How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa • Hacker News Board

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#61

Post by ams6110 » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:33 PM UTC

omerta wrote: post #15

jameskilton wrote: post #7

You can probably point to a lot of quality failings at Apple as starting with Steve Job's death. Apparently he failed to teach and instill a culture of high quality and instead just focused on micro-managing everything himself. Steve Jobs may go down as both the best and worst CEO Apple ever had.

Not true at all. Look up the story of Apple University. Jobs can't run Apple from his grave. He tried his best to leave Apple with the right culture and leadership in his view. And for the most part, Apple has done really well since he passed. No one is going to get 100% of things right 100% of the time, and Jobs is no different; things would have inevitably gone wrong under his leadership, too.

Jobs screwed up plenty of times. Look at the whole history of NeXT Computer for example. Software so far ahead of everything else at the time, but totally screwed up getting it into the market.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#62

Post by hellofunk » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:35 PM UTC

jameskilton wrote: post #7

You can probably point to a lot of quality failings at Apple as starting with Steve Job's death. Apparently he failed to teach and instill a culture of high quality and instead just focused on micro-managing everything himself. Steve Jobs may go down as both the best and worst CEO Apple ever had.

One thing I feel nearly certain is that had Steve Jobs been alive, Apple would have never under any circumstances released a flagship phone and a flagship laptop simultaneously that, out of the box, had no way of connecting to each other. I still can't believe that happened.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#63

Post by JumpCrisscross » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:36 PM UTC

ktta wrote: post #37

Team dysfunction seems to be a part of it. The 'head' guy for Siri, Dag Kittlaus left Apple to start Viv Labs in about a year since Siri was released. Their assistant Viv, looked pretty okay[1], and was since acquired by Samsung[2]. I feel if he had stayed on, Siri would have been better. Samsung seems to be trying pretty hard to get people to use it[3]. It's relatively new so I'm interested to see where it goes, esp…

Not to mention Williamson shit-talking the Siri team to this reporter:

"Williamson denies the accusations that he slowed Siri development down and instead cast blame on Siri's creators.

'It was slow, when it worked at all,' Williamson said. 'The software was riddled with serious bugs. Those problems lie entirely with the original Siri team, certainly not me.'"

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#64

Post by BeetleB » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:36 PM UTC

Shebanator wrote: post #14

enraged_camel wrote: post #3

>>"It was slow, when it worked at all," Williamson said. "The software was riddled with serious bugs. Those problems lie entirely with the original Siri team, certainly not me." As Steve Jobs said, once you become a VP you can’t make excuses anymore. You have crossed the Rubicon and need to start taking responsibility for the failures of your team. This guy has a lot to learn about leadership.

I know, right? I read this and instantly thought "man, I never want to work for this guy"!

Same here. Read it, and thought: "Glad I don't work for Apple."

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#65

Post by 1337biz » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:36 PM UTC

hellofunk wrote: post #55

spullara wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of those Siri can do. Anything else?

This is strictly anecdotal but a friend of mine is an exec at Facebook and we were recently discussing phones. He had an iPhone for a few years and has now had an Android for a couple years. He said that by far the most drastic difference between the two platforms is Siri vs. Assistant (or whatever Google's assistant is called in the phone). He said it is no contest how much more useful and functional Assistant is, c…

Obligatory question is why? What usefullness or functionality made that much of a difference to him?

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#66

Post by ams6110 » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:36 PM UTC

The title seems poorly worded to me. I read it as "Why Siri underlies Google Assistant and Alexa," as if Siri were the backing technology. Should say something more like "Why Siri is lagging behind Google Assistant and Alexa."

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#67

Post by xiaq » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:38 PM UTC

> "It was slow, when it worked at all," Williamson said. "The software was riddled with serious bugs. Those problems lie entirely with the original Siri team, certainly not me."

Wow. It those were his original words, I don't doubt a bit that this guy should be responsible for Siri being left behind.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#68

Post by JumpCrisscross » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:39 PM UTC

thescribe wrote: post #56

Is a voice assistant the killer app for anyone? I haven't ever used them, and I've only ever seen someone use it as an ironic 'look at me' at a party.

> Is a voice assistant the killer app for anyone?

For a smart speaker, yes.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#69

Post by hellofunk » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:39 PM UTC

newbie912 wrote: post #24

mattkevan wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, Apple’s has some pretty terrible CEOs. Jobs might have been a dreadful micromanager and possibly a bit of an arse, but he did disrupt at least four major industries and lay the foundation for the most valuable public company ever. Whereas Sculley, Spindler and Amelio were a parade of failure from start to finish.

"but of an arse" is pretty generous for behavior that would cost him his job today.

I doubt very much he would have lost his job today for any of his behavior.

Look at what the U.S. President has and continues to do, and he still has his job, and a much more important and public one too.

Politics aside, Jobs' turnaround of Apple into the most valuable company in the world (for awhile, recently) would have ensured he remained at the helm for as long as he wanted.

Re: How Apple let Siri fall behind the Google Assistant and Alexa

#70

Post by grogenaut » Wed, Mar 14, 2018, 11:40 PM UTC

notatoad wrote: post #47

Twisell wrote: post #28

Something always make me scratch my head. Is there any proof that actual people use and value Google and Amazon assistant more than Siri? Or is the leadership only designed by autoproclaimed experts and funky ad-hoc metrics? I totally confess that I use Siri for only 3 things: -Desactivating all wake up alarm during my morning poo -Setting timers while baking -Sending a « I’m coming » text to my loved one before ridi…

I've had similar confusion based on the anecdata: none of the android users i know (including myself) ever use the Google Assistant. Or if they do, they don't do it in public. most iPhone users i know use siri at least a little bit. So is Siri actually better? Or is there something else going on that makes it more usable even if it's technically not as "good" And the quantity of articles complaining about siri would…

I use google voice a ton. For dictating messages while in the car, and for setting reminders and calendar notifications while walking. Probbably adds up to around an hour of speaking a week.