John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

Post by thecosas » Thu, Dec 20, 2018, 9:25 PM UTC

huebomont wrote: post #127

skizm wrote: post #122

Lots of comments about improving Siri here. This is interesting to me for several reasons I won't address, but I will ask this: Do people really use voice commands for, well, anything? From a purely functional standpoint, they seem super awkward to me. I like buttons that click and reassure me of every input. I like to feel confident my actions won't be misinterpreted. I like that no one else near me will get weirded…

They're very useful for very limited things - "Set a timer for 30 minutes" or "Wake me up at 8am" is easier than doing that yourself. Even dictating a short text in a pinch is nice. Think "in the kitchen" with wet or dirty hands.

Post by scarface74 » Thu, Dec 20, 2018, 9:34 PM UTC

threatofrain wrote: post #108

scarface74 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that’s more of an interface choice than a technical limitation. Siri both understood the question and had the ability to navigate to it. In my case, there were 9 McDonalds within a 10 mile radius. In cases where there was only one location nearby, it took me right to it.

I think you give Siri too much of the benefit of the doubt when you say that Siri understands your request. You may be correct, but maybe Siri just looks for a location like "McDonalds" and most of the time just shows you a list? It's easier when you're ignoring the rest of the sentence as if it has no relevance to improving your response. It's very hard for us to discuss Siri's internal state; by contrast it's easie…

Post by saagarjha » Thu, Dec 20, 2018, 9:46 PM UTC

wuliwong wrote: post #12

baxtr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am really annoyed by Siri these days. I was so excited when they introduced it in 2011 (?). But I feel like there was almost no progress since then. It’s so painful to use Siri even for the simplest of tasks

i use siri to turn off and on hue lights (sometimes) and sometimes to set reminders. I do feel that since I dont have Siri on an "always on" speaker, it becomes less useful. I dislike the idea of having an "always on" speaker, so I'm not sure what to do. :)

Post by saagarjha » Thu, Dec 20, 2018, 9:49 PM UTC

freyir wrote: post #93

freewizard wrote: post #20

SVP is probably a very important position in corporate AAPL, however, I will feel more excited for Apple if someone like Chris Lattner would join/return as chief AI/ML engineer.

His experience seems to be entirely focused on compilers. He's a talented engineer and leader, and his decision to join Google Brain indicates interest in AI, but wouldn't the chief AI/ML engineer have some demonstrable expertise in that particular field?

Post by scarface74 » Thu, Dec 20, 2018, 9:51 PM UTC

threatofrain wrote: post #101

reaperducer wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather have the list than a single choice. That way I can pick one that isn't in a crappy neighborhood, or is on the way to a place I'm going anyway. My biggest frustration with my car's built-in navigation is that when I ask it for the "nearest" item, more than 50% of the time it tells me to make a U-turn because it picked the mathematically nearest item, rather than picking the conventionally nearest item.

I actually think if you said "closest" or "nearest" and Siri just gives you a list, then Siri has missed out on useful information. You can also say "Nearby McDonald's" to Google and get a list, versus "Go to the nearest McDonalds" and you'll get navigation. There are all sorts of ways to handle this request, but Siri's is the laziest, and in doing so asks more of the user's attention. If you just say "McDonalds" to…