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Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

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Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#131

Post by lxgr »

mingus88 wrote: post #130
lxgr wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After having given Openclaw a try as my "personal assistant" for a day when traveling, I 100% want this to be one possible way I can interact with my computer going forward. Of course it's failed hilariously in many instances, is currently not private (I want local inference before giving it access to anything material, or it'll indeed be a privacy nightmare), and crashes all the time, but the fact that a (not yet) w…

The “failing hilariously” bit is critical for this road-tripping use case. It’s only going to take one bad suggestion that leaves someone in a dangerous situation to lose faith in simply handing over a whole day’s itinerary to an LLM. Honestly that can go so bad very easily. We are decades into the GPS navigation era and I still don’t trust the route my vehicle suggests. I have been burned so many times that we liter…

> It’s only going to take one bad suggestion that leaves someone in a dangerous situation

I feel like if one bad suggestion can leave somebody in a dangerous situation, many other things must have failed before, such as informing oneself of the general condition of roads in a given place and the current season, having a fallback plan in case digital navigation fails or a road is unexpectedly closed etc.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#132

Post by mvanbaak »

jannyfer wrote: post #68
nilkn wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just my opinion: Apple doesn't need to solve AI. It's not core to their business in the same way that search engines aren't core to their business. What Apple does best lies at the combination of hardware, software, physical materials, and human-computer interface design. This is why they're spending so much more on mixed reality than AI, even knowing that a product like the Vision Pro today isn't going to be a big s…

> What Apple does best lies at the combination of hardware, software, physical materials, and human-computer interface design. This was true maybe a decade ago, but not so now (under the watch of Tim Cook). You listed Mac hardware becoming popular in the age of AI as examples of "unexpected wins". Maybe that's true (I don't know if it is) - but Macs were only 8% of Apple's 2025 revenue. Apple has become an iPhone com…

How about using a 3rd party app? Gemini and chatgpt apps can already do a lot!

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#133

Post by pjmlp »

alwillis wrote: post #87
jannyfer wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What Apple does best lies at the combination of hardware, software, physical materials, and human-computer interface design. This was true maybe a decade ago, but not so now (under the watch of Tim Cook). You listed Mac hardware becoming popular in the age of AI as examples of "unexpected wins". Maybe that's true (I don't know if it is) - but Macs were only 8% of Apple's 2025 revenue. Apple has become an iPhone com…

> Macs were only 8% of Apple's 2025 revenue. If the Mac were its own standalone business, it would rank at no. 134 on the Fortune 500 with $33.7 billion in revenue. Also, that's a 12% increase in revenue compared to 2024. If anything, AI has brought more attention to the Mac. Just about every major AI app is released for the Mac first. I've seen complaints about it on HN. The latest is Claude Cowork. It was released…

Outside US, most people that buy Macs do so because they are developers targeting iDevices, or can afford Apple and want the ecosystem that comes with their iDevice.

An independent Mac business that doesn't have such tie-ins, would sell much less.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#134

Post by pjmlp »

lxgr wrote: post #120
nilkn wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just my opinion: Apple doesn't need to solve AI. It's not core to their business in the same way that search engines aren't core to their business. What Apple does best lies at the combination of hardware, software, physical materials, and human-computer interface design. This is why they're spending so much more on mixed reality than AI, even knowing that a product like the Vision Pro today isn't going to be a big s…

> Apple doesn't need to solve AI. It's not core to their business in the same way that search engines aren't core to their business. Apple's core business is providing well-crafted products and user interfaces for all kinds of interactions. Do you really think AI/LLMs won't change the way we use computers? > They can trivially pay Google a billion a year for Gemini. I'd be willing to bet that in less than 5 years, th…

Well-crafted products and user interfaces like butterfly keyboards, antennas, Leopard, Tahoe?

Or maybe Pippin, A/UX, OpenDoc, Copland?

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#135

Post by pjmlp »

shakna wrote: post #27
tiffanyh wrote: post #5

Do similar issues exist with Gemini on Android? Or are these challenges very Siri/iOS specific?

