Barbra Streisand says 'Sept. 30' iOS update will fix Siri's pronunciation of her name

AppleInsider · August 22, 2016 1:52PM

In a weekend radio interview, singer Barbra Streisand claimed that Apple will be fixing the way Siri pronounces her name in the "next update" of iOS, supposedly going out Sept. 30.

Siri's use of a "Z" sound in the middle of "Streisand" has annoyed the singer since Apple's feature first launched in 2011, according to a talk on NPR. Only recently, however, did she call Apple CEO Tim Cook, who promised to fix the problem in a future update.

In the interview, Streisand suggested that the change would happen with "the next update on Sept. 30," giving an unusually specific time that's likely inaccurate.

The next version of iOS -- iOS 10 -- is in fact expected to launch next month, but will should arrive well before Sept. 30. The "iPhone 7" is rumored to be shipping on either the 16th or the 23rd, and will have to have iOS 10 preloaded. Previous iOS devices should get access even earlier, possibly as soon as Sept. 14.

One explanation may be that Streisand was told iOS 10 would be out by the end of September. Another is that Apple is already planning a follow-up patch, 10.0.1, that could be ready by Sept. 30.

robertwalter · August 22, 2016 3:23PM

Because she's entitled.

anantksundaram · August 22, 2016 3:26PM

Siri messes up the pronunciation of my name too (although slightly less so if I choose the British voice, which is now my default). But I deal with it....

Gosh, these celebrity egos and whining are something else to behold. I truly wish Apple would say no more than what they'd probably tell me or you, which would be "Thank you for your feedback. We are always working to improve our products and services, and our goal is to delight our customers."

edited August 2016

holyone · August 22, 2016 3:48PM

robertwalter said:

Because she's entitled.

Why does she have Tim's number?

coolfactor · August 22, 2016 3:49PM

anantksundaram said:

Siri messes up the pronunciation of my name too (although slightly less so if I choose the British voice, which is now my default). But I deal with it....

Gosh, these celebrity egos and whining are something else to behold. I truly wish Apple would say no more than what they'd probably tell me or you, which would be "Thank you for your feedback. We are always working to improve our products and services, and our goal is to delight our customers."

How often do Siri's responses contain your own personal name?

I agree with you that the response should be equal to everyone, regardless of celebrity status, but unfortunately that's not the world we live in. Apple is all about image now, and keeping a celebrity happy is a part of that end game. And look... case in point: it creates headlines!

soli · August 22, 2016 3:49PM

Entitlement. Egotistical. Narcissistic.

I'm sure those are the first words to go through many readers' heads when they read about a celebrity requesting something, no matter how minor; yet I wonder how many of those same people are always fine when their name is incorrectly pronounced (or spelled).

Keep in mind that Siri has been an iOS feature since 2011 and it still can't pronounce a common surname of a celebrity. If anything, that speaks to Siri's progress since pronunciation of words should be a core focus and demonstrates a modicum attention to detail.

anantksundaram · August 22, 2016 3:51PM

coolfactor said:

anantksundaram said:

Siri messes up the pronunciation of my name too (although slightly less so if I choose the British voice, which is now my default). But I deal with it....

Gosh, these celebrity egos and whining are something else to behold. I truly wish Apple would say no more than what they'd probably tell me or you, which would be "Thank you for your feedback. We are always working to improve our products and services, and our goal is to delight our customers."

How often do Siri's responses contain your own personal name?

I haven't counted, but it seems that it's about half the time. (In any event, I m guessing it's the same proportion of the time that Streisand's does?)

edited August 2016

wizard69 · August 22, 2016 3:52PM

Who gives a crap? Talk a boy the seriously watching needing to feel entitled.

crowley · August 22, 2016 4:01PM

Fair play, it'd probably annoy me if Siri got my name wrong, and if I had Tim Cook's ear I'd make use of it.

eightzero · August 22, 2016 4:01PM

Who? Tim Cook I know, but who is this other person?

thewhitefalcon · August 22, 2016 4:02PM

And now everyone is going to enjoy their phones mispronouncing her name, creating Streisand Effect 2016.

pkwi · August 22, 2016 4:04PM

These people sing a couple swoony songs then end up squatting on piles of cash for the rest of their lives, buying whatever strikes their fancy, including a direct line to Tim Cook? It's a spectacular fluke of capitalism and effective marketing... a magic loophole. She found it, wow. But how she and these other mega rich manage to HOLD ON to their hundreds of millions while scores of people suffer, crippled by poverty, is the true spectacle. What messed-up, crooked, out-of-touch lunatics these barons are.

edo · August 22, 2016 4:08PM

All she has to do is tell Siri how to pronounce it..
Siri who am i?
Edo....., thats not how u say edo..... and she will try and set it as you say it!!!!

coffeetime69 · August 22, 2016 4:14PM

Me: Hey, Siri, tell me about "Barbra Streisand."

