption in your article:
    "In contrast, moving from iOS devices and the rest of Apple's platform to new hardware running a different ecosystem, just to access another voice assistant, is a much more difficult transition for users to make."

    At least in the case of Alexa, nothing is further from the truth. I was given an Echo Dot as an unexpected Xmas present and found it delightfully easy to use. It has quickly replaced "Hey Siri" as my go-to for voice control of lights and common questions like weather. The fight here might not be about which technology makes the most money, but which voice service gets the most mind share first, becoming the "Google" or "Kleenex" of voice assistance.
    Let us know when you buy an amazon phone and computer (or a droid and a pc), just to better utilize Alexa. That's what dan meant by moving away from apple's ecosystem. We have an Alexa and her recognition of my commands is about 15% better than Siri, meaning we have to try twice or more times to accomplish something multiple times a week, but just slightly less than with Siri, and that's with amazon having a big cylinder with many mics at its disposal.
    calijay-twilliamlondonlostkiwiwatto_cobraargonaut
  • Reply 9 of 154
    Siri is a failure. It's so brain dead an inaccurate that I avoid the frustration all together.  Everyone I know with an iPhone feels this way.
    williamlondonxzuSpamSandwich
  • Reply 10 of 154
    I was praying to the God in Hades that this was a DED article. Now I can sit down and have an enjoyable time reading it.
    fotoformatwatto_cobraSpamSandwich
  • Reply 11 of 154
    Apple is going to have to rebrand Siri to even get me to think about using it again. It's a POS. And Maps. There seems to be a construction zone down the street from me that's never there.
    edited January 2017 williamlondonxzu
  • Reply 12 of 154
    k2kwk2kw Posts: 2,075member
    For over a year I had been wanting something like an echo to try out some smart appliances.    I had wanted Apple to come out with a Echo competitor a home Hub or expanded apple TV.

    Back in the summer DED did a similar article 
    http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/06/09/wwdc-2016-apples-siri-and-the-future-of-voice-vs-amazons-alexa-echo-google-now-microsoft-cortana
    Which lead me to wait thinking it would be shortly released this past fall.   Well I was wrong and in November finally got an Echo.   Its great.   I'm so impress with how Alexa can understand me from the other room even with a television on.  Love it.    So much nicer than picking up a phone.

    While many of DED's stories are very informative I don't see a need to attack these other products whenever one of the other ones receives favorable press.

    Siri may have been expanded to other platforms like the watch or Mac but I don't find it any more useful now than two years ago.    I don't know anyone who thinks its much more than a frustrating joke to use it.    It's your grandfather's Oldsmobile of AI.

    I think that Apple is really behind the times.    I would find the watch and AirPods much more compelling if Siri was better.   If Amazon does deliver another phone (yes the first fire phone was a joke) I will take a look at it and may switch because Amazon has a big Ecosystem themselves.

    Apple would be foolish to think that people are forever locked into their products even when they are the best now.

    elijahgmazda 3sthadgarrisonawilliams87williamlondonbloggerbloggatorguyxzu
  • Reply 13 of 154
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Amazon echo is over rated.  I think it will fade in time.
    Amazon people who have never used voice assistance will be impressed for a while with Alexa.
    Time will tell.
    I've been using Siri from the start. I currently use Siri and voice dictation with my Mac, iPhone, Watch, and have used Siri in the past with an iPad.

    I've also had an Amazon Echo since it first came out. I was quite lucky with their lottery and got the very first shipment of the Echo. I was impressed then and I still am today. As Ttollerton states, the HW is more extensive, which probably means the far-field microphones can do a better job, but its excellence as a product and service far exceeds that one aspect. 

    Alexa is amazingly fast. It feels like it's processing its answer before you even finish speaking so it can reply with a cadence that would impress a Gilmore Girl. It also never seems to misunderstand a single thing I say and never seems to have to "think about" what I asked, unlike Siri. With Siri it feels like it it's querying a server for a reply, but with Alexa it all feels localized even though it's not. Same WiFi network and same broadband connection.

