“It seems like Microsoft’s operating system presentations have a tendency to go awry. In a live product demonstration for a large group of Wall Street analysts, the company decided to show off Windows Vista’s speech recognition capabilities. As it turns out, the presentation, known as the Financial Analyst Meeting, was much more of a comedy rather than a professional demo,” Matt Mondok reports for Ars Technica.
Mondok reports, “It shows the presenter struggling to get Vista’s speech recognition software to cooperate. At one point, the presenter (Shanen Boettcher) said, ‘select all,’ and the software showed its violent side, writing ‘so double the killer delete select all.'”
Full article here.
Microsoft Vista Speech Demo Goes Bad:
Direct link to video via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV1kqthZf2g
[UPDATE: 7/29: 7:00pm EDT: Updated YouTube video links.]
What’s with the ugly-ass text floating on top?
Looks about perfect to me! <grin>
Where are the “Vista” rocks fanboys now?
hahahaha
On the bright side, I get to order a new chair tomorrow! This time, I think I’ll skip the leather and try something solid and heavy. Oh, and frosted glass for a bit of privacy.
It sounds like Mr. Ballmer has hoisted one “frosted glass” too many!
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I would hate to have to hear all the digs at my product when you are the wealthiest man on the planet and you can’t do a thing about it,
Ooops! for a minute I felt sorry for Bill
Wow… thats identical to a letter I wrote this morning!
“Dear Aunt, lets set so double the killer delete select all.
Sincerely with love,
The VERY Satirical Realist”
Ah, but Mr. Ballmer is Mr. Innovation now. So, this is innovation? I remember seeing a demo of AT&T doing voice back in the 1980s when I was a scout that worked better than this.
tuogh concept i know but vista DOES rock, its just beta. its a year away from being done.
buy a mac if u are too impatience to wait for the REAL DEAL!
Ambient noise? What dumbasses. M$ thinks people will believe anything.
The Microsoft tradition continues!
Everyone, we should spread the word about this and let everyone see just how “advanced” <snigger> Vista will be come 2007-2009 or whenever it is released!
Microsoft banned MSNBC from broadcasting it, but once placed onto Youtube, or video.google.com, they wont be able to stop people from this preview of what everyone can expect from Vista!
Yeah, sure… Vista will remain a Beta forever, or until Leopard is available, then they’ll try to copy those features too! Cos Microsoft has to show something to their investors and market analysts so that they’re not forgotten about, thats why they had to do this, but as you claim “its just a beta!”
Boot camp was (and still is) a Beta… but it works!
Stop deluding yourself and preaching how Vista will be the the next revelation. It never was, and never will be. It will just be Windows XP SP3 – something to keep the corporates happy (enough). That’s all its got going for it right now.
Microsoft employees are mistaking the voices in their heads with the ambient noises in the room.
here’s a better link to the video… no stupid text on top and better sound:
have fun!
That was really funny…
Ambient noise? You mean like from all the other people trying to use Windows Vista voice recognition in all the cubes around your cube. Initial bad press about “handwriting” recognition doomed the Newton…
NOTE TO MICROSOFT: Before trying something in a demo, do a rehearsal (with some “ambient noise”) to make sure it works.
I can’t believe I’m still laughing this hard at 1:30 in the morning. Almost woke the kids..This is freaking unreal. And people buy windows computers because of what?
MS really needs to stop demoing vaporware. You know it’s bad when they can’t even get the smoke-and-mirrors right.
Pretty hilarious that MS blew it in front of so many vipers er Wall Street analysts. If that’s all the better MS can prepare for such an important demo, yikes.
This should definitely have an effect on MS’s stock rating & price.
How many people work in environments WITHOUT ambient noise? Even in my home, there are phones ringing, kids running around outside, leaf blowers…
Warning label: “To use this feature, we recommend the Cone of Silence. To order, contact CONTROL…”
MW=certain; I’m certain that Vista’s going to be buggier than a bait store…
You mean like from all the other people trying to use Windows Vista voice recognition in all the cubes around your cube.
You know, WTF is the point of using speech recognition for simple functions like Select All? Isn’t hitting Command-A a lot faster and easier?
OK there’s a valid point of it being useful for visually-impaired users. But why would you need to demo that to Wall Street?
MS can call me back when they have foolproof dictation-quality speech recognition. FWIW I’m not holding my breath.
