
Dear Tech, You Suck at Delight - fezz
https://medium.com/@sara_ann_marie/dear-tech-you-suck-at-delight-86382d101575#.8ih0zkapy
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roflchoppa
I just asked Siri "I don't know what to do with my dirty socks"

It responded with "OK. It's no big deal that you don't know"

I'm guessing that the system is seeing if there is something that is an option
that it can provide "open app, call something.. etc" if not then just
reassuring in this case, that there is nothing wrong (or that the system
cannot provide an answer)

The author brought up an important point which is the system needs to be able
to handle these outliers (ei: imma shoot myself --> suicide hotline) But only
the engineers can tell us how many of these requests are pulled into the
system, and how to direct the alerts off. It would be super helpful to be able
to tell CHP hey theres a object in the highway on 280N next to Saratoga Ave
right from Siri//Google voice. But there needs to be underlying infrastructure
for that from both ends.

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smt88
I find this controversy pretty weird. I can't decide how to feel about it or
what I think users and companies should do. Here are some of my thoughts.

1\. People never used Siri to report an emergency before Siri existed. Is
there something dangerous about dialing a number or using a dedicated
emergency app? Should people have the expectation to rely on something so
unpredictable (voice-controlled UI) when the technology just isn't there yet?

2\. Is Siri's inability to understand sexual assault a consequence of
Puritanism, which also kept (keeps?) nudity out of the App Store? Is it just
that sexual assault is something related to sex, and therefore in a category
that US corporations often stay away from? (For those outside the US, having
any kind of sexual content in your product can lead to backlash in the large,
conservative swathes of the country.)

3\. Can problems like this be solved with plugins, like the ones Google is
working on? Should it be the user's duty to find those plugins, or should
there be a wizard that takes the user through filling in the blocks of
functionality that the manufacturer doesn't (or won't) fill?

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Mithaldu
The main problem here is one that's slightly harder to notice.

Siri getting it wrong is to be expected. It's just software. And especially
with voice recognition failure should be expected. However there's a glaring
absence in those screenshots:

Other than "try again differently", there is no step into feedback loop of
_any_ kind presented, whatsoever.

There should be an option to let Apple know that Siri got something
horrifically wrong. But no such thing exists. And the reason is quite simply
that Apple does not care (enough) to spend the money of building even the
tiniest bit of customer interaction chain for that.

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tshtf
I recently bought an iPhone, after a five year hiatus. A few months ago at
5:30 a.m., while driving through though the Bay Area, I asked Siri "What city
am I in?"

Siri replied, "Calling Ian", and proceeded to call my contact.

I haven't used Siri since.

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drcongo
I don't understand why anyone would ask Siri these questions (/statements) in
the first place. Surely you just call the police. And if for some reason the
police are not an acceptable option for you, what on earth would cause Siri to
be your second port of call?

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jbob2000
Well if you're a hack journalist looking for a big name brand to attach your
name to, asking these questions makes perfect sense.

