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I actually used Cortana on my Android phone. (Disclaimer - I work for MSFT). The main reason why I don't use Google assistant instead is the total unease with h

I actually used Cortana on my Android phone. (Disclaimer - I work for MSFT). The main reason why I don't use Google assistant instead is the total unease with having Google listen to me 24/7. Cortana's not too bad for the simple stuff like getting the outlook of the day or setting up geofenced reminders (remind me to unload the washing machine when I come back home). Anything more complex absolutely fails 100% of the time, with this ridiculous behavior most assistants have to default to "here is what I found on the web". Why on earth would I want you to search for what I asked you to do? Wouldn't I ask you to search on the web if I wanted you to search on the web? I think that's the downfall of most voice assistants I've tried. Discoverability is poor, which wouldn't be a problem if the feature set was not limited to the basics. That being said it also loses a lot of its appeal by requiring a physical activation (either clicking on the app or on my headsets button), since Google removed the possibility for alternative voice assistants to do that. Compared to "hey siri", that schnucks.

hakfoo 7y ago
For something hosted on a phone, I think they could improve the feel of privacy just by discarding the wake-word concept. This also allows them to cut out the passive listening hardware (saving money) or software load (saving battery life and CPU overhead) If you have the phone in your hands anyway, it's not that outlandish to have a button you press to engage Siri/Cortana/etc. This also avoids annoying/embarrassing accidental triggers. The only thing I ever used Cortana for (back in the Windows Phone 8 days) was the geofenced stuff-- "take the perishable items out of the car when you get home". Absurd thought: With enough data mining, not having the assistant's features discoverable could become itself a feature: Sifting through a billion requests and where it falls back to web requests could expose "desire paths"-- the specific functionality consumers expect a voice-assistant to provide but wouldn't necessarily know to ask for on a marketing survey.
- charles_f 7y ago
  Right, but when you're in the car through or cooking, or bathing your kid, activating it via voice is a real saver.

hakfoo 7y ago

For something hosted on a phone, I think they could improve the feel of privacy just by discarding the wake-word concept. This also allows them to cut out the passive listening hardware (saving money) or software load (saving battery life and CPU overhead) If you have the phone in your hands anyway, it's not that outlandish to have a button you press to engage Siri/Cortana/etc. This also avoids annoying/embarrassing accidental triggers. The only thing I ever used Cortana for (back in the Windows Phone 8 days) was the geofenced stuff-- "take the perishable items out of the car when you get home". Absurd thought: With enough data mining, not having the assistant's features discoverable could become itself a feature: Sifting through a billion requests and where it falls back to web requests could expose "desire paths"-- the specific functionality consumers expect a voice-assistant to provide but wouldn't necessarily know to ask for on a marketing survey.

charles_f 7y ago
Right, but when you're in the car through or cooking, or bathing your kid, activating it via voice is a real saver.