“Why would Apple leave Siri out of the new iPad?”John Brownlee asks for Cult of Mac. “It all comes down to two things.”
“The first is that Siri requires an Internet connection to work, and with the iPad [unlike iPhone], Apple can’t count on an Internet connection being present at all times,” Brownlee reports. “Even with the 4G models, though, Apple can’t count on an internet connection at all times because the device isn’t linked to a wireless carrier contract: it’s pay-as-you-go. In fact, many people only pay for wireless internet on their iPads when they truly need it, like when they’re away from home and traveling.”
Brownlee reports, “There’s another reason why Apple didn’t put Siri in the new iPad. Siri’s broken. That’s going to be a contentious statement, but it’s true. Siri — a beta by Apple’s own admission — is quantifiably dumber, less intelligent and less useful than it was just five months ago when it first launched… The fact that Siri is so much dumber now than it was at launch points to Apple having problems ramping it up to the extreme demand of the iPhone 4S. I don’t know for certain, but my guess is that so many people are hammering on Siri right now that Apple has to devote far less time and processing power to calculating Siri’s answers, returning measurably less intelligent answers than just a few months ago.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: What do you think, has Siri beta gotten less intelligent and less useful than she was at launch? Answer below and/or in our poll on our main site on the left.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Lava_Head_UK” and “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
Actually, i think there is something in this. i recently have noticed that Siri does make more mistakes……
I think the prudent point is the ‘noticing’ part. When we get something new like Siri, we are in wonderment and awe. After using it for a while, we become accustomed to it and expect more from it.
I think that Siri is just the same and maybe even better but my expectations have grown faster that Siri has.
the great expectations,
yes your point is both wise and believable
at first we laughed and played – enjoying whatever Siri gave us – not worrying if it was accurate or true – the novelty has now run off and we want solid replies
we expect more
Absolutely. Dumber and slower when she’s even available.
Some prefer Blondes. Perhaps Siri is.
I felt dumber after reading the end of that article. Siri is fine. Overworked? Probably. Dumber? No.
Siri’s like a garden- she needs attention to grow. Though she’s moddy and has memory lapses. She doesn’t know the right date for DST, and I had to go straight to Google even after “educating” Siri about local pizza places. Siri needs to function and evolve without an internet connection, and with third party apps, too. Siri,my Beta Belle…
So he’s implying Siri’s getting her brains pounded out?
Not possible. I don’t have an iPhone 4S yet.
😉
Try the iTunes “Speakofit Assisant” app then.
Ummmm….re-read billyjackblack’s post and then re-read mine. Then think with a dirty mind.
Yup, just interjecting to keep things in order.
I chose to stay clear of sewer talk and wear a clean dress.
http://www.i4sSiri.com also looks promising.
Why hasn’t Apple allowed Siri on other devices?
My guess (rude or not) that billyjackblacks’ comment has some merit… Apples’ servers will get plugged pipes.
Correction, http://i4siri.com/
Ru$h called Siri a slut.
just my $0.02
As did John Stewart.
Or was it Bill Maher?
No, it was Ed Schultz.
I put Siri’s problems here in the Uk down to (a) being a beta and (b) Siri in the UK is a bloke. Should be a woman – better at multi-tasking (so they say !) {;-D
Then do I gender reset in prefs 🙂
I’ve noticed little to no difference with Siri here in UK – the results were always pretty random, but then Siri is not optimised for UK use anyway. I’m wondering if it’s more to with the US carriers like the dropped call issues that in my experience was never a problem here. Was in Detroit doing some film work about a month ago and Siri was pretty hopeless but I put it down to the weather cos’ boy, was it cold. So carriers may be interrupting packet transmission?
On a side note, I could hardly believe the changed look everywhere…it’s not the city I remember from the early nineties.
Apple is Beta testing more then just Siri’s functionality but what is popular in voice and how it is accepted as a UI.
Siri is definitely slower and dumber than she used to be. Anyone who’s voted no just isnt paying attention.
Absolutely. Woz was right when he noted that Siri is returning stupider results. She used to be able to do so much more. I have a feeling her “learning capabilities” have bugs in them (she is a beta)
Hopefully, apple will have fixed the code by next year and have her up and running at 100% before the iPhone 5.
Agreed. But perhaps Apple has shut things down for a while OR perhaps Apple is trying other search engines to gather replies and those engines are not so good.
I have always had some problems with Siri — either she doesn’t understand what I’m asking for (hears words incorrectly, even when spoken slowly and clearly from myself and others), or Siri’s network connection is down even when I have 3G or WiFi showing available.
Plus, I find it ridiculous that Siri needs a network connection to set a reminder, read or compose a text message, or call someone from my Contacts.
