

Will Apple Sideline Siri Before She Kills Google? - pirri
http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/30/will-apple-sideline-siri-before-she-kills-google/

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untog
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.

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danso
> _...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?

~~~
Devolver
Did you actually read the whole post?

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robomartin
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.

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drivebyacct2
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...

~~~
Devolver
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.

~~~
drivebyacct2
>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.

~~~
Devolver
It sounds like you're angry because you don't feel I'm giving enough credit to
Google Now.

But the piece itself wasn't about Google Now; it was about how Apple is
screwing up the opportunity to do something really awesome with Siri, for
reasons that I don't really understand.

For the record: I think Google Now is really interesting, but it's more like a
"pre-emptive search" engine than a "task completion engine." If Google really
builds a task-completion engine (and they certainly have the talent to do so),
it would change the search paradigm.

But they make tons and tons of money on the existing search paradigm, so they
have an innovators' dilemma.

~~~
drivebyacct2
>I think Google Now is really interesting, but it's more like a "pre-emptive
search" engine than a "task completion engine."

It's both? Is there some "task" that Siri can do that Now can't? Because it
has intuition, it's bad?

>it was about how Apple is screwing up the opportunity to do something really
awesome with Siri

And my point is that they have none of the data necessary to do the real
smart, amazing things that Now already does and will be able to. Even now, I
guarantee (okay, not really, I can't say this as inside fact) that the Bing
team isn't giving Apple query data unless it goes through Siri, so they're
still never, ever going to have the full picture of their user like Google
has.

I guess my point is, why would Siri try to fight Google on this, they have no
unique leverage or technical or data advantage, it seems like any money spent
trying to compete with Now's intelligence would be foolish unless they're
really just going to go full-frontal on all Google services which would be
utter insane suicide based on iCloud.

I mean, when you say "task based", what is more task based than a service that
automatically notifies you about tasks like flights or shopping lists or
package shipping notifications or directions to your destination, all without
you never lifting a finger, based purely on your email and search habits (this
already exists, today, with Now). That's as "task" driven as I can imagine.
Each "card" is basically a task.

~~~
LaSombra
A classic example of Apple trying to fix this is a Maps app for Mavericks that
has a "send to phone" feature. Something Google had and already retired in
favor of Now and that works amazingly well.

If I use Google Maps on my desktop, search for directions, then choose public
transportation, that's what goes to Now. If on another day I choose bike
directions, that is what goes to Now.

Same goes for open tabs in Chrome, searching for flights and more. You perform
the task on your computer and your Android phone, with Google Now, "just
knows" what you are/were looking for.

One cool feature that I think came from ITA Software purchase is that, if the
flight you looked for is delayed, Now lets you know it's delayed and change
your directions to fit the new flight arrival if needed. When I first saw the
delayed info on Now I didn't believe it, so I dismissed. Upon arrival on
Heathrow, the arrival board was showing the exact same delay as Now. I was
blown away.

