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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

#231

Post by dingaling »

worldsavior wrote: post #171
ragazzina wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ti…

> It was new and advanced back then.

Siri was bought for $200 million in 2010 from Stanford Research Institute ( hence the name ). It wasn't developed at Apple.

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

#232

Post by halapro »

beenBoutIT wrote: post #165
lxgr wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

How do you find those 5 locations? You open Google Maps and search for them. Too bad the app already selects 4 places to show you and hide the 5th.

So often I look for a business but Google Maps won't show it because it has no reviews. An AI assistant wouldn't change that, as long as it's still interactively programmable (i.e. give me 5 options, I'll pick 3)

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

#233

Post by bigyabai »

NetMageSCW wrote: post #219
pjmlp wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There is no Apple tax, but there is a price to be paid for the performance, battery life and integration of the Apple ecosystem.

Okay, so to rephrase their comment, the majority of the consumer PC audience will not invest in those things at the price Apple demands for it.

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

#234

Post by halapro »

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.

This is why Apple (and Google) is in a privileged position to tackle this issue at the OS level. If you currently trust your OS, then having a local agent use your apps wouldn't be terribly different (prompt injection risk aside)

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

#235

Post by brrwind »

karlitooo wrote: post #56

Seems weird to comment on delayed new features from Apple. Obviously if it doesn't meet the quality bar it would get pushed back, that's just how they do things. But I wonder how much of the problem is due to trying to minimise data processing off-device. Even with Open AI as a last resort, I don't imagine you get much value choosing betwixt the local model or a private cloud that doesn't save context. Meanwhile the…

But that's not just how they do things. Apple's quality bar is basically at the floor. Liquid glass, text editing on iOS...

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

#236

Post by halapro »

mingus88 wrote: post #130
lxgr wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After having given Openclaw a try as my "personal assistant" for a day when traveling, I 100% want this to be one possible way I can interact with my computer going forward. Of course it's failed hilariously in many instances, is currently not private (I want local inference before giving it access to anything material, or it'll indeed be a privacy nightmare), and crashes all the time, but the fact that a (not yet) w…

The “failing hilariously” bit is critical for this road-tripping use case. It’s only going to take one bad suggestion that leaves someone in a dangerous situation to lose faith in simply handing over a whole day’s itinerary to an LLM. Honestly that can go so bad very easily. We are decades into the GPS navigation era and I still don’t trust the route my vehicle suggests. I have been burned so many times that we liter…

> I have been burned so many times that we literally still compare routes from different providers for a new trip.

I heard this often but what has been the issue in practice? The worst that happened to me is Google Maps suggesting I cross a bridge that was washed away by the last typhoon, but that's hardly Google's fault.

Only in very remote places has Google Maps failed me, at least for driving directions (for trails it's another story...)

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

#237

Post by re-thc »

bigyabai wrote: post #233
NetMageSCW wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no Apple tax, but there is a price to be paid for the performance, battery life and integration of the Apple ecosystem.

Okay, so to rephrase their comment, the majority of the consumer PC audience will not invest in those things at the price Apple demands for it.

> the majority of the consumer PC audience will not invest in those things at the price Apple demands for it

Who? As in you?

But Apple is gaining market share. Apple is cheaper for what it offers in hardware ignoring the Apple ecosystem.

Are we up to date? The Apple tax is old news. With all the ram and ssd price hikes Apple is proving even more value.

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

#238

Post by bigyabai »

NetMageSCW wrote: post #225
neya wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agreed. You speak the truth, but already the apologists are writing textbooks justifying Apple's failed strategy :)) and this is why the company thrives. Just blind loyalty to a company that couldn't care less about them.

That is a delusional take on why millions continue to purchase Apple products and services. They expect Apple to provide services that work well and are not willing to put up with the terrible products other companies produce.

That is even more delusional than the parent comment. There is no dialectic law of business that guarantees a better experience with a competitor's product. If you traded your Nintendo Switch for a gaming iPad, for example, you'd be making a horrible mistake. The iPad's presence as a gaming machine is synonymous with online gambling.

If Apple's products and services were heads-and-shoulder above their competition, we'd know. The iPhone is the only modern example, and it relies on lock-in that is considered illegally anticompetitive in multiple jurisdictions worldwide.

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

#239

Post by halapro »

kakacik wrote: post #119
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 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,…

You're here, right? How much of your life is already stored on digital devices one warrant away from the state?

I read your comment as someone from the 80s complaining about digitalization and it all applied. And yet here we are, my WHOLE photo library on my phone, most of communication with everyone on my phone, and AI isn't even part of it.

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

#240

Post by something765478 »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #223
nilkn wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My take is that the future will look something like this: - You pay for a personal AI assistant from a cloud vendor (most people) or you run it yourself on your own hardware (not yet common, likely somewhat common in the future as hardware becomes cheaper and open weight models keep getting better). This assistant won't be a chatbot but an autonomous agent (like OpenClaw today). Some of these will be free but heavily…

I'm personally not convinced about "next-gen form factors", although I know that's what many companies are focusing on - some type of smart glasses, or whatever kind of (screen-less?) device Jony Ive and OpenAI are working on. Most people are too appearance and fashion-conscious to want to wear tech on their face, and I don't see many people wanting to carry TWO expensive tech gadgets (and worry about charging/losing…

> Most people are too appearance and fashion-conscious to want to wear tech on their face

Have you seen the Ray Ban meta glasses? They already look pretty close to existing fashionable sunglasses, albeit with a visible camera.

> and I don't see many people wanting to carry TWO expensive tech gadgets (and worry about charging/losing/forgetting them)

They already do; plenty of people carry a smart phone, a smart watch, and airpods.

> seeing as photos and video is core to what people want from their mobile device, it seems that the smartphone will continue to be the form-factor of the future, and I expect these other next-gen form factors to fail.

People use smartphones to avoid being bored, but there are situations when it's unacceptable to use them (i.e. in a meeting); I could see smart glasses being used for that niche.

> What if Google or someone else comes out with an AI-centric "personal assistant" device so compelling that it massively ups the bar as to what customers expect from a mobile device (in same way that iPhone did at launch)?

Knowing Google, that personal assistant would probably be shut down within a year.

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