Hear ye, hear ye. It shouldn’t need an internet connection. I understand what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to make the idea of being ALWAYS online a given. They’re trying to do to phones what a broadband connection did for personal computers.
However, the nature of mobile is that you CAN’T rely on an internet connection and when you usually have downtime is when you want to do things with Siri. Things like setting appointments while you’re on the subway or composing messages when you’re on the plane, waiting to take off, or in another country and don’t want to pay exorbitant data fees.
Feel your pain.
However the amount of power of this AI to be place inside any device will not likely happen in another 10 years. Until then Siri will be partial OS and partly Cloud service – sorry.
The reason Siri always needs an Internet connection (even for setting a reminder) is because the translation is done in the cloud. Your voice has to be sent to the cloud for Siri to know what you said after which she can then act upon your request. Btw, Siri works very well for me. : )
And hence – believing Siri will be implemented differently on other device is odd. It is really a one UI set within the OS and tied to a Cloud service in order to function.
I suspect AppliPi knows this as do I. The point is if the speech translation was done locally, 90% of Siri’s tasks (for me at least) would not need an internet connection. Calendars, reminders, calling. I am hoping that the reason we are in Beta is that Apple plans to bring Siri “home” once they’ve got processor capable; the A5 is probably not up to the task. This beta period is providing data as to the types of usage to expect so they can test and tune future iterations of Siri that run locally. At which point we will see Siri migrate to other Apple devices as well. As for Siri getting dumber, I don’t believe it. I just asked about the rainfall in Brazil and had her do some square root calks, and I got my answers.
Interesting – so you feel Apple might one day burn Siri on to the Chip. Example an A7 might get Siri logic onboard to do tasks like voice to text without cloud help. Okay. Dragon dictation embedded. Then only search responses get handled in the cloud. If not on a network 3G/4G/wifi Siri will say – sorry I am not presently connected to a network try asking me when I am in the mood.
LoL it’s as clear as daylight. Apple is no different than google or Facebook when it comes to wanting to capitalize on user data. This is why they have fallen under the hot seat for privacy issues also. First and foremost the translation is done in the cloud so they can learn new commands that people want and aren’t available in Siri. Secondly yes, apple wants everything to be in the cloud. Not cause its the cool thing to do, but simple because it’s the best way to make more money in this day and age. Siri is nothing more than a data mining whore who is duping everyone again.
I have heard this patently false claim before from Googke apologists. You could not be more wrong.
Some examples. The carrier IQ scandal. Apple had their version strictly sandboxes and very limited what data they would allow to be collected. Then they voluntarily ended the service before anyone knew about it.
Google Android? It collected almost everything from people and was reportedly sending out key logging data, and other highly personal information the carriers had absolutely no business collecting and in violation of Federal wiretapping laws.
Bottom line, Apple respects your privacy and your data. Google happily flaunts the law and illegally searches you and your data, trespasses on your property and posts photos of your home online for profit .
There is an enormous gap between what Google has already been caught doing and what Apple does. And this is strictly based on what we *know* Google is doing. Who knows what they are doing but haven’t been caught at yet.
It’s the difference between an ethical company that cares deeply about it’s end users, and an unethical company with no respect for privacy or the law sees its end users as a commodity they can spy on and sell data for millions in profit.
In short violating your privacy and selling your information is Google’s entire business model.
Deal with that.
Sorry, I don’t catch your point and does not compute any criteria paralleling that in which I had made.
I had commented that – Spark mentioned Siri one day would be local. On the device entirely. I pondered the idea; thinking if so would he be suggesting Siri be implanted on the silicon chip of a A7 for example.
You however are saying Siri will remain cloud base and the reason is Apple chooses so for capital gains, earning control and power over privacy… like Dude switch to coke, that pepsi buzz is a downer.
Sorry, Twilightmoon.
My reply comment was intended for Abon.
That guy needs to sip his pepsi through larger straws.
In my tests, Siri has snappy comebacks for more odd and pop-cultural questions now. On the first day I had a 4s I asked “What is the average flight velocity of an unladen swallow?” and she answered by popping up a printout from Wolfram Alpha. I was disappointed with her answer. Now she asks back “An African or European swallow?” a much better answer in my book.
In general, she has gotten less useful and less responsive than at launch.
Oh, and regarding the swallow question (laden or unladen, not whether she does or not), she just answered: “the last person that asked me that ended up in a crevasse.”
She may be less responsive and I’m sure they are working on expanding her server resources.
I love that new answer, I hope they keep adding more silly/fun answers like these.
I also agree that simple things like contact information, calendar events, phone calls and other local data actions would be better if she didn’t require an internet connection.
