5 ms·

This is one of those announcements that actually just excites me as a consumer. We give our children HomePods as their first device when they turn 8 years old (

by jmacd 8mo ago

This is one of those announcements that actually just excites me as a consumer. We give our children HomePods as their first device when they turn 8 years old (Apple Watch at 10 years, laptop at 12) and in the 6 years I have been buying them, they have not improved one ounce. My kids would like to listen to podcasts, get information, etc. All stuff that a voice conversation with Chatgpt or Gemini can do today, but Siri isn't just useless-- it's actually quite frustrating!

knallfrosch 8mo ago
Siri still can't play an Apple Music album when there is a song of the same name. Even "Play the album XY" leads to Siri only playing the single song. It's hilariously bad.
- billti 8mo ago
  Or the even more frustrating: Me: "Hey Siri, play <well known hit song from a studio album that sold 100m copies" Siri: "OK, here's <correct song but a live version nobody ever listens to, or some equally obscure remix>" Being these things are at their core probability machines, ... How? Why?
  - troad 8mo ago
    > Being these things are at their core probability machines, ... How? Why? Is Siri a probability machine? I didn't think it was an LLM at all right now? I thought it was some horrendous tree of switch statements, hence the difficulty of improving it. Apple search is comically bad, though. Type in some common feature or app, and it will yield the most obscure header file inside the build deps directory of some Xcode project you forgot existed.
layer8 8mo ago
It remains to be seen what the existing HomePods will support. There’s been a HomePod hardware update in the pipeline for quite some time, and it appears like they are waiting for the new Siri to be ready.
46493168 8mo ago
It’s absolutely insane that you can’t say “Siri, play my audiobook” and it play the last audiobook you listened to. Like, come on.
- http-teapot 8mo ago
  Or when you are driving, someone sends a yes-no question where the answer is no. Siri: Would you like to answer? Me: Yes Siri: ... Me: No + more words Siri: Ok (shuts off)
CephalopodMD 8mo ago
Not exactly the same, but kinda: my gen 1 Google Home just got Gemini and it finally delivers on the promise of like 10 years ago! Brought new life to the thing beyond playing music, setting timers, and occasionally asking really basic questions
aixpert 8mo ago
it's not going to help them. For Siri to be really useful it wouldn't need deep system integration and an external model is not going to provide that. People don't believe me when I said it about Apple Intelligence with open AI
alt227 8mo ago
Thats what you get for buying into one ecosystem and sticking with it. All that stuff has been available on Alexa for a decade.

by jmacd 8mo ago

knallfrosch 8mo ago

Siri still can't play an Apple Music album when there is a song of the same name. Even "Play the album XY" leads to Siri only playing the single song. It's hilariously bad.

billti 8mo ago
Or the even more frustrating: Me: "Hey Siri, play <well known hit song from a studio album that sold 100m copies" Siri: "OK, here's <correct song but a live version nobody ever listens to, or some equally obscure remix>" Being these things are at their core probability machines, ... How? Why?
- troad 8mo ago
  > Being these things are at their core probability machines, ... How? Why? Is Siri a probability machine? I didn't think it was an LLM at all right now? I thought it was some horrendous tree of switch statements, hence the difficulty of improving it. Apple search is comically bad, though. Type in some common feature or app, and it will yield the most obscure header file inside the build deps directory of some Xcode project you forgot existed.

layer8 8mo ago

It remains to be seen what the existing HomePods will support. There’s been a HomePod hardware update in the pipeline for quite some time, and it appears like they are waiting for the new Siri to be ready.

46493168 8mo ago

It’s absolutely insane that you can’t say “Siri, play my audiobook” and it play the last audiobook you listened to. Like, come on.

http-teapot 8mo ago
Or when you are driving, someone sends a yes-no question where the answer is no. Siri: Would you like to answer? Me: Yes Siri: ... Me: No + more words Siri: Ok (shuts off)

CephalopodMD 8mo ago

Not exactly the same, but kinda: my gen 1 Google Home just got Gemini and it finally delivers on the promise of like 10 years ago! Brought new life to the thing beyond playing music, setting timers, and occasionally asking really basic questions

aixpert 8mo ago

it's not going to help them. For Siri to be really useful it wouldn't need deep system integration and an external model is not going to provide that. People don't believe me when I said it about Apple Intelligence with open AI

alt227 8mo ago

Thats what you get for buying into one ecosystem and sticking with it. All that stuff has been available on Alexa for a decade.