    All these services have pros and cons—most of which are the same—but Alexa has 3 great features I wish Apple had brought to Siri from the start:

    1. I can look at any previous Alexa request in my history in the Alexa app on on Amazon.com. I can then let Amazon know how well the service did in understanding my voice (voice-to-text) and/or parsing my query. If Apple had this I believe they could've made Siri much better, much faster.
    2. I can load Skills into Alexa. These are 3rd-party apps for Alexa. Whatever abilities the Alexa service comes with out of the box, telling Alexa to add a Skill shores up pretty much anything you can think of. I think Apple just opened up Siri to 3rd-party developers with APIs for iOS 10 but I honestly can't recall because of the way Apple seems to treat Siri like the M[achi]n[e] in the Iron Mask.
    3. I get emails from Amazon letting me know what new features were added to the Alexa service. They list many example commands and major new Skills and I'm often willing to try them because they are usually pretty nifty. I know Apple has added new features to Siri—which oddly seem to come with iOS updates—but I couldn't tell you any of its newer features to enrich my life because of how they market the service.

    I'm sure Siri is world's better than it was when it originally came out on the iPhone 4S in 2011, and I'm sure that many of the questions I've asked in the past and got poor to no answer probably work great now, but I don't go to the trouble of writing down all the failed queries, wait a year, and then try them again. This is not uncommon and Siri has spoiled for many Apple customers except for the most basic requests. Apple needs to find a way to reinvigorate Siri.





    PS: I'm remodeling my home and when my bedroom is finished I'll be going "electronics free" in the bedroom (mostly) with the intention of it leading to better sleep habits which will hopefully result in more productive waking hours. That means no iPhone or Watch will charge in the room on the nightstand. No entertainment in the bedroom (meaning no Mac, no TV, and no book reading). Not even a traditional alarm clock will be used because of the light from the clock can have a negative effect, according to some studies. Instead I'll have an Amazon Dot ($49) which will allow me to voice activate setting an alarm and asking what time it is as its primary use. I tested this with my Echo, but I'd rather keep that in the kitchen/dining area because of its great speaker and its benefits when cooking.
    edited January 2017 anantksundaramapple jockeymazda 3sfotoformatgatorguylostkiwiargonautinterdyneajbecker8
  • Reply 14 of 154
    Sorry.  I am a huge long term Apple fanboy.   But...I have to disagree with the entire premise of this article.  Yes Apple's profitability is clearly amazing and unprecedented....but I wish APPLEINSIDER would actually publish some articles that are critical of APPLE...not bashing Apple but some actual constructive criticism with brutal honesty.  Siri needs a big Kick in the Pants.  I loved Siri from the Get Go.....But now I have to say I don't love her at all.  I do love Alexa.  My whole family absolutely loves our AMAZON ECHO uses it DAILY.   ALEXA actually has some "humanness" in her ability to actually interact with questions.  I wouldn't be surprised if Google Home surpasses everyone as best in AI out there....Google simply has the most DATA of anyone to resource their AI.  

    Ben, are you really satisfied with Siri?  Is anyone out there satisfied with Siri?  

    APPLEINSIDER---Put up a POLL ASKING all IPHONE USERS:  Are you satisfied with SIRI?

      
    anantksundaramelijahgthadgarrisondaclooDaekwanwilliamlondonwaverboyargonautboxcatcherajbecker8
  • Reply 15 of 154
    Sorry.  I am a huge long term Apple fanboy.   But...I have to disagree with the entire premise of this article.  Yes Apple's profitability is clearly amazing and unprecedented....but I wish APPLEINSIDER would actually publish some articles that are critical of APPLE...not bashing Apple but some actual constructive criticism with brutal honesty.  Siri needs a big Kick in the Pants.  I loved Siri from the Get Go.....But now I have to say I don't love her at all.  I do love Alexa.  My whole family absolutely loves our AMAZON ECHO uses it DAILY.   ALEXA actually has some "humanness" in her ability to actually interact with questions.  I wouldn't be surprised if Google Home surpasses everyone as best in AI out there....Google simply has the most DATA of anyone to resource their AI.  

    Ben, are you really satisfied with Siri?  Is anyone out there satisfied with Siri?  

    APPLEINSIDER---Put up a POLL ASKING all IPHONE USERS:  Are you satisfied with SIRI?

      
    I couldn't agree more. Siri has been a disappointment relative to promise and potential. I thought, at one point, that it had improved with the Watch, but sadly, no. Basically, it's good for very basic tasks (send a text, set a timer, set the alarm, that sort of thing). 

