You missed my point, which was that Google Now can't do the things Siri can on iOS. This is important because Apple has aggregated a large and highly valuable u

You missed my point, which was that Google Now can't do the things Siri can on iOS. This is important because Apple has aggregated a large and highly valuable user base. Contrary to your claim otherwise, this user base makes 2 billion Siri requests per week [1]. The fact that Google Now can't insert itself into this position works to Apple's advantage because that dataset will enable Apple to improve the product over time. It also means that everyone who wants to reach that audience will partner with Apple and/or use the newly available Siri API (as many have done), which will further add new functionality. And if Apple really wanted to replicate the "answer general interest questions" use case with Siri it wouldn't require Apple to create a search engine, just a bizdev deal with Microsoft and some engineering work (probably from both parties). I also never made any claims that assistants are shitty or would stay shitty. I said that Assistant/Google Now isn't enough differentiation to convince a customer to purchase a Pixel over an iPhone (or a Samsung Galaxy for that matter). The iPhone's competitive advantage doesn't rest on any one single feature or service. It isn't enough for Google to make a better assistant, they must be better than Apple on a number of vectors (too many to list, one big one that tech nerds often don't consider is Apple's retail footprint and the customer service advantage that provides). [1]http://www.apple.com/ca/pr/library/2016/06/13Apple-Previews-Major-Update-with-macOS-Sierra.html http://www.apple.com/ca/pr/library/2016/06/13Apple-Previews-...