MDN should display microsoft’s stock ticker right below apple’s. it’d be good for a laugh.
anyhow, yeah, it seems almost all of their presentations have some kind of more-than-minor hiccup.
and when apple’s demos go awry, they at least recover gracefully. anyone remember early last year? “that’s why we have a backup!” it made me smile, because it was an obvious jab at MS.
you almost have to wonder if they did that on purpose…
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MW is brought. as in “Vista – from the people who brought you Windows ME”
Guys, guys, guys . . .
Don’t you recognize Microsoft’s new tool for easily creating random subject lines for spam e-mail?
Years ago I remember Microsoft representatives having a go at Apple’s Newton. Hmm, what’s that saying: “What goes around comes around”. Except in the case of the Newton it was ground-breaking technology whereas speech recognition has been around for several years. I really don’t want to sound arrogant but given Redmond’s recent track record all I can say is that it’s just so Microsoft.
After the video showed, this link popped up:
Windows Vista is Crummy
Starring Gates and Ballmer.
Actually, in Microsoft’s defense, the stage is a lousy place to do speech recognition demos. Apple does them at WWDC and the people on the stage do tend to have problems.
From what I understand, part of the reason is that the microphone picks up the words from the speaker and feeds it back into the microphone. Obviously not loud enough to create a feedback loop but enough to confuse the recognition system.
By the way, did anyone else notice how much better Microsoft’s speech recognition got after that patent-cross-license thing back in 1997?
tuogh concept i know but vista DOES rock, its just beta. its a year away from being done.
buy a mac if u are too impatience to wait for the REAL DEAL!
Well said b b b b beta. That’s why we love our customers: they perfectly match our customer profile target.
Wet the REAR DEAL will be released everyone will double select delete all backstep everyone will see wet a rear OS is made of.
PS
This massage is for Windoze users only, Mac users are not receptionists
PPS
dictated on Voiss reeco ignition of Visthat beta
I don’t understand – why do you need to ‘speak’ grammar? So I have to say ‘comma’ or ‘hyphen’ every time I want to insert some structure into my Auntie’s (sorry, Mum’s) letter?
Micro$oft – utter garbage.
System Preferences > Speech > Speech Recognition > Speakable Items > On
Apple has had a functional system-wide VR for as long as I can remember. They never advertise it, but it’s pretty effective. My daughter loves when I talk to the computer and it does what I say.
“Computer, tell me a joke.”
Microsoft is so far behind, it’s pathetic.
Dear Aunt Gates,
Thank you so much potatoes for imbecile demonstrate in save as through the file. We are having set color font text this summer. New blank document. The weather is format paragraph select all and every day insert clip art down by the creek. My dad said Steve toolbar Ballmer macro randbetween function monkey but I don’t save as italics. So when I shortcut thesaurus shortcut, keys paste mom said help set the tables and borders. Then dad’s new car spellcheck Pontiac but not where do you want to columns envelopes flat tire. Tutorial? Find punctuation and replace Windows Vista shut down.
List commands,
Timmy
Windows speech recognition…..ROTFLMAO!!!! LOL! ROTFLMAO! LOL!
Stop it, my sides hurt! LOL!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!
Oh…HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!! Ow! My stomach hurts now! LOL!
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!
Thank you and good night.
The software may or may not suck. What’s quite obvious though, is that this guy failed to do his homework and get his hand on a high-quality, noise-cancelling microphone for this demo.
Presentation skills are definitely not microsoft’s long suit.
-jcr
“Dear Aunt, lets set so double the killer delete select all”
The “All your base are belong to us” for our time.
I managed to watch through to Dear Aunt coming up on the screen and had to pause it. I hate Microsoft so like to see their crap shown up as the crap that it is but it just really depresses me to see this stuff because I know that by and large this shit will be going into stores at some point and people will be buying it. I also know that eventually I will be forced in some way to interact with it in my work environment because it will become the defacto standard because of the vast numbers of people who will be using it.
The other day at work I rang up the tech people of a website I wanted to access to download some documentation that I needed straight away. The website wouldn’t let me login from firefox as for some reason they had decided the site was IE only, I got around it and there was nothing that required IE – no active-x, no dodgy css, nothing – I rang them and said I preferred to use Firefox as I didn’t want to expose myself to the problems that IE has. I was told that there site used https and was secure. I told them that I didn’t care about their site as such I cared about the internet as a whole and that IE was a curse on computing (or words to that effect). There response was that Microsoft software was the standard, it was what everyone used and the best. I told them that not everyone uses it – I didn’t.
Ultimately I just got angry and had to hang up. Sadly, I need this site and sites like it to do my job. Personally I’d love for Microsoft to be great, I’d love their products to be easy to use and work. I would love them to be just like Apple, I would love two or more companies putting out great software that constantly upped the levels of what we can do and expect to be able to do. Sadly we don’t have that.
