cropr

chasm said:

“I demand the right to choose to have my iPhone just spontaneously crash or die on me rather than be FORCED to accept Apple’s alternative of SLIGHTLY slowing it down a bit when it’s under load and the battery is chemically depleted!” This is a perfect example of the kind of gross stupidity produced when gross tech ignorance is combined with bad reporting (in other outlets, AI has done a good job with his IMO), creating mass hysteria.

foggyhill said:

lorin schultz said:

foggyhill said:
[...] Apple is all about INTEGRATION. That's were they shine and provide added value.

Integration may be Apple's goal, but they don't always get it right. The new Apple TV 4K is actually a step backwards in that regard. Unlike our Gen3 unit, it doesn't sync watched status between the cloud and local downloads. The TV app and Up Next show iTunes purchases and Prime, but NOT my local library or Netflix. It's a bit of a mixed up mess. Siri is another area in which integration has not yet been achieved.

None of that is a direct reflection on the as-yet untested HomePod per se, and obviously Apple probably does a better job of integration than other manufacturers. Still, it's not fair to say that buying a product made by Apple rather than someone else necessarily means it will either work well or play nicely with other Apple products. The holes in the ecosystem and occasional steps backwards (iLife, Final Cut, Apple TV are examples) indicate that it's not safe to assume every new product will mark progress on that front.

Well, one of the problem with integration, Apple usually producing good product at launch and an ecosystem, is too early optimization to fit this sprawling ecosystem and that the bigger it is, the higher the chance that locally, a part of it will detach through inertia or that local adaptation will hinder a wider goal (at least temporarily).

Setting an ecosystem is one thing, keeping it all part alive and active, is a hell of a lot harder.
That's why there are not many outside Apple that have done it, though a lot of the other players are following in its footstep including Amazon and Google.
Bizarrely, Samsung is not being very successful at this despite having a huge range of hardware.
Microsoft is also struggling here.

Especially if coding / hardware & R&D resources internally are not unlimited.
Many people seem to think you can just hire STEM people left and right like they grow on trees and throw them at any problem and you'll get a sellable product... If Only it was that easy.

In fact, sometimes they have to backoff because they adapted to the wrong thing, the wrong local user need that hinders adaptation to the overall ecosystem.

So,overall ecosystem pressure leads to cull of products perfectly adapted to their niche leaving those that depended on these adaptation without a home.

GeorgeBMac said:

There are two reasons for using Apple Pay:
1)  Convenience
2)  Security -- since your card number and personal information are not provided to the seller and it actually provides a higher level of security than a chip card.

As I understand it, Google Pay does not provide that same level of security and, in fact, does provide the seller with your personal information.  Perhaps that has changed and Google is now providing a secure payment method that protects your personal information?   Oh Wait!  Google is the company that profits from selling your personal information!  So:  Probably not...   (sigh...)

macplusplus said:

cropr said:

genovelle said:

kkqd1337 said:

Apple should have been in this market first. Siri is consistently terrible and it’s embarrasing for them that Amazon have come from no where to create this whole Echo/AI market. I just can’t understand what Apple and Google are doing with all their money and knowledge. They are both now playing catch up to Amazon? A shopping store.  

I hope Apple intend to do something more than just look out the windows in their new campus.

Funny how Siri works awesomely for me and millions of others and does things I actually want. That does not include buying things from Amazon by voice.  

Good for you and these millions.

But as a Dutch speaking Belgian, I can say that Srii in Dutch is useless, because it is does not understand 80% of what I am saying.  Using Siri in English is much better in recognizing what I am saying, but Siri in English does not understand any Dutch or French names, which  is quite painful for navigation and  contact related apps.  Asking Siri in English to play a song with a English title works fine, but that's about it.  Very poor of Apple.

And by the way, Google Now on an iPhone does a much better job in understanding my Dutch, so it can't be that difficult.

If Siri really were not understanding 80% of what one says in Dutch Apple wouldn't release a Dutch Siri. So what Siri is not understanding according to your claim is probably not your utterance but your "intent". And misunderstanding or missing an intent is a subjective fact. Try to comply with the given Siri examples and you'll perform better in communicating your intent to Siri. That is you that must perform better in communicating intent, not Siri. That doesn't mean that Siri has no shortcomings or errors. As human communication is not devoid of errors or misunderstandings, communicating with a machine has its own but different limitations and compromises. Tell Siri a poem and expect it applauds, will never happen...

Siri will recognize French and English names in a Dutch sentence. But an English Siri cannot cope with Dutch place names and directions, this is a known fact with other languages and geographies as well. If you want to use Siri in local navigation you must set it to local language.

genovelle said:

kkqd1337 said:

Apple should have been in this market first. Siri is consistently terrible and it’s embarrasing for them that Amazon have come from no where to create this whole Echo/AI market. I just can’t understand what Apple and Google are doing with all their money and knowledge. They are both now playing catch up to Amazon? A shopping store.  

I hope Apple intend to do something more than just look out the windows in their new campus.

Funny how Siri works awesomely for me and millions of others and does things I actually want. That does not include buying things from Amazon by voice.