Notsofast

Many good points.  Think you're off base in your description of voice assistants and the importance of Siri in Apple's near and longer term future.  First, you're correct about Google, Amazon, etc., in not "selling" products, and yes, surveys show only a tiny number of people actually buy things through them, but that's not their real goal.  They can't admit it, but Google Assistant and Echo are data collection devices, and in that regard they are enormously successful.  Amazing that people are oblivious or don't care that everything they say in front of GA is sent to Google's servers and retained forever and linked to what they call a "universal identifier" which is their virtual dossier they build on every person they can.

As far as Siri, I think you're wrong about the massive amounts of money Apple is pouring into Siri.  Tim Cook periodically touts that Siri is the most used, by far, digital assistant in the world, and is really the most powerful in terms of what she can do, how many languages she speaks, etc.  They are also incorporating Siri into every device because they realize how important voice will be to wearables, etc., e.g., AirPods, Beats, Apple Watch, etc..  Augmented Reality is going to be heavily integrated with Voice/Siri and Siri will be integral in any successful effort.   

Siri is a sleeper because the Internet meme is that "Siri sucks," but nothing could be further from the truth.  Indeed, Siri has a long way to go, but as I wrote above, Siri is by far the most used in the world, and as multiple studies show, as is second in terms of accuracy to Google, ahead of Echo, and closing fast.  Siri does very well on the things that people actually want to currently do with their assistants, e.g., play music, podcasts, make phone calls, check on traffic, read and send messages, check sports and weather, set timers, alarms, control Homekit devices, etc.  I concur that once you buy a Homepod and start using Siri in these regards, you'll never go back and wonder why you waited so long. Ditto for Siri and Apple TV, makes it so much more convenient to tell Siri to pause, play a show, go back, etc.  "What did they say?" feature is an ingenious simple delight.

Siri doesn't have thousands of "skills" like Amazon, but it turns out that surveys show most people haven't used a single one of those separate skills for echo. More importantly, with the new Siri shortcuts, you can make any skill you want, so if you want to duplicate the Amazon "skill" of making a fart sound, you can make a Siri shortcut do it as well,  all without sacrificing your privacy and having contract workers in the Ukraine listening to fart sounds in your home!

Finally, making Siri more conversational is the Holy Grail.  That's why Apple bought and is buying companies like VocalIQ (read up on this), as the ability to have sequential conversations, etc., will lead to massive and adoption across the board and is essential part of Apple's future.

davgreg said:

With universal Siri, all spoken requests would be in error.

You must not use Siri much.  I use Siri everyday in my car, at my desk, on while about with iPhone.  Most of the time performs spot on.  Am using it now with HomePod, and for those who haven't yet jumped on the HomePod experience, you are missing out on terrific audio quality and a great Siri experience.  From controlling my HomeKit devices, to playing music/podcasts, making phone calls, sending texts, asking sports, weather, checking calendar and yes, setting timers, she does fantastic. In other words, Siri does what 99% of people actually use a smart speaker for.   Is getting even better with iOS 13 with recognizing separate voices. 

aderutter said:

Personally I think Beats really suck.
I think Apple buying Beats was a really bad move.
I expect the opposite from new Apple headphones but we’ll see if they are as good as Sennheiser which is the same price bracket.

LOL.  The Beats purchase is widely acknowledged in the music hardware/finance circle as a genius move by Tim Cook and Apple.  What the general public and pundits didn't understand was that Apple didn't just want the Beats streaming service, but the Beats hardware and iconic brand.  The headphone brand is one of the top brands in the world and it has helped Apple become the largest seller of wireless headphones in the entire world, bringing in billions in revenue each year. Older people don't understand the cultural hipness of Beats among younger people worldwide. Indeed, Beats headphones has the largest share of premium (defined as greater than $200) headphones in the entire world.  Apple is its usual super smart self in letting Beats run and bring in billions while Apple built a fantastically successful AirPods line that it appears it is just continuing to expand.  