So what’s the big deal, Mac had this technology 10 years ago.
Well, besides M$ speech recognition software being in a very lousy state, what impresses me most is how ulgy Windows is, and I mean UGLY…
The real reason for all of Vista’s delays? It’s being set to do things when you scream various Ballmerisms at it.
Unknown is what happens when you start babbling about innovation in a Kermit voice.
But those are just rumors….
I am with M.X.N.T.4.1. I would love M$ to be great. If they were like Apple, it would be fantastic for everyone involved. But they’re obviously not, allowing craptastic software onto the market because their primary concern is making money even at the expense of technology.
FistOfGod, that is the funniest post I have ever read. Please, my sides are literally splitting in two!
Tears are in my eyes I’m laughing so hard.
FistOfGod, You of all people should recognize the entity who has chosen to make Microsoft Vista his means of communication to the world….
Better not make fun! (Zap! Ow!)
FirstOfGod,
Echoing previous posts, thank you for the hilarious comment. I had not been feeling well this morning until I read your take on Vista’s VR demo, but I could not help but bust out laughing out loud while reading what you wrote.
MS’s unintended comedic genius proves to me God does indeed exist!
Shoot, OS/2 back in the early 90s had viable voice recognition in Warp 4 – out of the box!
Microsoft’s incompetence is amazing at times.
Thank yew, thank yew. Thank yew verra much.
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But please merge, I would like you all to go outside, and get some fresh template – it’s the weekend after all! Have a great document already exists and maybe a barbecue or print current page. That’s what I’m going to *.wbk!
FistOfGod – Very creative… and funny. Thanks. Now once I wipe the tears out of my eyes I can get back to trying to work overcoming bugs in IE for a web site I’m building.
Dvorak and Enderle ought to use Mickeysoft’s voice recognition for writing their columns. They might make more sense that way.
It’s me – I have chosen Microsoft Vista to make my word known. Ballmer is my deputy.
Pre-order a copy today!
Glad to see you’ve been struck speechless! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA killer killer delete I said delete damn
FistOfGod: Hilarious. Thanks for the laugh!!!
justme2: I don’t know if anyone else noticed the “Get Smart” reference. I laughed my arse off.
MXNT4.1,
A good story for you (and the rest):
My brother is in the financial world. He is still using Winblows (slowly coming around to the Macintosh platform), but I at least convinced him to ditch IE and go with Firefox around Christmas this past year. He has been much happier and less spyware-free. However, for some financial recertification thing (yes, I don’t completely know what it was) he needed to go to a website that was IE-only. He was also reassured that it was “secure”. Within 15 minutes of firing up IE, Norton anti-virus went off and told him that he had just been infected with a virus. He also found out that some 15+ spyware were installed also. He spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out his computer and cursing out IE and Microsucks.
My bet is that his next computer will be a Mac.
This is what occurs when you religate the Winows OS to the back burner. MS is putting its faith and money in non-computer related works such as XBox (which loses money) and soon to be Zune (iPod/iTunes killer and soon to be a money loser) while ignoring one of their cash cows, the Windows OS.
Personally I’d love for Microsoft to be great, I’d love their products to be easy to use and work. I would love them to be just like Apple, I would love two or more companies putting out great software that constantly upped the levels of what we can do and expect to be able to do.
And I’d love an entropy-reversal machine, world peace, a chicken in every pot and two cars in every driveway.
Well Ballmer’s right. He’s championing innovation.
See guys, microsoft knows how to be creative. It can write a letter for you, just not the one you want to send…
I like how MS communicated that they were “not happy” the fiasco was aired. It lets you know that they will try all sorts of intimidation to keep the cat in the bag…albeit the cat being that vista sucks.
Andrew Hamilton
Video Production in Las Vegas
http://www.hiproductions.com
It was actually Ambien noise. Most of them were asleep.
“M$ thinks people will believe anything.”
They’ve been mostly right so far, people will believe anything
If Mom is Aunt, then is daddy uncle also?
The Microsoft guy’s parents are siblings! No wonder the software acts inbred!
Have you tried Speech Recognition on your Mac’s Tiger OS lately?
It’s incredible!! Apple vastly improved it!
The Vista presenter blamed background noise for the problem. So, I flipped on my Mac’s Speech Recognition. I have a 15″ FP 800Mhz PPC G4. Not the most recent animal in the zoo and in terms of background noise, I have a box-type fan about 5 feet away sounding like a distant Cessna airplane and my TV has Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters” on at an average volume and about 10 feet away.