But Siri’s just a babe…I mean baby…not yet ready for prime time.
wrong. Siri WAS on prime time. (big bang theory)
Siri works fine for me, not slower. The reason Siri isn’t on iPad makes sense, no sure net connection. But half of Siri is there.. The dictation part.
They should put Siri on the new iPad, but have the disclaimer that it’s only on the 4g versions and only those with the service plans. (or on at least wifi)
Maybe apple didn’t want to have the consumer confusion. IMO I think Siri will eventually be fully a part of the iPad. But maybe not until next gen.
Yes, slower and dumber, unfortunately. No doubt about it.
So this must mean she is a “burnet” head.
brunet – dark brown
burnet – net burn out
I can’t get Siri to work 9 times out of 10. When Siri does connect, she usually gets it wrong. I’ve abandoned Siri…
Siri certainly has not improved since launch. Frequently, it is simply unavailable for varying reasons. It does not consistently handle the same request satisfactorily, ie, (Call Joe Smith’s cell phone.) Most questions just result in a “search the web” response. “Play my favorite song” yeilds an album with the word “favorites” in it rather than the song I most frequently play. Siri does not seem to learn from repeated failed attempts of the same request. While it is a great step forward, Siri appears to be stumbling over successive steps.
Siri was very responsive to me in the past. Errors were few and far in between. These days, I get many errors – i.e. when the network is not congested and I can actually get a response. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area. I don’t know if location makes a difference.
I, too, have observed that Siri is getting slower. She seems to more often now get the names wrong in my address book. Sometimes it would be quicker to go to Dragon, dictate, copy, go to new application, paste. I wish there were a setting that would allow something like this to happen so that Siri doesn’t always have to go to North Carolina.
From what I’ve seen with many people, it’s been useless from the start and still useless today. Great potential though – Apple shouldn’t let Siri get a (currently deserved) bad rap
Same answers, but more delay. “Let me think about that” is more common.
I only ever use Siri for two things now, the alarm (“wake me up in a half hour”) and FindMyFriends (“where’s my wife/son/sister/etc”). Everything else gets mistaken for a retail/restaurant location request.
Siri is like most women, the more they talk, the less sense they make.
ChrissyOne, Jean Pool and Janeshepard are major exceptions.
Smooth save.
I don’t use it often enough to notice if it’s gotten worse. For most voice searches, dragon go is easier and faster… The only thing I use siri for is setting alarms, appointments, and reminders.
The current version of Siri is optimized for voice-based interaction. iPhone is a device that is optimized for voice-based interaction. The current Siri and iPhone are a perfect match.
iPad is NOT a device that is optimized for voice-based interaction. Siri on iPad will need to work differently, to take better advantage of the larger touch-screen. Siri on Mac will also work differently. Siri is really about its AI, and that capability should be accessible in many ways, not just by voice. Later, more advanced, versions of Siri will be tailored for use on iPad and then Mac.
Any other tech company would take something as popular as Siri and slap it on every product possible as soon as possible. Apple waits until it has created the right user experience for each product. That’s why there is no Siri on the new iPad.
Ken – I understand what you are saying – and think you are right and you are a intelligent and by far more knowledgable then I . I believe your stand is one that Siri is more suited to a phone device that was intended for speech. Yes – it seems during this stage of Siri to be very true and hence why introduced in the iPhone.
(still, please do not feel I am arguing with you)
1) Ready or not, the Siri Assistant AI was introduced as the next big UI. A claim that Apple made historically the first to market. So, yes Apple will treat this project with great care and do amazing things with it for sure. No Doubt.
2) People speak and communicate daily with VOIP with their PCs in Yahoo, Skype or FaceTIme etc.; voice communication is everywhere a microphone can be found. So, I do not limit this belief that Siri is better suited or iPhone only.
3) Siri is an assistant UI. Meaning its a function of the OS layering on top of the touch/graphic UI; assisting what other interactions the user does or needs. So, implementing it differently to a specific device would be wrong IMO. However in beta this maybe be the required stage for testing what Siri can do.
4) Its in Beta. And I believe it should be pressed further by now and definitely as if not yet advanced to remain as is on the new iPAD. In every regards as it is (the same degree) that it is on the iPhone4s. Why, because iPAD is a mobile device. And people do sit in cafes browsing for the same very things – asking the same type of questions – requiring the same info as any iPhone user does. I definitely agreed, less often though, generally since a phone is stuck on someones head longer through out the day. Nevertheless, Siri is an “Assistant” and in beta. Which requires must need more testing and broader acceptance of use since this is an AI that is meant to learn.
