The Original Siri App Compared to Siri Today
In 2008 Siri began as spin-off of SRI International, where Winarsky was the President, and eventually launched as an app for iOS in February 2010. Two months later Apple acquired Siri, and just over a year after that introduced it within the iPhone 4s, shutting down the standalone app shortly thereafter. Seven years later, Winarsky said that Siri’s capabilities have fallen short of his earlier predictions for where he thought the assistant, and Apple’s development, would end up.
Specifically, Winarsky’s comments focus on what Siri’s intention was “pre-Apple” versus where the assistant is today. According to the co-founder, Siri was originally meant to be incredibly intelligent in just a few key areas -- travel and entertainment -- and then “gradually extend to related areas” once it mastered each. Apple’s acquisition pivoted Siri to an all-encompassing life assistant, and Winarsky said that this decision has likely led Apple to search “for a level of perfection they can’t get.”
It’s fascinating that the original Siri demo is still better than today’s Siri in a few aspects.
For fun and frustration, I tried all of the original commands featured in that eight year old video on my iPhone[…]
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What’s clear to me is that the Siri of eight years ago was, in some circumstances, more capable than the Siri of today. That could simply be because the demo video was created in Silicon Valley, and things tend to perform better there than almost anywhere else. But it’s been eight years since that was created, and over seven since Siri was integrated into the iPhone. One would think that it should be at least as capable as it was when Apple bought it.
Eight years is an eternity in the tech world.
Examples attached: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Basically, I expect so much more of her today, that she feels stupider than back in 2011, when she launched on the iPhone 4S.
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