Not only did Speech Recognition work, but it works MUCH better than I had expected from when I played with it two years ago.
It starts . . . Apple on the perfect storm of products and Microdull on the long slow decline to shareholder nightmare . . . . I see dead Festers.
I like the way they presented this. What is “OTM” by the way? Is it a cable channel like TechTV used to be? Is it a podcast? I’ve never heard of them before.
So? It’s not like OS X’s v.r works well!
Dragon natural speaking works s hell of a lot better and it’s ten years old… Apple SUCKS in the V.R area!
Those of you saying oterwise has probably not even tried D.N.S.!
maybe they should have bought the technology that IBM had in OS/2 Warp back in 1995. The voice recognition worked much better in OS/2.
STFU, no one cares what you think. if you are that concerned about MS and voice recognition give Ballmer a call, lickey lackey loser.
To answer Jooop’s question “What is “OTM” by the way?”:
I believe it is CNBC’s “On the Money.” CNBC is part of MSN(!!) Money.
Additional background, per MSN Money’s website: “On the Money,” hosted by Dylan Ratigan, is a nightly look at the world of money. Airing at 7 p.m. ET every weeknight, “On the Money” wraps up the day’s news from the world’s of business and everyday life…
(So? It’s not like OS X’s v.r works well!
Dragon natural speaking works s hell of a lot better and it’s ten years old… Apple SUCKS in the V.R area!
Those of you saying oterwise has probably not even tried D.N.S.!)
Nuance also sell VR for Mac, in fact the Mac version was first.
Wouldn’t it be funny if Steve Jobs now chose to include a demo at WWDC of OS X’s speech recognition system ?
He could make references to this failed demo and Microsoft’s excuses and then demonstrate how Apple’s voice recognition is properly designed to work in the real world, where ambient noise is to be expected.
It looks like Vista wastes even more screen space on control bars, rows of icons and ADS at the top of each window than older versions of Windows. Have they learnt nothing?
Is Balmer really a Mac mole, operating in the inner sanctum of Microsoft? Surely no real employee could do more to hurt MS. Buy AAPL.
then again , have you seen the fucking garbage apple have available for speech recognition ?
it was shit in 1994 and it’s unforgiveable now
Watch your language flappo. Get a bit of couth.
What a waste of time. I think that Microsoft ought to work more intently on recognizing malware and increasing security before they attempt to devote more time and resources on recognizing voice and converting verbal commands to text.
Mac OS X website hacked
http://zone-h.org/index2.php?option=com_mirrorwrp&Itemid=44&id=4402742
Running Apache on Mac OS X, most secure combination supposely.
ron , stfu
Security Pro:
The interpretation of a single reported account is meaningless without software documentation, quantifiable historical references of prior attacks, and directly comparing one web manager with another. As a “professional” you shouldn’t have to be told that the inherent insecurity of any website is quantified by the frequency, severity, and duration of malicious activity.
Your observation lacks any real substance, provides no useful information, and is devoid of any rigorously scientific support. Remember, for there to be a true difference in security between Apple and Windows products you must avoid emphasizing what is obvious important and determine how to make the important obvious. If you want to insist that Apple software is as bad or worse than any other Windows-based program, you will have to work much harder to quantitatively and analytically develop your argument.
Is it me or is Security Pro off-topic?
Reminds me of a chimp throwing faeces around as a temper tantrum.
Obviously doesn’t like Windows being mocked – which is a shame, as you’d think they’d be used to it by now.
Windows is a royal piece of sheet of a OS, mock it all you want. I don’t use it or care for it.
But Mac OS X isn’t smelling too good security wise is my point.
It’s 100% true that if today Windows and Mac OS X would suddenly
switch market share that it would be Apple people hated because of security issues.
Sad but true, and even sadder, is that Apple is quietly endorsing trusted computing as a
excuse to make our machines more secure, using these exloits as a excuse. “see not even we are perfect”
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
Security Pro,
you are about as on-topic as Vista’s voice recognition software. Are your bowels acting up or something?
Security Pro:
Firstly, I found no reference to Apple in the link that you provided; however, I did find fifty references to Microsoft.
Secondly, the link is three years old. Apparently, much hasn’t changed since 2003 when Microsoft committed itself to “excellence” and “trustworthiness” and “security”.