Siri: Getting information on "Liberal Idiot."

anantksundaram · August 22, 2016 4:16PM

Soli said:

Entitlement. Egotistical. Narcissistic.

I'm sure those are the first words to go through many readers' heads when they read about a celebrity requesting something, no matter how minor; yet I wonder how many of those same people are always fine when their name is incorrectly pronounced (or spelled).

Keep in mind that Siri has been an iOS feature since 2011 and it still can't pronounce a common surname of a celebrity. If anything, that speaks to Siri's progress since pronunciation of words should be a core focus and demonstrates a modicum attention to detail.

"Pronunciation of words should be a core focus [for Siri]"? Sure. But it's a matter of emphasis (no pun intended), especially when it comes to proper nouns. For example, I think there's a difference between calling Iraq and Iran, say 'Eye-rack' and 'Eye-ran' as opposed to a 'Streisand' versus a 'Streisand.'For starters, are all Streisands pronounced 'Streizand'?

My name gets butchered in pronunciation all the time. After a point, you shrug your shoulders and move on.

[deleted user] · August 22, 2016 4:19PM

The user and all related content has been deleted.

dick applebaum · August 22, 2016 4:20PM

coolfactor said:

anantksundaram said:

Siri messes up the pronunciation of my name too (although slightly less so if I choose the British voice, which is now my default). But I deal with it....

Gosh, these celebrity egos and whining are something else to behold. I truly wish Apple would say no more than what they'd probably tell me or you, which would be "Thank you for your feedback. We are always working to improve our products and services, and our goal is to delight our customers."

How often do Siri's responses contain your own personal name?

I agree with you that the response should be equal to everyone, regardless of celebrity status, but unfortunately that's not the world we live in. Apple is all about image now, and keeping a celebrity happy is a part of that end game. And look... case in point: it creates headlines!

Normally, Siri calls me "Grandpa Wonderful".

Just for fun:

Hey Siri: "You can call me Barbra Streisand"... and that sounded fine to me (iOS 10 beta 7).

Then... Hey Siri: "You can call me Baba Wawa".
Siri: "Baba Wawa... I like that!".

Likely, there will be confusion for Apple developers because they can use Siri in their apps. To do that the use an API called SiriKit. However, if you surf for SiriKit you'll get lots of hits for Queen of Thailand.

[deleted user] · August 22, 2016 4:29PM

The user and all related content has been deleted.

dasanman69 · August 22, 2016 4:33PM

holyone said:

robertwalter said:

Because she's entitled.

Why does she have Tim's number?

I hate to be stereotypical but Barbara Streisand is popular with gay men of a certain age bracket, so it's entirely possible that she has his number.

freshmaker · August 22, 2016 4:34PM

Hey Siri: Play "Who the f*** is Barbara Streisand" by 2Elements

nolamacguy · August 22, 2016 4:42PM

coolfactor said:

anantksundaram said:

Siri messes up the pronunciation of my name too (although slightly less so if I choose the British voice, which is now my default). But I deal with it....

Gosh, these celebrity egos and whining are something else to behold. I truly wish Apple would say no more than what they'd probably tell me or you, which would be "Thank you for your feedback. We are always working to improve our products and services, and our goal is to delight our customers."

How often do Siri's responses contain your own personal name?

I agree with you that the response should be equal to everyone, regardless of celebrity status, but unfortunately that's not the world we live in. Apple is all about image now, and keeping a celebrity happy is a part of that end game. And look... case in point: it creates headlines!

what do you mean "now"? Apple has been giving celebrity's special hardware access since the Mac debuted.

http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=A_Mac_For_Mick.txt

giving rich people free stuff is a cottage industry.

Barbra Streisand says 'Sept. 30' iOS update will fix Siri's pronunciation of her name

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