Meet Siri, the new secretary
Tim Cook, the new CEO for Apple, unveiled the iPhone 4S on Oct. 4. The next day, former CEO and co-founder of Apple Steve Jobs passed away at the age of 56.
Oct. 7, the iPhone 4S was ready, and one week later it hit the stores. There is now one voice who will answer iPhone users’ questions, and it goes by the name of Siri.
During the first weekend of sales, more than 4 million phones were sold. The change between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S was all in the software, meaning the phones still look the same. A new operating system iOS 5 was added, as well as a new voice command system — Siri.
Aaron Nelson is one USU student who expressed elation about Siri.
“It’s awesome,” he said.
Andrew Whiting, another USU student, said it’s a big improvement from the iPhone 4, because before he wasn’t able to speak to his phone like a normal person.
And Megan Child said sometimes it can be a little creepy, and Siri even told her to get back to work.
Siri is a proactive voice command system that can send text messages when spoken to, read aloud received texts, set alarms, recite sports scores and check the weather.
A group of USU students participating in the recent Occupy the Spectrum event, waiting in line to get tickets for the USU vs. BYU basketball game, that ordered a pizza using Siri.
Some users personify Siri by referring to it as a woman.
“She is like my second wife,” Whiting said.
Some have asked if Siri will change the world of communication. Samantha Ward, a USU student who works at Best Buy, said she thinks Siri changes technology through the convenience of things. She said users don’t have to worry about typing out what they want to say, now they can just say it.
“It gets rid of the texting-and-driving issue too,” Ward said.
Child agreed and said, “I mainly use it for when I’m driving.”
Jordan Hatch, a USU student who also works at Best Buy, said he thinks Siri is easier to use than other voice command systems, and because of that its a more “universal technology” and it is effecting how people use technology.
Tim Jordan, who works at the local Apple store called Expercom, said he thinks Siri isn’t changing the style of communication.
“It’s a personal assistant. The only thing it affects is your effectiveness to function during the day,” Jordan said. “It’s making it better. It’s the first legitimate artificial intelligence.”
Tanner Simmons, another USU student, said people are going to become dependent on Siri — no one will do anything themselves anymore.
“I think its creating a dependence for people,” he said.
– jbbarracuda@gmail.com