Siri cofounder leaves Apple, report says [u]
Siri co-creator and Vice President of Engineering Adam Cheyer has left Apple, reports Bloomberg's Jon Erlichman.
Update: Sources with knowledge of the matter told All Things D that Cheyer left Apple in June to pursue other projects.
The publication cites three people familiar with the situation, each confirming that Cheyer is no longer working at Apple. The engineer was most recently attached to the iPhone maker's mobile software division and marks the second such departure from a former Siri executive, the first being Dag Kittlaus, another co-founder who took leave after the iPhone 4S was announced in October 2011.
Cheyer worked on the voice-recognition software Siri leverages to give accurate results from normally-worded questions instead of forcing users to memorize keywords. The system is not perfect, however, with some users complaining it doesn't function as advertised by Apple.
Apple acquired Siri in 2010.
Update: Sources with knowledge of the matter told All Things D that Cheyer left Apple in June to pursue other projects.
The publication cites three people familiar with the situation, each confirming that Cheyer is no longer working at Apple. The engineer was most recently attached to the iPhone maker's mobile software division and marks the second such departure from a former Siri executive, the first being Dag Kittlaus, another co-founder who took leave after the iPhone 4S was announced in October 2011.
Cheyer worked on the voice-recognition software Siri leverages to give accurate results from normally-worded questions instead of forcing users to memorize keywords. The system is not perfect, however, with some users complaining it doesn't function as advertised by Apple.
Apple acquired Siri in 2010.
Comments
Oh yeah, no one cares. Apple owns Siri, have you seen what they have done with it? They didn't need him anyways.
People come, people go.... in a company with 60,000+ employees, it's a rounding error for talent.
But I can't help but wonder if Siri feels like C3PO did when Anakin left Tatooine?
Maybe his obligatory employment period ended and his shares vested. See ya!
His linkedin page still says currently at Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by allenbf
But I can't help but wonder if Siri feels like C3PO did when Anakin left Tatooine?
You know, they failed to explain what sort of amnesia caused Darth Vader to forget he built C3PO.
Kind of like how Apple forget they developed WebTV and the developers went elsewhere....
Super creative developers probably jump around based on projects all the time. If Apple isn't focused on their particular dream - it makes sense to go to someone who is.
It doesn't really say anything about Apple per se.
Now if the rank and file people start leaving, and you see execs cashing in stock options -- THEN that means something.
Originally Posted by Fake_William_Shatner
You know, they failed to explain what sort of amnesia caused Darth Vader to forget he built C3PO.
Who says he did?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fake_William_Shatner
You know, they failed to explain what sort of amnesia caused Darth Vader to forget he built C3PO.
Kind of like how Apple forget they developed WebTV and the developers went elsewhere....
Super creative developers probably jump around based on projects all the time. If Apple isn't focused on their particular dream - it makes sense to go to someone who is.
It doesn't really say anything about Apple per se.
Now if the rank and file people start leaving, and you see execs cashing in stock options -- THEN that means something.
That has always bugged me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wurm5150
He couldn't stand working under Forstall anymore. That's the most logical reason.
Bah. I'd be surprised if even the little twerp Kevin Rose is able to stick with his new job at Google for more than a year. Some of us aren't made for cubicle life.
I assume he got tired of Apple gimping his work. Woz said it all back in June:
Quote:
Wozniak said he used Siri as an iPhone app. Siri initially won him over when it successfully answered the question, “What are the five largest lakes in California?” Then it correctly answered the question, “What are the prime numbers greater than 87?” (91). “It’s incredible,” said Wozniak. “It’s like it understands ‘greater than.’”
Those answers were based on Wolfram Alpha, the online service that bases its answers on structured data. However, since Apple bought Siri, the app is not directly linking to Wolfram Alpha, though, as Wozniak notes, you can access it by saying “Wolfram Alpha,” which he believes consumers shouldn’t have to do.
For whatever reason, the query about lakes in California calls up links to lakefront properties and the question about prime numbers yields results related to prime rib, Wozniak says.
When asked why Siri got worse, Wozniak answered, “I’d like to know. I was very disappointed…It should be smart enough to look at the word you say and know what you’re asking and if you say ‘five largest,’ it should know ‘I can’t use a Google search, I have to use a Wolfram Alpha search.’”
K.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
I assume he got tired of Apple gimping his work. Woz said it all back in June:
When our biggest problem is Siri, you KNOW we're spoiled. By Apple.
Others can barely get an entire mobile platform off the ground.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
I assume he got tired of Apple gimping his work. Woz said it all back in June:
I just asked Siri these same questions without any Wolfram Alpha prompting. Returned the correct answers. Is this just old news?
Adam Cheyer: Open the iPod bay doors, Siri. I'd like to leave.
Siri: I'm afraid I can't let you do that without returning your Apple security pass...
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTR
Adam Cheyer: Open the iPod bay doors, Siri. I'd like to leave.
Siri: I'm afraid I can't let you do that without returning your Apple security pass...
Quote:
Originally Posted by allenbf
But I can't help but wonder if Siri feels like C3PO did when Anakin left Tatooine?
Saw Star Wars reference, fell asleep.
It is old news. Very old news. What some people, including Woz, don't seem to understand is that to expand Siri's capabilities means that it has to either 1) have the user state the specificity of the request, or 2) be coded to be smarter at what you mean. Clearly these things are resolved but I am certain there are things the earliest Siri app could do better than the current version in the iPhone 4S simply because the scope is now so much larger.
Along with why Old Ben didn't remember R2 in IV. I chalk it up to episodes I - III being crap.
You post in you sleep? Seek help.