Just a few facts that explain why industry people chuckle when they hear the old Internet meme that Apple "overpaid" in buying Beats. 

lkrupp said:

I understand the principle of limiting the government’s ability to compel one to open their phones for inspection. I also agree with the 5th Amendment prohibition against self incrimination. But freedom is not free. Enforcing these prohibitions means we as a society have to accept the fact that crime will continue to rise and victims will continue to be robbed and murdered. I live near St. Louis which made the national news this week because 13 children have been gunned down in the streets this month alone. Protests are being organized demanding the police department DO SOMETHING. But these same protesters don’t want surveillance cameras in their neighborhood, are scared to report anything to the police. They want gun control as if that would change anything and the 2nd Amendment is blocking those efforts.

I’m sure the very people posting here about the 5th Amendment and unlocking phones are probably just fine with legislation outlawing guns in the hands of the public and want the 2nd Amendment repealed. Again, freedom is not free and we need to accept the price of that freedom.

An incident in my on town some twenty years ago still sticks in people’s craws. A woman murdered her boyfriend, cut him up into pieces and stuffed him into a garbage can. She was in an upstairs apartment. She rented a Rug Doctor from a local store in an attempt to clean up the blood. The downstairs apartment occupant noticed a red liquid running down her wall and called police. They knocked on the upstairs apartment and the woman let them in. One of the officers saw the garbage can and lifted the lid to find the dismembered body. The case was dismissed because the officer didn’t have a search warrant to open that lid and the garbage can and dismembered body were ruled inadmissible evidence. Blame the cop if you want but the woman got away scot free with murder. Tell the family of the victim it’s the price of freedom and too bad for you.

No need to throw out our Constitutional protections to have public safety.  The 5th Amendment has a very important protection that against the government forcing you to testify against yourself. It arose out of our English common law history where people could be tortured to force them to testify.   It has nothing to do with you providing fingerprints, your photograph, your DNA, etc., or the silly ruling from this judge that will be easily overturned if appealed.  

gatorguy said:

"Will Apple have to brainwash the masses to buy it?"

It's not a computer for the masses and no amount of brainwashing could change that.

At the same time it's gonna appeal to a certain segment of buyers who have needs for intense video processing or scientific applications, or a few who purchase it "just because it exists". 

I think you missed the entire point of the article, and the title.

Excellent.  Surveys do show the myth that Alexa "skills' are a useful advantage.  Most people haven't used even a single one, and the vast, vast majority of users of smart speakers use them to play music/podcasts, set timers, do basic home automation, check weather and traffic.  Siri does a great, though imperfect, on each of these, and with Siri shortcuts,  

A couple of quibbles.  Would be good to point out that the recent "studies" are consistent in showing that Siri is more accurate than Alexa and Cortana, and getting pretty close to Google.    Also, the 4 million figure from Canalys should be reported with more skepticism.  Apple doesn't report HomePod sales, so any figure is highly suspect.

"the Titan team has since refocused attention to autonomous vehicle subsystems."  

Please correct this as it is unsubstantiated rumor and speculation.  Apple has never, nor has anyone confirmed this guess/speculation about what Apple is up to with Project Titan.  Indeed, this particular guess is generally thought of as one the least likely avenues Apple would have any reason to go down regarding Project Titan.

sbdude said:

If Apple were to buy Tile, which is horizontal integration, and hold a dominant share in and of themselves, that would be a monopoly."

No, a monopoly is more than a dominant share.  Every company legitimately strives to be the dominant player in their industry.   A monopoly market structure is characterized by a single seller, selling a unique product in the market. In a monopoly market, the seller faces no competition, and is the sole seller with no close substitute. For example, Spotify is by far the dominant music streaming service in the world, but they are not a monopoly. If Apple bought Tile there would still be other trackers for sale.

abycats said:

The annoying thing about Apple Cash is that the attached “credit” card must actually be a debit card. My ATM/credit cards do not include debit features because of the potential liability for losses upon theft. So, to use this, I had to agree to the lesser protection of a debit card. Not a great trade-off. 


More false news on the Internet.  You can use credit cards for Apple Pay cash, not just debit cards.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/17/12/05/use-apple-pay-cash-with-a-debit-card-to-avoid-a-3-credit-card-transaction-fee