Apple co-founder: No love for Siri
(San Jose Mercury News/MCT)
Poor Siri. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak doesn’t have a lot of love for you.
“I’m really disappointed,” he said this week about the iPhone 4S voice-recognition application that is always ready to offer help with just about anything she’s asked.
Wozniak’s comments, to a Timesunion.com reporter at a horse farm in Patersonville, N.Y, came as Apple touted more upgrades to Siri during its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco this week. Apple said she’ll provide better responses, and will be able to launch apps, update Facebook or Twitter, and speak more languages, among other things.
Wozniak said he wasn’t always down on Siri, who he said used to be on the mark with accurate answers to a wide variety of queries.
“I would say, ‘Siri, what are the five largest lakes in California?’ and it would come up, one, two, three, four, five,” he told Timesunion.com. “And I would ask, ‘What are the prime numbers greater than 87?’ and they would come up all in a row. That was pretty incredible.”
“Then Apple bought Siri,” Wozniak told Timesunion.com. And things haven’t been the same since.
“‘What are the largest lakes in California?’ I’d get all these lakefront properties. And I’d say, ‘What are the prime numbers greater than 87?’ And I’d get prime rib.”
He said he doesn’t quite understand what happened, but Wozniak isn’t the only one disappointed over Siri’s performance. A lawsuit has been filed against Apple, claiming Siri isn’t living up to the advertising hype that surrounds her. Unmoved, Apple said the California suit should be dismissed.
Also at WWDC this week, Apple announced it is working with automakers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Honda, and GM to make Siri available in their vehicles. But a CNET report says some automakers are fearful that yet another potential distraction could make them vulnerable to lawsuits after an accident.
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38 comments Add your comment
notafan
June 14th, 2012
8:07 pm
Well,they sure collected your $100 for that extra feature,didn’t they?
BILLY MAYS HERE
June 14th, 2012
8:27 pm
*fawns over multibillion-dollar global corporation*
Jamaaliver
June 14th, 2012
8:32 pm
Have to appreciate his candor. Recognizing/acknowledging the issue is the first step to fixing it.
#1 Wozniac fan
June 14th, 2012
9:08 pm
Is it possible that Apple may fix Siri to make her the awesome AI she once was? I hope so. I don’t think people quite realize what voice recognition software is going to do for us in the future. The next big thing will be voice recognition. Our grandchildren will be amazed that there once was a time when we had to punch keys on a keyboard to write an email. They will wonder how we did that and be amazed at how long it must have taken us to write emails when you had to actually push a button for a letter to pop up on our screen. Siri is the future of technology interface. Since the beginning of the technology era keyboards have been it….there hasn’t been an update to the way we enter text via the typewriter, Television, Telephone, everything technical is done via buttons or keys…..but we are on the edge of changing that. We have the technology to completely transform this NOW so why don’t we? Why doesn’t someone use the technology to make a completely voice input powered device? Android has had voice recognition nailed for years. Pick up any android powered device and push that little microphone in the upper left corner of the screen and say “Navigate to McDonalds”….it is phenomenal it will give you the nearest McDonalds to you and all you have to do is push the one closest to you and bam map launches and turn by turn directions from your current location are there. Its built into the OS, so why do we have to go through 2 renditions of hardware to get there on Apple devices….and we don’t even know yet if iOS 6 will be that good. If I tell Siri now to navigate to McDonalds it tells me there are 5 locations near me that are McDonalds but does nothing for giving me directions, or even showing me anything about McDonalds. I LOVE Apple devices, but I get so frustrated when I can pick up my 3 year old Xoom and it ROCKS Voice Recognition and Navigation, but my iPhone 4S is only good for asking “How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a …….”. It is funny to ask Siri that though, she has 2 or 3 different answers.
Sid
June 14th, 2012
9:14 pm
yeah, my experience (& that of most of my friends/coworkers) has been that you play w/it for about a week, find it mildly entertaining (”Siri, are you really Skynet?” “I’m sorry but I’m not allowed to answer that…”) but not very useful in practice… my 4s is my 1st iPhone (had a Droid & Treo before that) – it’s cool but not “OMG! how did I live before this?”. it’s a lot like when we upgraded our Accord to an ES (Lexus) – nicer/better finished but doesn’t really do anything substantive that the old one didn’t (just more fashionable)…
#1 Wozniac fan
June 14th, 2012
9:16 pm
I have tested, re-tested and over tested Mobile Operating Systems and I must say that Android has the best Navigation, Windows has the best integration of business applications for obvious reasons (Outlook, Excel, Word, PP, etc)….and Windows may be the first to have the absolute best overall integration of PC to Mobile OS, then Apple is best at everything else. Its crazy to think that a company has perfected 99% of the functionality of a mobile OS but just can’t close the deal on that other 1%. Make an OS that is a seamless experience going from laptop to tablet to smartphone…all one OS, and use the technology you already have for Voice Recognition and Navigation to its fullest extent. You will then have the PERFECT device to dominate the market and pave your own road to the future. If Apple needs a Business Analyst I am for hire, because they seem to be clueless about these last couple of steps to perfection.
