“Google’s head of Android, Andy Rubin, at the AllThingsD conference… took a dig at Apple’s Siri interface: ‘I don’t believe your phone should be an assistant…Your phone is a tool for communicating,’ he opined, ‘You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone; you should be communicating with somebody on the other side of the phone,'” Kit Eaton reports for Fast Company. “Microsoft’s Windows Phone president, Andy Lee, also leveled criticisms at Siri at AllThingsD. The type of personal assistant interaction delivered by Siri, Lee said, ‘isn’t super useful.'”
Eaton reports,” Such Siri disses have industry punters confused. Lee is definitely targeting the way Apple’s Siri uses curated resources to answer some questions, including Wolfram Alpha for slightly more math or fact-based answers, and Yelp for restaurant reviews. But have both executives overlooked the fact that Siri allows searches of Google and Bing (and Yahoo) when it can’t find a clever answer that marries Wolfram Alpha’s natural language query responses with its own easy-to-use, natural language interface?”
“Lee and Rubin must be nervous,” Eaton correctly concludes. “One thing Siri does that may have both Google and Microsoft quaking in their boots is to act as a first sift ‘layer’ for users trying to query the internet for information… Siri could gum up Google and Bing (and Yahoo) ad revenue… Another huge worry for Apple’s competitors should be that the company will take its expertise gained from Siri in Beta on the iPhone 4S, and turn it into a massive game-changer with Siri 1.0 on the iPhone, the upcoming iPad 3 and the Mac itself, especially since there’s no reason an adjustment to the already impressive voice control “assistive” interfaces in OS X couldn’t learn from mobile tech and be augmented.”
There are plenty more reasons why Google and Microsoft are (or should be) worried about Siri in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The Siri-less are scared shitless. And rightly so.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Karla S.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Morgenthaler says Apple’s iPhone 4S Siri is ‘seriously underrated’ (with video) – October 21, 2011
Apple debuts first iPhone 4S Siri television ad (with video) – October 21, 2011
Android chief not interested in turning Android devices into personal assistants – October 19, 2011
iPhone 4S’s snide, sassy, amazing Siri has plenty to say – October 18, 2011
Ars Technica reviews Apple iPhone 4S: A Siri-ously slick, speedy smartphone – October 18, 2011
Bajarin: Apple’s iPhone 4S with Siri launch a pivotal moment in tech, but many missed its significance – October 17, 2011
Apple gave Siri AI personal assistant its edge – October 16, 2011
PC Magazine reviews Apple iOS 5: The best phone and tablet OS, Editors’ Choice – October 15, 2011
PC Magazine reviews Apple iPhone 4S: Editors’ Choice – October 15, 2011
Wired reviews Apple iPhone 4S: The ‘S’ stands for Siri, a life-changer, the reason people should buy this phone – October 12, 2011
USA Today’s Baig reviews iPhone 4S: Apple takes world’s finest smartphone to even loftier heights – October 12, 2011
WSJ’s Walt Mossberg reviews Apple iPhone 4S: Siri artificial-intelligence has to be tried to be believed – October 12, 2011
NY Times’ Pogue reviews Apple iPhone 4S: Conceals sheer, mind-blowing magic – October 12, 2011
Scared Siri-less!!! Or should I say Siri-more!
Denial ain’t just a river in Redmond, Egypt boys.
The reason why Google and Microsoft feel uncomfortable about Siri is that Siri has the potential to to be the ads killer. If Siri were to be so good at answering questions and fetches the results, nobody would go to Google Search or Bing to click on ads. That would affect Google, especially, and Microsoft, to a lesser extent, hard.
Even if Google or Microsoft were to copy Siri, it would still affect the ads-clicking business model. Who in their sane mind would want ads to intrude into their queries from a personal assistant? The irritating factor of ads intrusion will kill Google’s or Microsoft Siri-inspired personal assistants. That is why Google’s Andy Rubin is the first one to recognise the killer instinct of Siri. Google has to change the way it does business. Trying to copy Siri features would be its downfall.
