“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
Following the scene where the girl asks, “What does a weasel look like,” can someone out there please splice in a photo of Andy Rubin looking out of the iPhone screen?
My video editing skills aren’t up to the task.
You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone; you should be communicating with somebody on the other side of the phone,’
Pathetically trying to redirect attention — trying to get us to ignore the fact that this isn’t a PHONE, as such. “Phone” is only one of the functions of our personal portably pocket computers.
And, of course, we need to communicate WITH our computer. The only question is how.
would love Siri on my Mac… just leave it on… as long as it lets me say… “Hey Siri…”
I dont need my computer, or for that matter any electronic device talking to me all day…
Google Gargle just re-released for iPhone – for all of those dinosaur lovers.
Google is rightly worried – if it ever survives Oracle, Unix, Microsoft and finally Apple lawsuits for pure theft. As Steve Jobs noted people used specialised Apps for look up now. Soon to be overtaken by Siri direct requests to websites that actually KNOW what the user is looking for, Google will disappear faster than AltaVista. Just another DEC, Compaq, HP or Dell to hit the floor as a one hit wonder, who thought they knew better – ask CISSCO. They should have Googled ‘software theft’ before getting into this mess. Oh and $12.5 bn for FRAND patents mostly on set top boxes, have they actually GOT a lawyer?
Google 5 years tops – Don’t be evil, its our job.
I think Andy hit the nail on the head without knowing it. Phone for communicating with someone on the other side? Maybe we should get a nokia. Apple has moved the goalpost again. The iPhone will no longer be a phone! It is your indispensible personal assistant. Communicating with someone is only a feature. No wonder they r scared! They r still planning for a greater phone! Back to the drawing board. When they get a Siri clone, apple will have a HDTV and move the goalpost again. Maybe there will be no iPhone 5! The new iDevice will be my car alarm remote, my house alarm remote, tv remote, my HDTV video recorder n CCTV surveillance
I give Google and Samsung ninety days to before they announce to a breathless world they too have invented an iPhone like Android assistant.
Android will still sell like hot cakes among the wannabe Geeks and their clueless friends.
When competitors bad-mouth Apple products and features, they are dissing the Apple consumer. It’s Apple’s consumer who decides whether a product is worth buying or not. Steve Job’s said it himself (at the AllThingsD conference with Mossberg, “If people think we’re making great products, they’ll buy ’em… if they don’t, they won’t!”
I must admit when they said a while back that siri was a threat to google search I didnt understand quite why. Now having experienced it I cant see a future for Google search in its existing form at all long term. This is the return of Sherlock in an almost unimaginally advanced form and it can access whatever Apple decides to let it without those databases ever being obvious to the user. Googles whole business model is threatened here once siri becomes synonimous with iPad, iPhone, iPod and Mac not to mention all other devices Apple does and will produce. Even Microsoft’s whole business core client base could be tempted by its possibilities if they cant offer an alternative.
At last people are seeing the potential, late as usual.
“Tell my wife I’m leaving.”
Wow. That’s even colder than an email.