?????
June 14th, 2012
9:26 pm
Are they coming out with an i5? If so, when?
Nonia
June 14th, 2012
9:31 pm
I dont use the crap. Apple needs to focus their attention on more useful things like a comprehensive navigation application that is free that also rivals Googles integrated application-
Drew
June 14th, 2012
9:47 pm
I’m an Apple fan, but am I the only one that thinks that commercial where John Malkovich is sitting alone in a room, making jokes with Siri is more than a bit… creepy?
It’s a whole BUNCH creepy, in fact. Even for him.
Charlie
June 14th, 2012
10:15 pm
The ads are always at home. I’m not usually somewhere I can talk to my phone and have it talk to me. Keyboard works for me, thanks.
BTW: @Zooey Deschanel: You can tell if it’s raining by looking out the window. Especially if you are standing next to one.
GOSH
June 15th, 2012
12:05 am
Woz worked some cool magic; but Jobs got it DONE commercially. His candor is cool, but so what? If he’s not part of the solution then he’s part of the problem.
obamaisaloser
June 15th, 2012
12:08 am
I have been using Siri and it has always worked great. In fact I told it to type this message from my I Pad!!
#1 Wozniak fan
June 15th, 2012
12:45 am
Ok I am not naive but I must bite, @obamaisaloser how did you use Siri on the iPad?
@????? The New IPhone5 is rumored to be coming out a week or so before iOS 6 is launched in October (all speculation). They are saying that screen size will have to stay pretty close to the same as Apps are designed for the current size, BUT design will be different most likely with a curved aluminum back and be thinner than the current kind of a mix between the original iPhone and the 3GS. This would be awesome for me because I have to say I like holding my original IPhone better than the current (yes I am a dork I have a working version of every iPhone and iPad).
#1 Wozniak fan
June 15th, 2012
12:50 am
And I just realized that you didn’t have Siri type that message well not exactly you must have used the voice dictation feature of the New iPad (3rd Gen). I am excited , very excited to see what the new iOS is like and what Siri has learned! The new Maps and Navigation look promising in the videos shown at WWDC ‘12. Over 200 improvements in IOS 6 and I just can’t wait for it!!!
Chip
June 15th, 2012
6:42 am
This thing is an over-hyped toy. I tried using a friend’s phone with Siri and it couldn’t answer one question right regarding nearby hotels or restaurants. And yes, Zoey, LOOK OUT THE D**M WINDOW!
Too lazy to type your own correspondence? Well, then the message must not be all that important to you. And to put this bluntly… since one commercial spot shows a car full of people in the desert and one asks “where are we?”… if you’re too stupid and lazy to keep track of where you are, especially when driving through a desert, then you pretty much deserve to be lost.
This is just more technology wrapped in hype and sold in the name of “convenience” that (a) rapes the entire notion of privacy through tracking and snitching one’s habits and whereabouts, while (b) indulging lazy whining people’s sense of entitilement… people who are too lazy and irresponsible to do anything for themselves, or literally even keep track of where they are and where they are going.
Pathetic. There’s no way a society of such weaklings can possibly survive.
insertnamehere
June 15th, 2012
7:10 am
@Chip…. does your username stand for what’s on you “shoulder”? Haha.
But i digress… i completely agree with you, pretty soon we’ll have generation of kids like those folks in the spaceship on the movie “Wall-e”.
Sloan
June 15th, 2012
7:22 am
I use Siri for little else than replying to messages when I am driving. It works about 65% but it is better and safer than me trying to type. Frankly, while I love my IPhone, Siri is overhyped by Apple’s advertising. She doesn’t seem to recognize my Southern drawl and she isn’t nearly as intelligent as the ads want you to believe.
MikeB
June 15th, 2012
7:25 am
I’ve used it and its definietly overhyped. It improves upon Google Voice commands that came out in 2010. It’s neat, but they did not invent voice commands like they like to claim. I’ve been using voice commands for searches, texts, calls, for years.