Wow… They are scared and grasping at straws to validate their statements. Kind of sad … They really can’t provide the voice interface and don’t have a clue as to how to proceed.
No weasel picture? I almost thought it was part of Apple’s actual advertisement.
That’s what separates Apple’s success from others. Andy doesn’t think you should be communicating with your phone, but evidently millions of consumers do.
Apple creates products consumers want, not what some company exec thinks we should be doing with those products.
I would be suspicious of any company head telling us what we should or shouldn’t be doing with devices as these also reveal self-serving agendas and poor vision. They might as well be weeping/blubbering out loud and saying “we don’t have anything like Siri, wahhhh.”
The beauty of these devices is in the eyes and ears of the beholder holder. We’ll be the judge of that thanks Mr. Clueless Rival CEO!
You know, Rubin was right. When he said you shouldn’t be communicating with your phone, he meant your Android phone. Maybe he’s smarter than we think!
Rubin’s a tool. He could be pulling a Steve and dissing the competition until they have a reply, because if he truly believes what he said, he’s a fucking idiot. Siri isn’t a toy to amuse oneself in one way conversations with your device. It’s a tool to make your mobile computer even more useful. Or had Rubin not noticed that the whole fucking point of the modern smartphone was having a mobile software driven computer with you everywhere you go? What participant in the modem technology arena would limit the usefulness of that mobile computer by proscribing what taks it’s capable of performing?
An elderly person telling Siri “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” and she’ll call an ambulance or other help for you. Eventually stuff like this will come along. The implications for helping the retired population are enormous. Ditto for the handicapped, let alone for the rest of the populace.
And Microsoft and Google do not think it noteworthy? Disingenuously reacting and scared out their minds maybe.
my wife has m.s. and that is one important reason she has a new iPhone (with lanyard to go around her neck and attachment to the bottom of the iPhone); this is HUGE. and makes me worry a whole lot less!
God bless you and your wife, and I too believe this will be huge for people with disabilities !
You may not be able to tell Siri, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up but you can tell her to dial 9-1-1.
Reminds me of Stevie Wonder’s recent comment from stage that there’s nothing we can do on the iPhone that he can’t do.
Just imagine what the medical app developers will do **when** they open some Siri APIs…
Thank you Peter! I’m using that one on my wife so I can finally get a iPhone.
Anyone who thinks the Tim Cook is less relentless than Jobs is in for the surprise of their lifetime … Tim will Obliterate the lame theivIng wannabees
‘You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone; you should be communicating with somebody on the other side of the phone,’”
So how do you know? The Turing test is a test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test
The Google test is a test of anybody at Googles ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour, without stealing it!
Googles new motto: Don’t be evil, it’s our job. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_evil)
Well, I see that those “Idiot CEO” classes are really paying off…
The reason Andy doesn’t think it’s a big deal – aside from Google’s general lack of understanding why people would want to use natural language to communicate – is that a major feature of his derivative OS is speech. And compared to Siri, it’s embarrassing.
Rest assure, Google is looking to clone this too. As I said on Twitter, Google’s codename for the beta of their Siri knock-off should be “Asperger”.
Actually their speech to text tech is pretty solid.
Its understanding wtf you are talking about is where it is lacking 😉
If you think about it I can give you a good analogy:
Apple is your favourite pair of slippers (iPhone wise)
And Google is your alright gown (Search Engine wise)
iPhones and a google search engine work perfectly together IF THEY WANT IT TO
Then your gown thinks ill try to copy the slippers
Eventually it comes out that the slippers feel like cement and they’re made of COW SHIT compared to apples silk slippers
REMEMBER GOOGLE’S ANDROID WOULDN’T BE HERE IF IT WEREN’T FOR APPLE JUST GO
BACK TO SEARCH ENGINES EVERYONES GOING
TO APPLAUD U
It is the best! I use it all the time:)
Siri is intelligent too:)
Now my wife wants to upgrade from iPhone 4:)
As I also posted elsewhere: “Some of the naysayers and doubters responses (i.e., Andy Rubin, Google) to SIRI remind me of when the Macintosh first came out in 1984 and DOS users were making fun of the Mac’s icons and the use of a mouse. – “Real computer users type in commands to a computer.” Well, we know what became of that.”
