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Isn’t it more likely that the quality of the voice assistant isn’t that important to most buyers?

by cletus 6y ago

Grimm1 6y ago
Anecdata but I've never even bothered to try Siri on mine. I think you're on the money there.
- Jcowell 6y ago
  In the flip side I use Siri everyday to turn on lights , timers , custom iOS Shortcut commands , Intercom, play music, and to find my phone when I can’t locate it I’m my house.
molszanski 6y ago
I think so too. I am pretty sure that data will show it too. Five years ago the NextGen computing platform that will change the world where smart speakers. Now it is almost a niche product.
darkwater 6y ago
(gonna be downvoted to death) Usually Apple die-hard buyers tend to minimize the importance of software/features that are not sported by an i-device or that doesn't work well there. When the 1st iPhone was released, the lack of native apps was a selling point "we use the web standards". When apps were introduced, they were again a selling point (and still are to the present day). The day Siri will work equal to/better than other competing systems, it will be used as a main reason for which you should buy an Apple device. The day before that, it will still be something that users actually don't want. EDIT: and to be a bit more clear that I'm serious with this, it actually makes sense. If a feature doesn't work well, you find ways around it. And if you are used to an ecosystem, maybe you don't even know how well another ecosystem works. And finally, if that ecosystem works for you well enough - or that device - you probably really don't care about that missing feature.
- hnra 6y ago
  What are you getting at? Assuming bad faith, or that Apple buyers are unable to evaluate purchase decisions objectively?
  - darkwater 6y ago
    No, I'm saying that Apple buyers are usually satisfied with their purchase for several reasons already. One feature not working as expected is just ignored/not needed.
- temp667 6y ago
  I'm an apple buyer. Siri is terrible. Google assistant is pretty impressive. I would switch BUT - google's integration / support for things like work calendars is so terrible, and their response to consumer / user input so bad (ie, ignored despite #1 request for years and years) that I'm like most Apple users. Apple (and Amazon) get many things right, and actually seem to pay a tiny bit of attention to user needs. So it's really not worth playing with the google stuff because you end up in these weird nonsensical hells - everything is amazing, and then they just drop the ball in a key corner. For example, my google work calendar is EASY to integrate with Alexa along with my personal calendar. Fantastic, what's my schedule today works great. Google - falls flat on its' face for this, despite being a paying customer of their Gsuite. Their approach is just full of excuses here, and ignores that this desired interaction works well on their COMPETITORS devices but not theirs. Just one (of many) examples. They have some sort of eventually consistent backend more often for stuff so you also get weird states that you can't delete things, changes take longer to "flow through" etc.
bentcorner 6y ago
I think that's an effect rather than the cause. My guess is that Apple management doesn't see voice assistants as the "next big thing" to differentiate themselves from the competition. I think VR/AR is where they are focusing and Siri is on life support.

Isn’t it more likely that the quality of the voice assistant isn’t that important to most buyers?

by cletus 6y ago

Isn’t it more likely that the quality of the voice assistant isn’t that important to most buyers?

Grimm1 6y ago

Anecdata but I've never even bothered to try Siri on mine. I think you're on the money there.

Jcowell 6y ago
In the flip side I use Siri everyday to turn on lights , timers , custom iOS Shortcut commands , Intercom, play music, and to find my phone when I can’t locate it I’m my house.

molszanski 6y ago

I think so too. I am pretty sure that data will show it too. Five years ago the NextGen computing platform that will change the world where smart speakers. Now it is almost a niche product.

darkwater 6y ago

(gonna be downvoted to death) Usually Apple die-hard buyers tend to minimize the importance of software/features that are not sported by an i-device or that doesn't work well there. When the 1st iPhone was released, the lack of native apps was a selling point "we use the web standards". When apps were introduced, they were again a selling point (and still are to the present day). The day Siri will work equal to/better than other competing systems, it will be used as a main reason for which you should buy an Apple device. The day before that, it will still be something that users actually don't want. EDIT: and to be a bit more clear that I'm serious with this, it actually makes sense. If a feature doesn't work well, you find ways around it. And if you are used to an ecosystem, maybe you don't even know how well another ecosystem works. And finally, if that ecosystem works for you well enough - or that device - you probably really don't care about that missing feature.

hnra 6y ago
What are you getting at? Assuming bad faith, or that Apple buyers are unable to evaluate purchase decisions objectively?
- darkwater 6y ago
  No, I'm saying that Apple buyers are usually satisfied with their purchase for several reasons already. One feature not working as expected is just ignored/not needed.
temp667 6y ago
I'm an apple buyer. Siri is terrible. Google assistant is pretty impressive. I would switch BUT - google's integration / support for things like work calendars is so terrible, and their response to consumer / user input so bad (ie, ignored despite #1 request for years and years) that I'm like most Apple users. Apple (and Amazon) get many things right, and actually seem to pay a tiny bit of attention to user needs. So it's really not worth playing with the google stuff because you end up in these weird nonsensical hells - everything is amazing, and then they just drop the ball in a key corner. For example, my google work calendar is EASY to integrate with Alexa along with my personal calendar. Fantastic, what's my schedule today works great. Google - falls flat on its' face for this, despite being a paying customer of their Gsuite. Their approach is just full of excuses here, and ignores that this desired interaction works well on their COMPETITORS devices but not theirs. Just one (of many) examples. They have some sort of eventually consistent backend more often for stuff so you also get weird states that you can't delete things, changes take longer to "flow through" etc.

bentcorner 6y ago

I think that's an effect rather than the cause. My guess is that Apple management doesn't see voice assistants as the "next big thing" to differentiate themselves from the competition. I think VR/AR is where they are focusing and Siri is on life support.