Gemini can and does send everything to Google. Apple's challenge is they want to maintain privacy, which means doing everything on-device. Which is currently slower than the servers that others can bring to the table - because they already grab every piece of data you have.

No they aren't, that is why Private Cloud Compute is a thing.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#136

Post by maest »

paganel wrote: post #129
halapro wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not core to their business You're not thinking ahead. AI isn't just chat bots and image editing. I want to tell my phone: I'm road tripping to XYZ tomorrow, 10 am to 5 pm. and have my phone become a guide for the day, including stops it knows I like and hotel in my price range with the amenities it knows I need. If I get hungry it just slips in a stop wherever I ask. This can come as an "everything app" or it…

> and have my phone become a guide for the day, Why would you ever want to do that? Why wont' you stop and live life for a moment?, stop delegating stuff to your phone, especially when it comes to personal trips. Really bleak, this "always optimizing stuff" thing, really, really bleak. Tech-bro culture has done a good one to mainstream culture, because I see the same mindset seeping through to mainstream life.

I don't know about you, but manually trawling trip advisor and comparing hotel pricing and quality doesn't constitute "living life" for me.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#137

Post by amelius »

microtonal wrote: post #86
nilkn wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just my opinion: Apple doesn't need to solve AI. It's not core to their business in the same way that search engines aren't core to their business. What Apple does best lies at the combination of hardware, software, physical materials, and human-computer interface design. This is why they're spending so much more on mixed reality than AI, even knowing that a product like the Vision Pro today isn't going to be a big s…

I agree on that they should focus on hardware, software, UX, etc. I think the problem of current Apple management and especially Tim Cook is that they want to squeeze out as much profit as possible and they see AI as another _Services_ profit center. A better Apple would say AI is just an app and provide extension points into the OS so that users can plug their favorite LLM, anything from ChatGPT to Mistral, but in a…

Yes, from a purely business perspective they should let others do the work for them and then pull a Sherlock down the line.

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#138

Post by worldsavior »

dabinat wrote: post #14

I feel like the difference between Steve Jobs’ and Tim Cook’s leadership styles is that Cook is really good at optimizing existing processes, but does not have the vision to capitalize on what’s next. Apple got into the smartphone game at the right time with a lot of new ideas. But whatever the next big shift in technology is, they will be left behind. I don’t know if that is AI, but it’s clear that in AI they are al…

Uh, I think Apple had proven themselves many times that they're the one to bring something new and advanced. It started with MacBooks, then iPhones, a digital assistant, TouchID, Airpods, FaceID, fan-less MacBooks and probably more stuff. Is it not enough?

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#139

Post by g947o »

maest wrote: post #136
paganel wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and have my phone become a guide for the day, Why would you ever want to do that? Why wont' you stop and live life for a moment?, stop delegating stuff to your phone, especially when it comes to personal trips. Really bleak, this "always optimizing stuff" thing, really, really bleak. Tech-bro culture has done a good one to mainstream culture, because I see the same mindset seeping through to mainstream life.

I don't know about you, but manually trawling trip advisor and comparing hotel pricing and quality doesn't constitute "living life" for me.

It doesn't, but I'd rather book a hotel with full confidence and go to a restaurant that will be actually open, given all the information that is available to me at the time of planning, than having my trip ruined by a dumb bot because it cannot tell imagination from reality. All you get is "you're absolutely right".

Re: Apple's latest attempt to launch the new Siri runs into snags

#140

Post by ragazzina »

worldsavior wrote: post #138
dabinat wrote: post #14

I feel like the difference between Steve Jobs’ and Tim Cook’s leadership styles is that Cook is really good at optimizing existing processes, but does not have the vision to capitalize on what’s next. Apple got into the smartphone game at the right time with a lot of new ideas. But whatever the next big shift in technology is, they will be left behind. I don’t know if that is AI, but it’s clear that in AI they are al…

Uh, I think Apple had proven themselves many times that they're the one to bring something new and advanced. It started with MacBooks, then iPhones, a digital assistant, TouchID, Airpods, FaceID, fan-less MacBooks and probably more stuff. Is it not enough?

You have only listed hardware, no software (I don't count "A digital assistant" because I don't know what it refers to).
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