Opinion: Siri a Fun Novelty But Not as Useful as Apple Advertises

Posted by SvenOnTech on Wednesday Dec 7, 2011 Under iPhone 4S Opinion

Apple made a big splash at its iPhone 4S keynote with the introduction of Siri, the voice assistant Apple integrated into the iOS from its acquiring of Siri 18 months earlier. I remember when the Siri app first arrived and I dwell upon how little it worked for me when it was 1.0. Now that Apple was able to throw money, in both purchase and development, at Siri and has taken its time with presenting the updated version, I was excited to see what 2.0 would be like. Well, first we were told it was a beta, not a revised version. Second, it no longer would run on anything but an iPhone 4S due to the need for a hefty processor (which has since been proven wrong with the many hacks floating around the Internet.) But that commercial shown at Moscone Center definitely made it look like it was going to be the sweet deal nevertheless.

Now, I wasn’t expecting perfection from Siri when my white 32GB iPhone 4S arrived at my door step via UPS upon the day of release. No, I had used Android’s voice-to-text without much success and, again, the original Siri app wasn’t all that impressive. In short, my expectations were honestly low.

After removing the phone from its packaging and activating it on the third attempt – third time’s the charm, AT&T – I of course asked Siri if I would need an umbrella tomorrow even though it was sunny and in the 80s outside. Siri responded with the weather for the next week. My family and I then went on to ask it more of the silly questions such as what is the meaning of life and what do yo look like.

When it came time time to really test it, this is where the shine began to fade. I attempted to text my wife a short message to which it understood who my wife was but didn’t even have any of the text for the message. I tried again and then it got it. Well, most of it. The end of the message was just chopped off as if I hadn’t even said it and the last two words were incorrect. I chalked it up to a busy day for Siri as this was her/his debut.

Over the next few weeks, I used Siri in the truck, in my home, in stores, in offices. I used it in many different environments and pretty much received consistent results. Poor ones. My truck gave me the worse and I attribute that to the cabin noise since I have a large Ford F-250. My wife’s Yukon isn’t much better with its Flowise pipes so results were about the same there as well. In a quiet environment, such as my bedroom, the accuracy was improved but not by much. To gain near perfect accuracy, I found I had to be holding the phone near to my mouth, about a foot or two, angled with the mic toward me, and not to use conjunctions such as you’ll. When using this method, I obtained near 90% accuracy. But the problem with this is that it’s more like a lab than real life.

Let me be clear, I did not just use the iPhone 4Ses built-in microphone or supplied wired headset. I also employed the use of third-party hands-free sets such as my Alpine IVA-W505 (my review), SuperTooth buddy (here’s that review), and the Magellan Premium Car Kit (yup, reviewed that, too.) I live in California where it has some of the most stringent laws against distracted driving so I engage technology to help me be safe and avoid unneeded fines. In reality, one would presume this is the point of Siri as we watch the jogger run along the bay with Treasure Island in the background. Siri is our assistant when our hands and eyes are busy doing other things.

What it comes down to is the best place to use Siri is not the best place to use Siri. The most common place to use Siri, chatter filled offices or noisy homes, gives you the most common errors. I also found myself flustered many times when speaking to Siri and correcting myself mid-sentence and boy did that make things even worse. From what I gather speaking to my other Siri using friends, I’m not the only one that suffers from the same tongue-tie issue. Part of it is that our brain thinks we need to sound like a robot when speaking to Siri but the other part is Siri needs to recognize human short comings and prevail as well.

I have also noted the lack of punctuation. If I speak more than a single sentence, even with proper pause, Siri doesn’t get the period. It either ends taking my dictation or makes a run-on sentence. I have discovered that I can state the needed mark, such as period or question mark, but it doesn’t always get it. If I give Siri too much, either via the Siri interface or the Mic icon on the keyboard, it will simply double beep and translate what I have said up to that point. Sometimes, it comes up completely blank! This leads me to wonder about the articles I’ve read on ZDNet and the Sun Times by Andy Ihnatko that claim they dictated the entire article to Siri. I would sure love to see a video of that because I really do not think it’s possible without much interaction with the Home or Mic button. Maybe I’m missing something but Apple is well known for it’s ease of use and Steve Jobs was found of saying, “It just works”.

What it comes down to is that Apple has advertised something that really isn’t. Sure, these keyword tips help your accuracy but note how short the sentences are.

Going back to that jogger and the way he made a meeting so natural and so easy, this is what Average Joe and Mom Consumer will see. They don’t watch keynotes. So how much higher will their expectations be than mine? Apple has done well with its products in the last decade from the iPod, iPhone, and the iPad, and I’m certain Siri is what will set the next decade for Apple, but beta or not, Siri needs to get it and get it quick.

10 Responses to “Opinion: Siri a Fun Novelty But Not as Useful as Apple Advertises”

  1. undfeatable Says:
    December 8th, 2011 at 12:46 am

    I use it a lot (we have the exact same model)! I find it very easy to use and gets a lot of my stuff correct. The thing about punctuation is true. I always say period or question mark. It works almost all the time. You seem to be really trashing apple about it. I mean, the made sure to say BETA. Does it need work, of course. But compare it to everything else. It is simple the best thing out there. I like using it to make calls. Is it a perfect thing, no, but for now, it will do.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 2


  2. Joe Says:
    December 8th, 2011 at 3:53 am

    Well let’s not go too hard on Apple as Siri is in beta mode still and they warn you about that up front. Apple should also think about releasing betas in a major release to the public as they know there will be bugs, people will love the function but get frustrated with it’s errors. Hopefully Apple does indeed get it together in 2012.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1


  3. Vernicularis Says:
    December 8th, 2011 at 9:16 am

    It should have been called Silly not Siri

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 5


  4. Richard Says:
    December 8th, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    This article matches my experience – if I’m in a quiet office (when I could just type into the phone) it works fine – i.e., when I don’t need it. If I’m driving along and try to use Siri through my handsfree device it is a different story. “Skip this track”. “I’m sorry Richard, I don’t understand ‘Keep this track’”. “SSSSSSSkip this track”. “I didn’t quite get that”. “Skip this track”. “I didn’t quite get that” etc.