Anyone that upgrades to a new iPhone specifically for Siri is really doing consumers an injustice by letting Apple think that you will automatically drops loads of cash over a product that got a tiny incremental improvement (4gs, ipad 3). iOS6 so far is the same. Improvements that are playing “catch up” to the competition but no real innovation.
MikeB
June 15th, 2012
7:33 am
@#1 Wozniak fan
So you if have had every iphone and ipad ever made, you are basically admitting that their products become obsolete every year when the new version comes out. A $700 tablet should be able to withstand the test of time at least for a few years.
Jenna
June 15th, 2012
7:53 am
Siri is more hype than helpful. I was less than amazed when my sister showed me her phone with siri and she (siri) could only answer one of my five questions to her with a reasonable, correct response. And they were easy questions, not nonsense, silly questions that would be hard to respond correctly to.
Reality Check
June 15th, 2012
8:11 am
Siri is NOT on the iPad right now. Voice Dictation is on the iPad 3. NOT the same as Siri.
That said, Apple announced this week that Siri will be on the iPad 3 this fall (not iPad 1 or 2, sorry guys).
Ted
June 15th, 2012
8:38 am
You can get iOS6/Siri on your iPad if you are a registered Apple Developer in the iOS Dev program ($99/year). It’s been available since Monday 6/11.
Tech '10
June 15th, 2012
8:41 am
Yawn
NotYou
June 15th, 2012
8:47 am
@Jamaaliver – “Recognizing/acknowledging the issue is the first step to fixing it.” You do know that The Woz does not work for Apple? He is a co-founder and pretty cool dude.
Tim James
June 15th, 2012
8:57 am
I stopped buying iPhones when Apple stopped listening to what users wanted. Since the first iPhone I had hoped for a bigger screen. When Apple finally ups the screen size, it’s 4 inches while the norm is 4.75 and above now.
AndroidKevin
June 15th, 2012
9:02 am
It sure seems like a lot of hype, and like someone else said- voice to text on Android is already great. PLUS- being that the droid’s aren’t limited to manufacturer software- there are actually Apps out there that are tackling the same thing.
SKYVI – while still not ‘perfect’— is absolutely free on the android market, and has made some great strides since its release.
AtlantaDude
June 15th, 2012
9:15 am
If Microsoft made a product that was as unreliable as Siri, they would have been excoriated in the technology press. But somehow Apple is allowed to put out crappy products and retain its halo.
Michelle
June 15th, 2012
9:22 am
You can’t turn on the tv anymore without seeing an ad for some revolutionary new cell phone with features you don’t need and will probably never use. The media has gotten us all believing that if you don’t have one of these fancy gadgets that you’re a dinosaur or something.
iPhone Phan
June 15th, 2012
9:29 am
I love my iPhone with Siri. I’ve had every version of the iPhone and had to wait in line for each one. I don’t get what Wozniack is so upset about unless he is jealous of being kicked out of Apple and had to see the wonderful Steve Jobs do his magic.
Oh, you Android fans just need to stop with your hatred towards anything Apple…..It just shows how envious you are of a superior product!
iThis
June 15th, 2012
10:07 am
Whenever there is a discussion about any of the iProducts, I am reminded of the wonderful phrase, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
Peter M
June 15th, 2012
10:16 am
Hell, if I had legions of fanboys, clamoring to buy anything with an Apple logo on it, I’d sell ‘em snake oil as well. Apple is completely out of control and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. I can’t tell you how much money I’ve saved by buying anything but Apple, but it’s a lot.
ls1z28chris
June 15th, 2012
10:44 am
Chevy rules and Ford drools!
Wait, wrong discussion.
Android User
June 15th, 2012
11:18 am
There is a FREE app on the Android Market called Speakoit that is just like Siri for iPhone if anyone wants to give it a shot.
Android User
June 15th, 2012
11:21 am
@Drew….yeah that John Malkovich commercial is creepy as f*ck! I wouldn’t ant to touch his phone without some rubber gloves.
Get It Right
June 15th, 2012
11:36 am
It’s interesting that all these “smart” phone commercials, especially Apple, almost never show the users making phone calls. Heaven forbid we have to speak to one another! Call me, maybe?
nosiri
June 15th, 2012
12:13 pm
siri—terrible! it doesn’t do anything like they say on commercials. I may sue!
TrishaDishaWarEagle
June 15th, 2012
12:25 pm
sir–do you imagine yourself wearing a black turtleneck and pretentiously overpaying for form over function ?
tech head
June 15th, 2012
1:17 pm
Its because Woz is an Android fan on “the low”….LOL