    Also, your idea of an AI poll is excellent. I hope they take the suggestion seriously. 
    williamlondonwaverboyargonautajbecker8
  • Reply 16 of 154

    bdkennedy said:
    Apple is going to have to rebrand Siri to even get me to think about using it again. It's a POS. And Maps. There seems to be a construction zone down the street from me that's never there.
    Yeah, the new version of Maps has become a bit of a visual mess, hasn't it. Can't even see the Interstate icons any more, for instance! And too many pop-up boxes all over the place that hide actual map info.

    Is Maps also under Cue? (What about Siri?). 
    williamlondon
  • Reply 17 of 154
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    I was praying to the God in Hades that this was a DED article. Now I can sit down and have an enjoyable time reading it.
    Because it will tell you what you want to hear? Even Ben Bajarin, normally very bullish on Apple was worried about the lack of Apple love at CES. Outside of iPhone cases/chargers the only real Apple presence was companies providing solutions for the ports Apple removed on the new Macs. Siri and HomeKit aren't dominating anything.
    singularity
  • Reply 18 of 154
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member


    bdkennedy said:
    Apple is going to have to rebrand Siri to even get me to think about using it again. It's a POS. And Maps. There seems to be a construction zone down the street from me that's never there.
    Yeah, the new version of Maps has become a bit of a visual mess, hasn't it. Can't even see the Interstate icons any more, for instance! And too many pop-up boxes all over the place that hide actual map info.

    Is Maps also under Cue? (What about Siri?). 
    Maps and Siri are under Cue. Everyone knows I'm not a big fan of Eddy Cue. I think Cook should hire a new SVP to take over iCloud, Siri and Maps. Give Jennifer Bailey complete control of Apple Pay (and maybe have her report directly to Cook) and move Eddy Cue to LA to focus 100% Apple Music and Apple TV. Oh and task him with busing up the disaster that iTunes has become. It's pretty bad when an AppleCare phone rep admits to me that iTunes is too complicated and does too much.
    anantksundaramcanukstorm
  • Reply 19 of 154
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I was praying to the God in Hades that this was a DED article. Now I can sit down and have an enjoyable time reading it.
    Because it will tell you what you want to hear? Even Ben Bajarin, normally very bullish on Apple was worried about the lack of Apple love at CES. Outside of iPhone cases/chargers the only real Apple presence was companies providing solutions for the ports Apple removed on the new Macs. Siri and HomeKit aren't dominating anything.
    You didn't see a massive number of products supporting HomeKit?

    Let's remember that HomeKit is not an easy certification because Apple wants to make sure that a connected home is reasonably secure.

    An unhackable home my never happen, but companies should at least try to be vigilant in their efforts. Here's an example of a massive fail:

    edited January 2017 digital_guyration alboxcatcherpalomineStrangeDays
  • Reply 20 of 154
    Sorry.  I am a huge long term Apple fanboy.   But...I have to disagree with the entire premise of this article.  Yes Apple's profitability is clearly amazing and unprecedented....but I wish APPLEINSIDER would actually publish some articles that are critical of APPLE...not bashing Apple but some actual constructive criticism with brutal honesty.  Siri needs a big Kick in the Pants.  I loved Siri from the Get Go.....But now I have to say I don't love her at all.  I do love Alexa.  My whole family absolutely loves our AMAZON ECHO uses it DAILY.   ALEXA actually has some "humanness" in her ability to actually interact with questions.  I wouldn't be surprised if Google Home surpasses everyone as best in AI out there....Google simply has the most DATA of anyone to resource their AI.  

    Ben, are you really satisfied with Siri?  Is anyone out there satisfied with Siri?  

    APPLEINSIDER---Put up a POLL ASKING all IPHONE USERS:  Are you satisfied with SIRI?

      
    You pinpoint a real problem with most of the Apple reporting ecosystem. It's become an echo chamber of unwarranted forgiveness and excuse-making for Apple. As a longtime Apple fanboy, I want to see writers looking at the company with a critical eye. There are lots of huge companies that make loads of money churning out mediocre products, I don't want to see Apple become one of them. Making pretty designs and hoarding cash isn't enough, they've lost sight of the importance of striving for a perfect EXPERIENCE. Appleinsider should have the journalistic integrity to hold Apple's feet to the fire and not just regurgitate Apple's marketing bullet points.
    singularityrogifan_newwilliamlondonmazda 3swaverboyboxcatcher
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