    Bottom line I spent 20 minutes on the freeway, because Siri would not skip the track and then took 10 goes before it understood “Shuffle songs”. In between it rang one of my friends – somehow “shuffle songs” became “Call Mike Battilana” – go figure! I keep expecting it to work and get more of the same bad results. A better idea would be a car cable that has the same button that headphones have, so I could just double click to skip a track.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0


  5. SvenOnTech Says:
    December 8th, 2011 at 3:55 pm

    Joe and undfeatable, funny, I thought I wasn’t being hard at all to Apple. :) Remember, Apple – a company sitting on nearly $100 billion in cash – had more than enough time and resources in the last 18 months to do better. It is trying to show it is different and better than Android but at the end of the day, it has not proven so. With many of the Android Siri copycats available within days after Siri’s release and doing just as well as Siri, Apple has some egg on its face. I spared this mention from my article but, you guys prompted this response. :) I agree and hope Apple does improve it for 2012 as there is little that differentiates iPhone from Android anymore.

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  6. Roger Ramjet Says:
    December 8th, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    I brought my girlfried a 4s after she “accidently” dropped her 3g in the pool. Instead of getting my bang for the buck The Iphone experience left me 35 cent short. Siri was a pleasure to use at times but in general felt like trying to turn a door knob with a straight jacket on….(not that I have ever had to do this)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2


  7. Dragonj Says:
    December 8th, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    I’ve found Siri to be both amazing and confounding. It seems the simpler things I ask, like call so-and-so, get wrong responses and complicated factual questions get answered easily. I needed to know the millimeters in a tablespoon, which was giving me a headache to think bout, and that simple question to Siri got me the answer. I chalk it up to being beta and when she/he goes ‘live’ ( heh heh) I bet it knocks our socks off!

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  8. Laura Says:
    December 9th, 2011 at 9:26 am

    I use Siri on and off for the same reasons although I do love it, especially for emails while I’m driving. My Honda pilot isn’t anything fancy, but when I speak to Siri I hold it up to my mouth for the same reasons Michael stated. It doesn’t understand me if the phone isn’t one or two feet from my mouth. So frustrating because I also live in California which means I’d gt a ticket for using Siri the way I am. I wish it worked through Bluetooth. I use a Motorola Bluetooth and have had mixed results while in a car. There’s where they really need to make the improvement fast if they had to prioritize. I would use it all the time. It is helpful though when I’m not driving or when I dont want to type on the tiny keyboard. So, beause of those instances, I still love Siri. I’m a pianist but my fingers have a hard time typing on that small of a keyboard!

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  9. Jeff in Everett Says:
    December 9th, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    Having used voice recognition since OS/2 Warp (it hasn’t changed… voice recognition or OS/2 in the last 18 years) and here is the issue, as I see it:

    Humans have evolved over the last 6,000 or 4 billion years, and we have something that is difficult to program digitally, and that’s voice inflection, situational conversations, and sarcasm.

    To wit:
    I say to my co-worker, “you’re hot” and I’m referring to their performance, then I go to a bar, and tell a girl there, “you’re hot” and I get her phone number, then I go home to my wife, and she is angry with me, and I say, “you’re hot” (while avoiding pots and pans being thrown at me), then we make up, and get all hot, then, the next day, we go to our daughter’s room, and she has a fever, and I get the medicine and tell that she needs to take it because she’s hot.

    1 word, hot, and 5 very different meanings, and that meaning is entirely contextual.

    A person from France, England, Texas, and New York all say it differently (yes, they do speak English in France, and they do so very well, as well as being friendly, at least to me they were.) yet, most people can understand what the other person is saying.

    An earlier rant I had on voice recognition is the total lack of context and learning it had done, between my wife, Amy, and my former sister-in-law, Anya. “Call Amy Forfenspeilerhausenstein,” which I’ve done 2000 times to once calling “Anya Forfenspeilerhausenstein” and it seems to still be confused, even though every day, I call Amy when walking out of work, asking if I need to pick up something (besides at the bar) on the way home.

    Make it smarter, Apple, and we’ll buy an iPhone because of it, keep it a device where it needs to train you, then we’ll use is as a novelty, and not a serious tool.

    Oh, and if you’re reading this, Amy, then you know you can track me anywhere I am, and you know I don’t go to bars, or anywhere else to pick up women when I have you.

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  10. Richard Says:
    December 9th, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    I’m hoping (any body know this for a fact?) that Apple have a person listening to random (or non-random) bits of audio that get sent there, and then comparing what the person heard to what Siri decided. It would be a simple process to key the person’s interpretation back into the computer so Siri could learn from her mistakes.

    Finding the right non-random bits would be fairly easy – anytime Siri did not code a response or said “I don’t understand …”. If someone from Apple reads this and you’re NOT doing it, how about your start doing it now?

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