[Ken Gracey]

There a great story on the New York times about siri, on how much apple promised, and how little they have delivered.

Personally, this may surprise Brian, I actually use Siri, a fare bit for making calls, and sending text messages, but apart from that, Siri is basically useless, and a total sham. I truly doubt, it will improve under ios 6, but I will be happy to admit it, if I am wrong.

[Some Random Bloke]

I don't have an iPhone 4S, but I thought it had improved considerably in recent months. Not so?

[BrianB]

Ive never had the opportunity to use Siri fully as I have an iPhone 4. But it doesn't really surprise me it's not all that accurate. Voice technology would be a challenging thing to master.

I use Voice Control to make calls every now and again and that works well.

Dare I say it, but googles voice search is pretty darn accurate via the Google Search App.

[Dylstra]

Siri is not only about accuracy, it's mostly about understanding.

Siri is supposed to understand what you are saying in context. That's the important bit.

Of course, that's no consolation when I have a dozen goes at trying to get Siri to understand whether I've said "Home" or "Mobile."

IT'S A FIFTY-FIFTY PROPOSITION--TAKE A (I said a bad word) STAB AT IT.

[bitingmidge]

Siri is no different to those apps that were so cool when the iPhone came out, you know, the glass of beer you could drink, or Koi pond where the fish would come if you dipped your finger in the water.

Its just a show-pony app to impress your mates in the pub, with no practical use, unless you are a quadraplegic in which case it could be quite handy indeed.

Voice activated dialling is handy for someone who works in his car, but I had that more ten, was it fifteen(?) years ago.

If you get upset because Siri won't give you an accurate television programme for Thursday evening, then there's something very wrong with your life, not Siri!

In any case, the voice dialling on my 3Gs is so useless that Siri has to be an improvement!

Cheers,

P

[Islandhead]

bitingmidge, on 23 July 2012 - 05:04 PM, said:

If you get upset because Siri won't give you an accurate television programme for Thursday evening, then there's something very wrong with your life, not Siri!

I beg to differ, my life is fine and there is definitely something wrong with Siri! Have you even used it?

It doesn't bloody work in Australia! I can voice dial, send a text etc but I can't ask where the nearest car park is, I can't find out local garages in my area... "I'm sorry, I can only look for businesses in the United States" Thanks for nothing Siri.

[Ken Gracey]

I tried S Voice today on a galaxy 3, and it's just as bloody useless.

[Some Random Bloke]

So the issue is localisation rather than that Siri is broken?

[Ken Gracey]

It's a combination of both, A it doesn't understand what you ask it 50% of the time, and then of course it can only do about 5% of what apple advertises it can do, let's hope it takes a quantum leap under ios 6

[BrianB]

Ken Gracey, on 23 July 2012 - 07:50 PM, said:

I tried S Voice today on a galaxy 3, and it's just as bloody useless.

I am sooooooooo happy to hear that...

Also I've heard the battery is crap on the Galaxy 3. That's why they make the phone with a replaceable battery....

[Ken Gracey]

The battery is good for a day, with little to no use, but if you get the 30 to 40 calls I get, the battery would be pushing it to last 3 hours or maybe 4 if your turned half the bells and whistles off.

[bitingmidge]

Islandhead, on 23 July 2012 - 06:11 PM, said:

I beg to differ, my life is fine and there is definitely something wrong with Siri! Have you even used it?

No I haven't used it, and my point is that I can't see the purpose. So what if it can tell you where the nearest carpark is, by looking at a map you can actually see that the nearest may be up a one way street or not as convenient as the one three doors down.

I'm sorry, Maps is a very useful tool, (so is my GPS mapping device) but Siri is just a Gee Whizz show pony that Apple uses to ensure you use lots of bandwidth which in turn keeps the Telcos happy so they will sell more iPhones.

Don't get me wrong, if people want toys, let them have them, just don't confuse "play" with "productivity". The Mac was always about productivity, getting the job done in the most efficient way, and to a point it still is, but IOS devices are not. They are about having fun and buying stuff, whether that's Apps or bandwidth or accessories or just the newest model because Siri now speaks with a Swedish accent. They are pure consumer devices with no other point than to generate consumption.

There, I've said it.

Again!

Cheers,

P

[Some Random Bloke]

No, no, no. Yes I use my iPad for play (my iPhone less so), a lot, but I also use it for productivity quite a bit.

Even those areas that aren't specifically productivity, iOS devices enhance life. Task lists (the reason I got my first Palm device many years ago), calendars, navigation, even find my friends. Because of the iPad I've gone almost completely paperless.

In regards to Siri and voice, consider it just another input device. IF (big if) voice is more efficient than text based input, especially on a touch screen, why not use it?

[Islandhead]

That's all well and good. It doesn't matter if people think its some conspiracy theory with the Telcos or consumerism gone rampant or the fact that I don't run a business, have never kidded myself that my iPhone improves my 'productivity'

When I buy myself a toy I expect it it work as advertised!

There, I said it

[Some Random Bloke]

LOl. Absolutely!

[pegi]

I like your quote from Churchill so damn true.

And on the subject of Siri did we not have this discussion before?

Islandhead, on 24 July 2012 - 07:30 AM, said:

That's all well and good. It doesn't matter if people think its some conspiracy theory with the Telcos or consumerism gone rampant or the fact that I don't run a business, have never kidded myself that my iPhone improves my 'productivity'

When I buy myself a toy I expect it it work as advertised!

There, I said it

[pegi]

This is going the way of the future. Voice is going to be BIG. This is my intuition on that.

As I said before, SIRI is programmed for the US it has problems with other English speaking people.

Some Random Bloke, on 24 July 2012 - 07:28 AM, said:

No, no, no. Yes I use my iPad for play (my iPhone less so), a lot, but I also use it for productivity quite a bit.

Even those areas that aren't specifically productivity, iOS devices enhance life. Task lists (the reason I got my first Palm device many years ago), calendars, navigation, even find my friends. Because of the iPad I've gone almost completely paperless.

In regards to Siri and voice, consider it just another input device. IF (big if) voice is more efficient than text based input, especially on a touch screen, why not use it?

[Ken Gracey]

Voice control, will become the norm in a few years, I mean my GPS has voice control, our phones have it, and if I am not mistaken mountain lion has a form of voice control, I guess like with any thing, every update will get better and better, of course until it does, we will just have to pull our hair out in frustration.

[Some Random Bloke]

I should be fine then. I don't have any hair. Except facial... ouch!

[Ken Gracey]

Ahh so Alex, so you were one of the siri beta testers "