Will Apple Sideline Siri Before She Kills Google?

http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/30/will-apple-sideline-siri-before-she-kills-google/

by pirri • 13 years ago

9 24 13 years ago

danso• 13 years ago

...the central point is that Siri is a search engine that doesn’t just go out onto the Internet and fetch a bunch of links and ads, but actually takes your “query” and executes your intended task. If you don’t see how that paradigm would be disruptive to Google Search, you might be a redneck.

Talk about hyperbole. Google in danger of being killed by Siri? Either the OP has never used Google's voice tools or he has a lot of stock in Apple...how else to explain his inability to contemplate how Google's data strength would make it easy to ape Siri's task specific functionality...I mean, wasn't this well demonstrated during the Maps fiasco?

Devolver5• 13 years ago

Did you actually read the whole post?

drivebyacct27• 13 years ago

This is so exceedingly stupid I can't believe it's honestly posted on TechCrunch. Not that there's a ton of rumor for my opinion of TC to fall further, but they'd do themselves a favor to pull this.

It's so obvious that the author has never used Google Now and/or has no idea what he's talking about in general. Painful; I honestly checked twice to make sure this wasn't a "post from the past" where we were jestfully mocking in hindsight the silly "OMG SIRI IS THE BEST THING EVER" attitude from two years ago.

Honestly I thought that was dead even before Google Now came out and sprinted laps around it...

Devolver5• 13 years ago

I'm glad you liked it!

Devolver5• 13 years ago

Actually, I've used Google Now extensively, and think it's really cool.

But I think you're missing the point: Siri has major disruptive potential that isn't being realized at all (by Apple).

Google Now is kinda a half-measure, and if Google wants to really defend itself against disruption (not just from Siri, but from the task-completion engine paradigm) it has to go all out on Google Now.

But then it risks bulldozing the AdWords model.

drivebyacct27• 13 years ago

Siri has major disruptive potential that isn't being realized at all (by Apple).

And Google is already doing (or it's obvious they're in progress for) all of those things.

How can anyone who has honestly used both services, in any world in our known Universe, call "Now" a "half-measure" compared to Siri? You could cut off one of its legs and it'd still lap it.

Google is going all out on Now. What are they averaging, 3 new card integrations every 2-3 weeks? EVERYTHING funnels into it. It literally knows where I'm going 90% of the time I get in my car. It alerts me when my packages are delivered. It's far more intelligent and has access to more of my data than Apple will likely ever have for any of their customers.

Here, I'll make it easy: What opportunity does Apple have with Siri that Google doesn't have or hasn't already leveraged with Now?

But then it risks bulldozing the AdWords model.

Nah. I made a note to myself earlier today aloud "Google, note to self, pick up toilet paper". That was instantly automatically saved in Keep. Now, because Google knows I'm driving home, they can look up a retail partner that is close on my route home and automatically remind, navigate me there and then back home. There are a ton of usage stories like this. What if my partner emails me a "pick this up at the store"? They can add a filter like they're already doing for flights and shipping and they're done, they get that integration and visibility surfaced "free" through Now. There are PLENTY of opportunities for Google because of the data they have access to.

(Cynical hackers forget that advertising works because in some cases it ADDS VALUE for the consumer. That's what Ad Words have always been about. If they're not intelligently targeted, they're useless.)

I don't see any reason that Google Now has to obliviate AdWords. And in fact, funneling data to/through Now gives huge, huge advantages when we already know that Google is work on Glass and Watch.

untog3• 13 years ago

Serious question: what does Siri do well that Now doesn't, and makes Now a "half measure"?

untog3• 13 years ago

Google is in no danger. Google Now already has a head start on Siri because it presents things to me before I ask for them. Apple is never going to be able to do that because they don't have the kind of data Google has on their users. Never mind that Apple has a consistent history of failing at projects involving lots of data.

Apple ought to be worried. Every user that switches to using Google Maps/Chrome/Gmail is another user they're losing data on.

robomartin• 13 years ago

Every few months I try to use Siri. And every single time I reach the same conclusion: Unusable and worthless to me. I don't have a weird accent, a lisp or a speech impediment of any kind. Just plain "clean" adult (as opposed to "like" bubblegum teenager) California English. I have never gotten anything useful out of the technology from the day it was introduced.

Just one data point of course. Yet, I'd be willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of iOS users don't use Siri but for the speech recognition version of fart jokes here and there.

Will Apple Sideline Siri Before She Kills Google?

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