Apple faces second class-action lawsuit over Siri
A new class-action lawsuit has been filed against Apple over its Siri voice recognition feature of the iPhone 4S with allegations that the company is falsely representing the service's capabilities.
iPhone 4S owner David Jones filed suit against the Cupertino, Calif., company on Tuesday, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. The new lawsuit echoes a similar complaint filed by a consumer in New York earlier this month.
"Through its nationwide multimedia marketing campaign, Apple disseminates false and deceptive representations regarding the functionality of the Siri feature," the report noted the suit as claiming. "For example, in many of Apple's television commercials, consumers are shown using Siri to make appointments, find restaurants, and even to learn the guitar chords to classic rock songs. In its advertisements, Apple depicts these tasks as easily accomplished "just by asking" Siri."
The complaint went on to characterize Apple's commercials as a"deceptive" because they "diverge greatly" from real world use of the feature by the plaintiff and "fellow consumers."
For Jones specifically, "Siri would either not understand what Plaintiff asked, or, after a long wait, provided the wrong answer," the suit read. He purchased the smartphone in December and is seeking "relief and damages" for himself and other iPhone 4S buyers.
Most of Apple's advertising efforts for the iPhone 4S have focused on Siri. The first commercial for the company's latest handset showcased the range of tasks that Siri is capable of performing. Subsequent TV spots took a more narrative approach and showed iPhone 4S users relying on Siri for a cross-country trip and starting a rock band.
A recent study found that 87 percent of iPhone 4S owners use Siri at least monthly. Some respondents called the functionality the "best thing since the invention of toast," while others described it as "very disappointing."
Scattered reports have emerged of users, especially those with accents not specifically accommodated by Apple, having trouble operating Siri. Despite the fact that Apple has actively promoted Siri, the software remains in beta.
Siri currently understands French, German, Japanese and Australian, British and American English. Apple has promised to teach Siri Mandarin, Italian, Korean and Spanish later this year.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
*BANG* "Case dismissed. Pay Apple's court costs, you idiots."
And so it was, the first class action lawsuit in history where everyone involved received a BILL for $3.45.
These idiots should be made to pay the legal fee when the case is dismissed.
Just bring the damn phone back for a refund. God.
I agree. What a total loser.
I wonder if this person who is filing this law suit is actually being used by some other company to try and discredit Apple.
If the Siri ads are "misleading", every single soap, cosemtics, food and appliance ad in the entire world is misleading.
They obviously aren't aware of the legal concept of "advertiser's puff"....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKIca...e_gdata_player
..."best thing since the invention of toast,"...
Shouldn't that be "The greatest thing since sliced bread"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliced_bread
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/the_gr...e_sliced_bread
"It took longer to get to Sana Cruz so we wasted gas."
"I paid too much for my guitar!"
If Siri has not lived up to expectations, it could therefore been seen that the purchase is no longer as valuable to the buyer.
The buyer then takes a view as to whether they wish to return the product free of charge and get a refund - Apple are happy to give a refund within what most would consider to be a reasonable period.
So is it reasonable to suggest that being aware of this a group of dissatisfied consumers were just unable to make their minds up within this period and needed longer to make this decision.
Given that it is not an inconsiderable financial commitment to purchase the 4s either on contract or off, you might think that anyone with even a smallest amount of common sense would take the time over the return period to determine whether their inability to use this service satisfactorily and return the product within that timescale.
On the other-hand you might just think this is a bunch of greedy bastards being led into this by a 'professional' greedy ambulance chasing chances looking to make a fast buck rather than earn an honest living.
What a waste of everyones time clogging up the legal system but at least it gives us a chance to laugh at those who would rather sponge off of anybody else rather than getting on with their life.
F*** em, F*** the F***ing lot of em!
Think about the text-based comments we get on this forum. I'm not talking about voice recognition software or a server trying to parse your meaning, I'm talking another human being typing words that are read by another human being. Yet way too often their meaning is unclear or batshit crazy. If that's happening on an internet forum what chance does Siri have in understanding everyone, every time?
Case dismissed. These class-action @$$hats need to get a life.
People don't have common sense anymore.
Just bring the damn phone back for a refund. God.
The guy is just bitter because Siri wouldn't call him 'rock god' from now on.
"Your honor, it's a beta."
*BANG* "Case dismissed. Pay Apple's court costs, you idiots."
And so it was, the first class action lawsuit in history where everyone involved received a BILL for $3.45.
My Mom and Pop are not "Tallest Skill"-savvy. They basically think beta is like "betacam" or a nice greek letter. When they see huge advertisement saying "hey, Siri is super cool, it is magical, and it's only on the iPhone 4S", they don't understand it as "Hey, Siri is a test product that may or may not work". Actually, nobody would buy it if it was advertised as such.
Disclaimer: I skipped on the 4S, waiting for next generation (the "new iPhone" I guess? or maybe iPhone "Galaxy", or iPhone 777, who the hell knows
My point: APPLE DOES MASS CONSUMER PRODUCTS. Their ads are not supposed be understandable only by geeks like you and I, but also by completely useless (IT-wise) people like my beloved mommy, my dear pop, my sisters who haven't yet found how to operate Facetime (yeah... I know... can't help it), my artist friends who haven't ever updated their macs because the machine talks to them in windows they don't understand, so they click "cancel"... This is, really,the real world.
So, "you idiots" is Apple's consumers, for 90% of their sales... I hope my point is clear?
He's also suing McDonald's for making the McRib appear more delicious than the lump of BBQ flavored soylent brown they actually serve.
Well, then I'm going in with him... McDonald's (and Burger King, etc) have been falsely representing their products for years. Worse is, anytime I fall for it, I swear I won't ever, and once in a while I still do it again. I hate myself when that happens
http://www.alphaila.com/articles/fai...ng-vs-reality/
Note the reference to the "Apple unboxing experience". Someone knows what he's talking about there