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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

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

It was new and advanced back then.

AI is not only software but also hardware. Apple were the first to develop a (good) chip specifically for AI computation (ANE), and their MacBooks are very good for running AI models locally.

Apple are not like Google or Facebook (they're mainly software, and Apple are titled more towards hardware), their vision isn't the same as theirs, but their vision will hold for a very long time.

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

#172
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 get what you want, its pretty sophisticated and yes probably a huge added value if it works reliably. And there is no fucking way I want that in my life or my family's lives, ever. I will fight this very actively, with my wallet, voting and voice. Thats far beyond 1984 and at this point, in 2026, we know all that info will be weaponized against me, will try to manipulate me into decisions I would not do otherwise,…

What is diverse about Switzerland?

Isn’t it largely made up of Swiss, Germans, Italians, and Portuguese?

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

#173
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…

If my colleagues phone can do all that, great - I don’t need mine to.

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

#174
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

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

For businesses and pro users, it isn't the Apple ecosystem that's the main driver.

Since Apple silicon a lot of laptops are just so far behind in battery life, speed and usability that you wouldn't get it. Often Apple ecosystem was a net negative since most things worked better on Windows but that has shifted.

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

#175
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me that people have been saying that Apple will be left behind since the Apple II. That they keep doing non-obvious things that somehow succeed is what makes them an interesting company. I don't know that Apple will dominate AI, personally I dislike Siri and iOS, but I think Apple have a very good shot at delivering workable local AI for professionals. If Apple can lift the inference performance of their…

I don’t think Apple or Microsoft (via Windows) will dominate AI. There’s just too much value in the AI being in the cloud (big powerful models vs local) and across your devices (more context on you, running on low powered edge devices like watches, glasses, smart home devices), and the idea of an OS being a decisive factor is already fading with how much work people do in a browser or cloud app.

I don’t see how AI won’t end up running on personal devices. It’s like how mainframes were the original computing platform and then we had the PC revolution. If anything, I think Apple is uniquely positioned to pull the rug on a lot of these cloud models. It might take ten or 15 years, but eventually we’ll see an arms race to do so. There’s too much money on the table, and once cloud providers are tapped out the next logical step is home users. It also makes scaling a lot easier because you don’t need increasingly expensive, complex, and power hungry data centers.

It wasn’t that long ago (ignoring the current DRAM market shenanigans) that it was unthinkable to have a single machine with over terabyte of RAM and 192 physical cores. Now that’s absolutely doable in a single workstation. Heck even my comparatively paltry 96GB of RAM would’ve been absurd in 2010, now there are single prosumer GPUs with that.

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

#176
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…

> I have an iPhone 16 and I'm locked in because of all my photos being on my iCloud subscriptio

Ever heard of the Data Transfer Project? https://support.google.com/photos/answer/10502587?sjid=95203...

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

#177
post #174
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> An independent Mac business that doesn't have such tie-ins, would sell much less. For businesses and pro users, it isn't the Apple ecosystem that's the main driver. Since Apple silicon a lot of laptops are just so far behind in battery life, speed and usability that you wouldn't get it. Often Apple ecosystem was a net negative since most things worked better on Windows but that has shifted.

Until the Apple tax goes away, most folks will put up with Windows flaws, unless Apple changes their pricing policy for countries that cannot afford G8 level salaries.

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

#178
post #144
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Where you live, maybe. It really depends on the country even outside the US. A lot of it is, to this day, because of things like Final Cut and Logic. Either because they dabble in it as a hobby or professionally. A lot of the recent growth is developers in general, there's really been a huge shift there. 2010 developers using Macs vs 2026 developers using Macs, if you look at personal devices or workplaces that give…

I live in one of those 70% market share Windows world region, where Apple gear is taken from a devices pool when required for project delivery, or bundled with cable TV subscriptions with credit payment scattered across several years.

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

#179
post #158
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well-crafted products and user interfaces like butterfly keyboards, antennas, Leopard, Tahoe? Or maybe Pippin, A/UX, OpenDoc, Copland?

If your high-profile misses become the subject of both memes and major news stories I'd say you are still the benchmark in UX, yes. Even "Apple design has peaked" is a meme if you've been following this stuff for more than just one decade. (Sure, one day it'll most likely be true, but that doesn't make everyone predicting it now a prophet retroactively.)

Ah, then it applies to Microsoft as well.

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

#180
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If my phone ever starts not clearly separating "editorial content" and advertisements, it won't remain my phone for long.
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