John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team • Hacker News Board

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#181

Post by onlyrealcuzzo » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 12:12 AM UTC

icanhackit wrote: post #124

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

15-20 years? How are you SURE that smartphones will still be a thing in 20 years? Let alone that Apple will still be the hip premium brand? 20 years is a LONG time. The average lifespan for an S&P 500 company is less than that these days.

> How are you SURE that smartphones will still be a thing in 20 years? I'm sure someone asked a similar question about personal computers in the early 80's. They didn't go away when smartphones became prevalent, they became computational work-horses and in the same way an AR system will never be able to pack the computing punch and battery life of a smartphone. But similar to how a smart-phone complements a PC, AR te…

It seems pretty obvious that personal computers (not workstations) are going the way of the typewriter right now. Most people just don't need a computer when they have a smartphone.

The PC can be dated back 1975. But even in 2000, only 51% of US households had a personal computer. Not even 20 years later, it sure looks like the PC is going the way of the calculator and typewriter.

The first modern smartphone can be dated back to 1996, but it wasn't until 2013 that 50% of US adults had one.

Two year later, in late 2015, mobile web traffic had already overtaken desktop.

By 2033, I would be surprised if we don't have something challenging the smartphone. And the technology is probably around already.

These technologies seem to have about a 40-50 year life cycle. The first half of the life-cycle is the stage it takes to get to 50% saturation. Then the next third of the stage they dominate. The final third of the stage, they phase out to a niche market.

Sure, the smartphone is the bees knees today. But, really, is it? You've got to carry it with you everywhere you go. What if you just had a contact you kept over your eye at all times? What if you just had something you kept tucked behind your ear at all times?

How often do you REALLY need that screen? Remember, when the iPhone came out -- most people were thinking -- who's going to buy a smartphone without a freaking keyboard? Within literally 2 years, Blackberry's stock had dropped like 70%. Within 5 years, it was on the brink of bankruptcy.

And before that, when the first Palm came out in 1996 -- how many people do you think REALLY envisioned the smartphones we have today dominating web traffic and starting to encroach on the work station?

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#182

Post by bdibs » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 12:18 AM UTC

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…

I mostly use it to set alarms and reminders, it's much easier to say "Remind me to do something in an hour" than go find the app, set up the correct time, and write the description.

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#183

Post by komaromy » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 12:20 AM UTC

rglover wrote: post #141

For all the folks lamenting Siri: that was likely just the prototype. I'd bet good money that Apple is working on something far better than a personal assistant for the home—that's just how they got their feet wet while staying competitive. Siri is going to be a robot in your home one day—not just a bubble on the credenza. In order for that to happen, their best talent needs to be focused on that.

This is giving them a lot of benefit of the doubt. Do you have any evidence?

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#184

Post by bobwaycott » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 12:32 AM UTC

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…

I use it for a few things only:

- Remind me to X in N minutes/hours/days

- Set an alarm for N minutes

- What’s the weather like today/tomorrow?

- Play X by Y (when driving and wanting a specific album or song to play)

- What is [insert some question of simple knowledge I’ve forgotten]?

Nothing else seems worth bothering with.

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#185

Post by m0zg » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 1:00 AM UTC

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…

People tend to use it quite heavily, once it crosses the threshold where it understands you the overwhelming majority of the time. IOW the threshold Siri is yet to cross.

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#186

Post by commonsense1234 » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 1:01 AM UTC

gumby wrote: post #112

commonsense1234 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

9 women cannot make 9 babies in 1 month nor 1 women can make 1 baby in 1 month. no concurrency in baby making for sure.

There is some potential concurrency: a woman can produce two or more babies in 9 months, although it is uncommon.

the process is not concurrent. it is still parallel.

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#187

Post by justicezyx » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 1:28 AM UTC

julien_c wrote: post #98

freyir wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Jeff Dean didn't have a demonstrable expertise in AI before heading Google AI.

Jeff cofounded the google brain team.

And TBH, it was him, who knows general computing from circuits to planet scale distributed systems, really enabled the AI as it today, at least inside Google.

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#188

Post by matwood » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 1:31 AM UTC

pmart123 wrote: post #175

matwood wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do people really use voice commands for, well, anything? Siri plus shortcuts have made many mundane tasks easier. When I get in my car to come home from work I say "Hey Siri, heading home." That causes my phone to text my wife my arrival time and starts the last podcast I had playing. It's a simple thing, but is so much easier than texting and then thumbing through the podcast player to start where I left off. I ha…

I am skeptical when technologists say voice assisted systems will become the dominant interface at least in countries with a high rate of literacy. I just look at TV vs radio, texting versus calling, or audio books versus written content. I believe most studies indicate that people are better at visual comprehension versus auditory: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140312-audi... I know scientists lov…

I agree with your skepticism about voice becoming generally dominant, but it’s already very useful. It may also become the dominant form of usage for some systems.

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#189

Post by mcast » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 1:40 AM UTC

tshannon wrote: post #76

scrollaway wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> $30 Google Home puck feels like it's from the future Is it ? Is the $30 puck better than the Home assistant or does it just suck that much more in French than it does in English? (Not being snarky, genuinely asking) It doesn't understand followup commands, the Hue integration is rotten bad, and the commands definitely have to be rigid. Things like "What were my meetings on the 12th of December" aren't understood. A…

I'm pretty sure you can say "Hey Google" as well.

"Hey [huge corporation here]" is not a great user experience for a device meant to be at home.

Re: John Giannandrea named to Apple’s executive team

#190

Post by sodosopa » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 1:41 AM UTC

matwood wrote: post #150

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…

> Do people really use voice commands for, well, anything? Siri plus shortcuts have made many mundane tasks easier. When I get in my car to come home from work I say "Hey Siri, heading home." That causes my phone to text my wife my arrival time and starts the last podcast I had playing. It's a simple thing, but is so much easier than texting and then thumbing through the podcast player to start where I left off. I ha…

I never got Siri to work that well. I found it's had problems calling and some of it's standard features. It's still on my iPhone, there's no way to remove, but I've found Google Assistant to work better. Plus, the Google Home integration is nice.