October 11, 2011

A Siri Demo

I know this iteration of Siri makes for a lot of amusement — and the ever increasing potential defilement of the public contract — but it’s hard to remember another technological innovation1 that makes my head immediately imagine ten years from now.

1Except for the last time Apple introduced a new technology.

(via stuff.tv)

posted by in technology, the future, video | * | 10 comments 

comments

  1. Joel Bernstein on October 11th, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    The funny thing is, while the technology is only starting to become available now, everyone back in the 70s assumed it was right around the corner, so all the social and behavioral studies on voice recognition were done decades ago. They discovered pretty quickly that people don’t like broadcasting their actions to everyone within earshot, nobody likes hearing every little thing their neighbors do, and it’s easier to communicate visually. (the difference between giving someone directions to your house, and showing them on a map)

    Ironically, this reduced interest in funding a technology with limited practical uses.

    Some things have changed for the better. A cellular phone is far more mobile than the mainframe terminals they were envisioning, which makes it more likely that it’ll be used away from other people. We’ve grown much more tolerant of people shouting into empty space. Siri also seems to do a decent job of mixing graphical communication with verbal.

    We’ll see what happens next. I’m cautiously optimistic.

  2. Sheila Ryan on October 11th, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    We’ve grown much more tolerant of people shouting into empty space.

  3. Casey Cichowicz on October 11th, 2011 at 3:28 pm

    I haven’t. I miss the days when only crazy people walked down the street shouting obscenities.

  4. Jamie on October 11th, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    Siri is the only thing making me consider upgrading from my iPhone 4. I just want to know how it knows who your siblings/parents/spouse are.

  5. Erica Braverman on October 11th, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    I want Siri to find me porn.

  6. Joel Bernstein on October 11th, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    Casey: The first time you mention your mom, it asks you to identify her from your contacts.

    Erica: I think a room full of artificial typing monkeys could find that.

  7. Aaron Winslow on October 11th, 2011 at 4:47 pm

    1. I haven’t heard anything about a blog-then-tvshow about drunk things people say at Siri.

    2. I dislike it when the robots start sentences with “Ok” or “Let me…” Robot sentences should begin and end with “Sir,” “Ma’am,” “Master,” “Mistress,” or the gender-neutral equivalent.

  8. Casey Cichowicz on October 11th, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    Hey, keep my mom out of this!

  9. Joel Bernstein on October 11th, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    Sorry, I meant Jamie.

  10. Luke Neff on October 11th, 2011 at 6:35 pm

    I think a room full of artificial typing monkeys could find that.

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