As Horace Dediu pointed out in his podcast, this is Apple’s attempt to disintermediate Google search. The future battle will be between the clusters of personal information Apple gathers thru Siri, Amazon thru Kindle and its website, and Google thru search. So far, Microsoft is a bit player. Of course, Google, and Microsoft are going to badmouth Siri. I’m surprised Bezos hasn’t done it yet.
“I don’t believe your phone should be an assistant” Hmm. Your right, let’s go back to the brick phone back in the 80’s.
Sounds like Ballmer down talking the original iPhone. Always the same.
It’s not like they can stand there saying “it’s amazing, we will try and copy it soon but yea, it’s really cool.” Damn stock market rules all corporate speech there days.
They should have been asked…
“Well if you feel that “You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone; you should be communicating with somebody on the other side of the phone” and that “The type of personal assistant interaction delivered by Siri, ‘isn’t super useful.’”, then your customers have no worries of a Google or Microsoft (as the case may be), product with a Siri-like capability, correct?”
Get them on record! and video for YouTube.
I still get a kick of Ballmer deriding the iPhone for it’s ‘lack of keyboard’ video clip…
One big thing about the iPad no one saw coming, was how it helps autistic kids.
The big thing about Siri to no one is noticing is that suddenly the BLIND can now use a touchscreen phone out of the box.
To be fair, the iPhone and iPad were already super useful to the bind right out of the box. They’ve had the assistive capabilities to read whats one the screen since day one. Siri of course makes the phone even more useful by dictating text.
Wow, we have seen this before!
Balmer dismissed the iPhone as a niche product. Everybody thought that the iPad was a non-starter.
The more these idiots say something sucks, the more I know it will do great!
What’s amazingly stupid about Rubin’s statement is that if you can speak a few words into your phone and get the information quickly, you actually are spending LESS time on your phone and therefore have more time to communicate with people. How long would it take someone to open their phone, open the web browser, type in their search, sift through answers, when instead you could ask Siri and within a few seconds up pops the answer?
Not to mention how much safer driving will be when you don’t have to be typing while you drive.
“Not to mention how much safer driving will be when you don’t have to be typing while you drive.”
No-one has to type while they drive.
Oh, by the way, NEVER TYPE WHILE YOU DRIVE.
First the appocalypse, now the siringularity. We’re all boomed, I tell you! Booooooomed!
Lol!
Amazing they would make statements that stupid for print.
SIRI car integration is bonzo. Just wait until carmakers get access to the API to create apps… iPhone just killed Android in the car.
Adding reminders and dates to my iClouded calendar via SIRI is amazing. Finally an easy task management workflow that works wherever I am. Location based reminders are amazing too.
I love this story, but it’s a poorly written article. In the penultimate paragraph reports Microsoft’s Windows Phone president, Andy Lee:
“…noted that Windows Phone 7 has a degree of voice interactivity in the way it connects to Bing, and thus harnesses ‘the full power of the internet, rather than a certain subset.’
But then the article goes on to say: “But have both executives overlooked the fact that Siri allows searches of Google and Bing (and Yahoo) when it can’t find a clever answer that marries Wolfram Alpha’s natural language query responses with its own easy-to-use, natural language interface?”
Both executives? I get that both Google and MSFT exec’s are sprinting on treadmill’s, so to speak (and mixing metaphors,) but this nit I pick!
Ever since I’ve had mine on launch day, I have not used the keyboard to type a text message, only siri or the mic. Not one. Suck on that Microslut and gaggle.
Not to sound like the typical fandroid but ive been txting using a mic for over a year on android. That is the one part of voice google nailed probably before anyone. At least my droid was the first phone i used that actually worked well with voice.
Of course Siri is going to be so much more than the linited goog voice commands that are available on android. Android only understands about 10 predefined commands. Siri can adapt and understand context. That is a major leap imho