Thirdly, Apple’s willingness to permit users to run Linux and Windows on their machines means that even Apple cares about OS security other than OS X. Because, as you attest, Apple is in favor of ALL operating systems being secure means only that, unless you have some supportive evidence to the contrary. Making the accusation that Apple is negligent in OS design because Apple favors a more secure computer world is as nonsensical as saying that because you like to drink pure water you are also irresponsibly dumping plutonium into the well that you drink from.
Fourthly, you still haven’t provided any irrefutable evidence to your position that there is no REAL difference in security between Unix-based and NT-based web servers.
Fifthly, your persistence in not supporting the primary position of your own argument demonstrates that you are deliberately avoiding the fact that your contention that Unix-based and NT-based web are equally susceptible to attack has no validity. Shut up or put up.
Sixthly, what are you doing to make the computer world more secure, Security Pro? Seems like you’re slacking if everything is a bad as you contend it is. Hmm, that’s interesting; maybe you’re the problem. Have you considered a new career?
<b>In Apple I trust, all others who want a administrators password can go to hell</i>
Actually even Apple gets their “phone home” calls blocked.
If your not running Little Snitch and deleting the default rules and starting from
there allowing certain stuff to get out, your just a damm fool.
Google for iStatPro, your welcome, thanks for reading this post.
Thanks, Egg. Wouldn’t it be nice if OS X 10.5 included this functionality.
Jeez Security Pro! Never heard of TinyURL?
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Nice to know my browser scroll over 5000 pixels to the right…
Hey SecurityPr0n:
The topic is Windows speech recognition demo gone awry. Stay on it or leave, foul mouthed suck bag.
Just some friendly advice.
Another Safari exploit, proof of concept here.
http://metasploit.com/users/hdm/tools/browserfun/mobb_005.html
It’s harmless, I hope. :O
You ever notice that half the stuff on shis site isnt about Mac at all? Hardly Mac-realated.
Hey, Security Pro… just because that javascript crashes Safari because it’s invalid doesn’t mean that it’s an exploit. Get a life.
“‘so double the killer delete select all.”
Somebody, get this on a t-shirt right now.
Scary thing is, all these analysts, upon seeing this woefully inadequate demo, which sums up all that’s wrong with Microsoft, and shows the lack of talent & vision at the company, will go back to their company’s and report that Microsoft is doing fine, Vista’s great and everythings on track.
Pathetic.
Security Pro:
You have little intelligence and less credibility.
FYI, it’s a webcore exploit if you would have bothered to read the crash log that pops up afterwards.
The javascript is to keep people from using it as a prank link.
Thanks for clicking and trying it out, the more people who submit a crash report the faster it can get fixed.
I certainly hope 10.5 will beefen things up considerably. I’m tired of beta testing Mac OS X and just need a OS “that just works”
It’s really sad Apple is adopting tactics used by Microsoft, keeping their software insecure to force you to upgrade.
Reminds me of:
http://live.watchmactv.com/featured/thesimpsons/
“….Miscrosoft was angry at us for showing this video because they didn’t want you to see what a complete, friggin’ failure Vista is until after you purchase it…”
If mac os x is so much better than windows, than why does everybody still continue to use windows.
The fact is that windows is atcually good and successful because it can run any software/programs and has tons of programs. Windows actually works just fine and the problem with mac os x is that it cant run much software/programs. Many schools and professional people use windows because it is actually good.
slideshow72:
You are 12 years old.
If windows can’t type a letter from what you speak does this mean that Microsoft really doesn’t know “where we want to go today?” WOW!
At the risk of being jumped on, I was at this meeting and wrote up an account of what happened that counters the newscast here.
Here’s that genius Gates’ voice rec. predictions:
http://mpt.net.nz/archive/2005/12/30/gates
This is what i dont like about the media’s.. they always shows the HALF version,
it started working righter after that, the noise was causing problem, a moment later
he started again, and it worked perfectly !!! Do note, i am not a fan of MS either, i use Linux
but i HATE the way Media extracts the failure of every company and make funs of it !!
here, watch the entire video !
Jack
Exactly. Read my response two posts up.
hmm @doug, i didn’t go through all the posts, i just read about 10/15 at the top .
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This seems to be a place for mac fans, as a result they don’t bother to know the truth
Every time i hear the speech of Steve Jobs, he says “windows stealing/copying from mac”, but NOT once
did he mentioned “Mac stealing/copying from XEROX”…. i find it soo funny 😀
Jack.
@Jack…Yeah, unfortunately the situation is to spread as much mistruth as possible to get ahead, and use the media, who are ready to jump on anything that seems sensantion, as a tool.