5) If iPad is more of a touch device, allow me to question why then “dictation” is on the new iPad? People can type easily enough on the iPad already. It is as you say a more touchable device. I think “dictation” is a small portion of Siri; hence a less featured Siri but one in waiting. If I am right then so are you. Siri is being “implemented differently” on the new iPad for a different reason fro Apple to explore better in this beta test as to what people might use Siri for – yet – it is the same underlining Assistant AI. Only being used as a dictation input to understand voice to text.
6) I think the real question now – Is Apple server farms ready for Siri?
And when will Apple commit more to Siri to come out of beta?
(1) Agree.
(2) I did not say Siri would NOT use voice interaction when it comes to iPad and Mac. But that will not necessarily be the best way to interact with Siri on a device with a much larger screen. Therefore, I think Apple is creating a more advanced version of Siri that allows more sophisticated ways to interact with the user, that takes full advance of each type of device.
(3) I don’t agree. Ultimately, Siri is less about the “UI” and more about the “AI.” That’s its power as a “digital assistant,” that goes beyond previous voice-powered interfaces. An iPhone has a small screen, so what you do with the screen is limited. An iPad has a much larger screen (and Macs have even larger screens), so it should be more a prominent part of the interaction. Apple will not just release iPhone’s Siri on iPad (or Mac), anymore than Apple would release the iPhone’s version of iMovie on an iPad or Mac.
(4) The “beta” aspect may be relevant. But even if it was fully tested and debugged, in it’s current form, I don’t think Apple will release it on anything else. The current Siri is designed just for iPhone.
(5) Again, I never said you could not do voice-related interaction with an iPad (or Mac). Of course you can. Apple released the Dictation feature because it’s a stand-alone function that was ready to be useful. There are stand-alone programs that take dictation on a Mac (and probably iPad too); Apple just added added it as a built-in feature of iPad. This is not directly related to Siri.
(6) Good question. 🙂
1) cool
2) Siri is voice interaction, no debate there – I think that is fairly obvious. Where microphones are Siri can be. Siri is Siri there will only be one. Versions and improvements for sure. But not tailored differently for device A and changed again for device B. Also, Siri is a Cloud service not an on device app.
3) How can you agree to 1) and disagree to point 3)? The beauty is a UI that does not need to be controlled visual by touch, though presently we do need to press the listen button. AI is the differentiating factor of Siri distinguishing it form simple voice-control. Yes the power of Siri is AI. I think Apple is making a slight mistake by not placing Siri in the same beta on the iPad. Why, because competitors have equalled Siri in less then 3 months. Speakofit Assistant and i4sSiri have down what Apple should have. I do not buy into screen size as to why Siri does not exist. An assistance Like Siri can help in many ways to many people. Beta or not it should be a standard iOS feature.
4) The current beta of Siri is suitable for iPhone4s – and so is a simplified screen-less phone or iPodNano. Voice obviously benefits tiny scenes yet that is not the only benefit of this technology. Siri is software and cloud service, as is Dragon Dictation, Dragon uses a colour service to compute voice to text – this is also it is a portion of Siri does. I can not say for sure if the engine Apple uses for “dictation” on the new iPad is in fact Siri – but I believe it is.
5) i think the part of the trouble here is the definition that specifies what Siri Assistant UI is.
For me, it is not merely voice interaction, it is not merely voice control, and as you have stated it Siri is intelligent. Assistant implies helping. This word better classifies and differentiates what Siri is about. An Assistant UI. Where and when mulit-touch interaction could gain easier functionality; voice assistance will provide extra power to the tasks a user can do. Essentially multi-tasking operations for the user while they are busy doing other things.
6) I don’t have these answers. Great, debating and talking about Siri with you. Thanks.
Why would anyone be stupid enough to answer a question on the poll when they dont actually have the product that the question relates too. Maybe I had better ask siri. Worse still its actually the biggest section of respondents. Why not add other irrelevant answers like ‘I dont have a time travelling toaster’ .
I’d slow down just a tad, myself, if I had spent the last six months listening to a pack of gibbering idiots clowning and asking the same dumb-ass questions over and over until the novelty ran out. Siri must be on a virtual I.V. in a recovery facility.
Point taken. Perfect answer.
I have certainly noticed a slow-down with Siri. Most of the time these days I try to use it, the service is not available. Not even for dictation. Frustrating. It was the major selling point for the 4S.
Lack of Siri in iPad has nothing to do with Siri becoming a baby or a senile.
Siri belongs to device that always with you, and this is your phone. Not tablet, not PC, not TV.
Of course, Siri will eventually be on by these other devices, but it will only have secondary, supportive role.
Unfortunately she’s become more of a novelty, because she trips up about 40% of the time — or just opts out “I can’t handle anything else right now!”
Great for reminders and appts, but I feel like I’d rather just use an app with great voice recognition that one that’s constantly battling Apple servers, internet speed, etc.