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Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search on iOS and Mac Spotlight

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Re: Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search on iOS and Mac Spotlight

#181

Post by mediocrejoker »

throwawaykf09 wrote: post #138
sitepodmatt wrote: post #116

Bing is still poor for obscure searches, e.g. today Im searching for other poor folks dealing with ebay's API and the message "Invalid store category name" in quotes. Bing 0, DuckDuckGo 0, Google plenty. Reality is most of my tech searches are like this and hence I can't give up Google, or I can at cost of either my time or my clients. It be nice to have another search engine with depth of Google but nothing comes cl…

While Bing was poor for tech related searches in the earlier days, I find it's no longer true. Are you sure it’s 0 results on Bing? I get a bunch of relevant-looking results, and they’re all different from what Google gave me (just the first page): https://www.bing.com/search?q=%22Invalid+store+category+name... Some weird personalization thing? Interested in seeing what others see when they click that link...

I get a result from wordpress.org followed by at least 4-5 from ebay's various domains.

Re: Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search on iOS and Mac Spotlight

#182

Post by fhood »

denisstoyanov wrote: post #174
beaner wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this was a particularly difficult thing to do. they're an almost $800 billion company with one of the most valuable brands in the world and the most loyal followers. They have more of an ability to stand up to these things than anyone. And if they lost, it's not like anything particularly bad was going to happen to them. They'd just have to cede the info. And it was the right thing to do anyway. They ha…

Sorry to pop your bubble my dear Apple fan boy but they are 300 billion company now :) (assets with revenue of little more than 200 billion). It has been a loooong time since they were 800 billion company.

What on earth are you talking about?

Re: Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search on iOS and Mac Spotlight

#183

Post by _jal »

vikascoder wrote: post #140
dxhdr wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple's App Store revenues are lower because they limit how apps can identify users. I think this is less about privacy and more about control. Only Apple apps are allowed to track Apple users.

We must remind ourselves that Apple is a closed social network based on hardware whereas lets say FB is software. So Apple plan to monetize this walled hardware/software garden for its own needs

What are you talking about?

Can Apple phones only call or text other Apple phones? Where is the 'buddy list'/graph/contact database that can't be easily ported to another social network?

Re: Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search on iOS and Mac Spotlight

#185

Post by irishsultan »

TimonKnigge wrote: post #141
throwawaykf09 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While Bing was poor for tech related searches in the earlier days, I find it's no longer true. Are you sure it’s 0 results on Bing? I get a bunch of relevant-looking results, and they’re all different from what Google gave me (just the first page): https://www.bing.com/search?q=%22Invalid+store+category+name... Some weird personalization thing? Interested in seeing what others see when they click that link...

I get no results following your link.

I got no results either, then I decided to switch my country/region to US English which resulted in a lot of results.

Rather strange to localize results so much (especially when the alternatives are showing many results vs. showing no results)

Re: Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search on iOS and Mac Spotlight

#186

Post by _jal »

ekianjo wrote: post #131
Osmium wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple is not made of decent human beings This just isn’t true. Most people are decent human beings. Employees of Apple are no different. Don’t box them in as “the other.” They’re just people. > Just look at how their devices are manufactured. This is a valid criticism. Also an industry wide problem. Apple is very transparent with problems in their supply chain, even when it reflects badly on them. This is a problem…

how is it difficult to have a stance on privacy while its ok to basically have people manufacturing your devices in conditions you would not accept in your own country? As a leader they have to show the way, its not like they are not drowning in profits and unable to make any change.

Well, the reality is that people buying the product care about privacy, and it is easy for those same people to ignore Foxconn's existence, because it is far away. Businesses, doing what they do, follow that reality.

This doesn't reflect well on anyone involved, but it is pretty much the way things are.

Apple does, in fact, do better than most of the rest on (for want of a better term) progressive issues like this. They were leaders on environmental issues and is willing to fight with shareholders over them[1] (ditto accessibility, presumably as an example of other efforts not directly-ROI impacting).

Manufacturing is tough to change. Even with Apple-style money, creating the sort of hub of interlocking businesses that are needed to fuel large-scale manufacturing businesses takes decades and some secret-sauce we don't understand - Shenzhen wasn't built overnight. And if Apple did somehow build a shiny new manufacturing hub somewhere in Kansas, the products it built would be likely be substantially more expensive.

That said, Apple is building a US factory. See what happens. It might not change anything. Perhaps you believe they should put more money in to the effort. But assuming they aren't doing anything is incorrect.

[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-versus-a-conservativ...

Re: Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search on iOS and Mac Spotlight

#188

Post by contrahax »

greggman wrote: post #90
millstone wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree strongly. Apple pays a serious price for their privacy stance, which they would rather not pay. Doing machine learning on-device makes it less effective. Apple's directions aren't as good as they could be because Maps randomly segments trips and masks its users identity. Apple's App Store revenues are lower because they limit how apps can identify users. This difference is deeper than business models. Compar…

Apple Genius just asked me for my username and password to my MacBook so he could type it into some service form for repairs. I don't think asking for that info is really compatible with "we care about privacy"

They asked me for this as well and said it was for diagnostics to confirm the repair was a success. You can decline politely with no problems.

Re: Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search on iOS and Mac Spotlight

#189

Post by throwaway47861 »

jhasse wrote: post #147
AndrewDucker wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so incredibly non-specific that it's impossible to argue with. If you want to make a point about Google and privacy then make a specific one that people can debate.

It's not about Google, but about Apple being privacy-oriented. The argument is that people wouldn't call Apple privacy-oriented if it weren't for its competitors like Google being even worse in that regard.

How is your reply diminishing Apple's stance on privacy?

Yes, people do compare and choose based on their priorities (and wallets). That's how competition works, isn't it?

So again, I fail to see how your comment changes anything. Of course people compare products.

Re: Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search on iOS and Mac Spotlight

#190

Post by ksk »

I've been trying to use bing as a primary and google as a backup for a few months now. IME, Bing is good 60-70% of the time, but often times I'm exploratory-searching and bing is pretty much useless here. Google, manages to somehow find the right link, especially when I am guessing the keywords. On a side note, Google often tells me theres million+ results (e.g. https://www.google.com/search?q=SIEMENS+pc+based+automation ) and then shows me only 10 pages of 10 each. Seems like over the years Google has been pruning the results quite a bit.
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