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

bloomberg.com

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

#161

Post by nandomrumber »

lxgr wrote: post #121
onion2k wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that sounds like an incredible feature, but like so many things my phone can already do I'd never actually use it. I just don't want to become someone who does what their phone suggests. Plus I have a partner and friends, so unless we all want to follow my phone's instructions it's not going to work.

That's the neat thing about suggestions: You don't have to follow them.

Let’s not mince words.

If my device is “suggesting” a hotel or restaurant, or wherever, that’s advertising.

Advertising is largely self-praise.

And self praise is no recommendation.

Or perhaps I misunderstood, and you were suggesting ignoring the recommendations of one’s travel companions.

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

#163

Post by avidphantasm »

nilkn wrote: post #26
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…

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 use Siri to set alarms on my watch, that’s it. I don’t want much more than that.

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

#164

Post by eitally »

ragazzina wrote: post #140
worldsavior wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

TBH, though, if all they ever do is provide hardware that runs software designed just for that hardware ecosystem, consistently, securely and with decent UX, I'll be happy. That's better than any other consumer computing HW vendor has proven to be able to do.

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

#165

Post by beenBoutIT »

lxgr wrote: post #121
onion2k wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that sounds like an incredible feature, but like so many things my phone can already do I'd never actually use it. I just don't want to become someone who does what their phone suggests. Plus I have a partner and friends, so unless we all want to follow my phone's instructions it's not going to work.

That's the neat thing about suggestions: You don't have to follow them.

It should easily be able to understand a user's personality well enough to know how to manipulate them. E.g., 4 suggestions that user avoids directing user to the remaining 5th location that wasn't suggested.

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

#166

Post by ragazzina »

worldsavior wrote: post #160
ragazzina wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

> I don't count "A digital assistant" because I don't know what it refers to You haven't heard of Siri? I don't see the OP stating he only talked about software, and what I mentioned also software in it.

I have heard of Siri, I would never expect anyone to mention Siri while enumerating "new and advanced" things Apple developed.

OP said whatever the next shift in technology, Apple will be left behind. You said Apple actually developed new advanced products, but only mentioned hardware examples. If the new big shift in technology is in software (such as AI), we have no reason to predict Apple will fare well there.

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

#167

Post by submeta »

Everyone keeps arguing that AI is not Apple’s core business and that their priorities are different. From an end-user perspective, that is irrelevant.

What users actually experience is this: every other major platform is shipping increasingly capable intelligent assistants. These systems can interpret intent, execute multi-step actions, and meaningfully reduce friction. Meanwhile, Siri still struggles with fairly basic workflows.

At the end of the day, I do not particularly care about internal constraints, organizational structure, privacy positioning, or strategic rationale. What matters is whether the product works.

Today, I still cannot reliably:

- Dictate complex voice input without constant correction

- Use voice to control my iPhone in a composable way such as “open this contact and send a message,” “replay the song I liked yesterday,” or “create a note in Obsidian with this content: …”

- Chain actions together in a way that reflects actual user intent

These are not futuristic requests. They are practical, everyday workflows that competitors are increasingly able to handle.

The gap is no longer about incremental feature parity. It is about whether Apple can deliver a genuinely intelligent interface layer, or whether Siri remains a deterministic command parser in an era where users expect contextual reasoning.

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

#168

Post by nandomrumber »

written-beyond wrote: post #111
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…

I saw a video of a Chinese phone that did something like that. Their implementation was a privacy and security nightmare but basically it shared a active feed of your screen with an LLM and would literally tap, type and swipe to achieve your objective. Like order these oodles from this app, it would only interrupt it's actions at payment processing screens. Looked really cool and like the AI I've always imagined.

Maybe rising up against the machines will come to be what finally unites humanity.

Then we can get on with exploring the galaxy.

Butlerian jihad.

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

#169

Post by eitally »

lacker wrote: post #11

It doesn't surprise me that Siri continues to be bad - Apple's current plan is to use a low-quality LLM to build a top-quality product, which turned out to be impossible. What does surprise me is that Google Home is still so bad. They rolled out the new Gemini-based version, but if anything it's even worse than the old one. Same capabilities but more long-winded talking about them. It is still unable to answer basic…

From several engineer answers over a few years from inside Google, the consistent answer was that they created a highly fragmented ecosystem of devices over the years, almost none of which were capable of running the same software stack/versions, which led to an enormous mountain of technical debt and spaghetti code. There was a big effort a couple years ago to resolve this by creating a single new software version that would work on all modern devices and be supportable across future generations, but it also required (hah!) they essentially abandon (not brick, but just not really actively maintain or support) a plethora of older devices. So you have lots of consumers with either a mixed device environment where there's no consistency between their devices, or consumers who only have older devices that won't run the newer software and will be complaining about performance and reliability until they eventually give up and either abandon Google Home or buy a new device.

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

#170

Post by 0x4e »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #107
0x4e wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. It’s still being figured out. My prediction is that Apple is the hardware and platform provider (like it’s always been). We’re not asking them to come up with a better social media, or a better Notion or a better Netflix. I think their proprietary chips and GPUs are being undervalued. My feeling is that they’re letting everyone move fast and break things while trailing behind and making safe bets.

>My feeling is that they’re letting everyone move fast and break things while trailing behind and making safe bets. That's what is happening but I don't think it was by choice. They clearly had plans to deliver a lot more and have repeatedly failed.

Of course they jumped into the race as soon as possible by mentioning ‘Apple Intelligence’ and working on it. But, I think this was more peer pressure than anything else.

Apple’s reliably late to the party most of the time, but they also reliably steal the show. I’m doubtful about OpenAI’s hardware just taking over.

I rather wait and keep using 3rd party models that keep leap frogging themselves and adding features every once in a while, than them just publicly beta testing a bunch of things on my iPhone. If this was the case, we’d see a bunch of people complaining about how terrible the product is and how Claude or GPT or OpenClaw is so much better.

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