7 ms·

I'm averse to any kind of voice assistant. I'm the kind of person who just finds it faster to type in my query or go hunting for the information I want directly

I'm averse to any kind of voice assistant. I'm the kind of person who just finds it faster to type in my query or go hunting for the information I want directly. I also come from a time when voice recognition used to be just barely functional, so I'm biased to think the phone will mishear me. I also have a bias towards thinking that computers aren't meant for natural language questions - I'm still very much a keyword query maker. To this day, I have never asked Siri anything, nor Alexa, Cortana, or whatever Google is calling theirs right now. I know I can't be the only one, right?

erulabs 5y ago
Outside of cooking, I'm with you. I use Siri for setting timers while I have my hands full in the kitchen - and even then - it only allows _one timer at a time_. My phone has multiple processor cores, but it requires the assist of my 15 year old microwave to track both rice -and- veggies...
thefounder 5y ago
I find Siri great...while driving(to call, play music, change volume and ask for news). And that's the only use I find for it.
ghaff 5y ago
No. Even asking the weather, I can get a weather report with far more context in about 30 seconds on weather underground either on my phone or on a computer. And for places where I can't just go to a computer or phone, e.g. my car, I find Siri frustratingly difficult to instruct to perform specific tasks, especially without taking my eyes off the road or hands off the wheel. Even setting a GPS destination by voice alone is hit or miss much less finding a podcast that hasn't been pre-loaded.
Scarblac 5y ago
I stutter, and as a result just don't like talking. I'll never use an interface like this.
- m463 5y ago
  I wonder if there was an interface that required singing, or possibly it would play classical music while you talk - would it work for you? I say this because of two things I've heard (possibly misconceptions) One was that people who stutter can sing ok the other was the movie "the king's speech" where playing classical music while talking would prevent the king from stuttering.
  - Scarblac 5y ago
    As I got older, the stuttering became less and less of a problem; now in my late 40s it happens rarely. I probably wouldn't actually stutter talking to a device (might be different with other people present). I just that since I was young I have always preferred text over voice whenever there was a choice, and this is no different. I think the singing thing is true but someone who is extremely self conscious of how their speech comes across is never going to sing instead.
_fat_santa 5y ago
For me it's that my brain just never got used to asking the assistant to do things. Sure I asked it the weather or for the news when I first got it. But after a while I noticed that if I wanted to know these things I would just pull it up on my computer or phone without even thinking to ask the assistant. I'm sure if I used it longer I would get used to it.
lostgame 5y ago
I was like this up until I got my first Apple Watch. Maybe because it’s that I’m white and speak english, but it’s dictation is unbelievable and I can even send Facebook messages or texts an average 9/10 times without needing to modify it. I’ve never - for instance - had an issue where I’ve said ‘set a timer for 5min’ and it’s never worked. I think everyone’s mileage varies.

erulabs 5y ago

Outside of cooking, I'm with you. I use Siri for setting timers while I have my hands full in the kitchen - and even then - it only allows _one timer at a time_. My phone has multiple processor cores, but it requires the assist of my 15 year old microwave to track both rice -and- veggies...

thefounder 5y ago

I find Siri great...while driving(to call, play music, change volume and ask for news). And that's the only use I find for it.

ghaff 5y ago

No. Even asking the weather, I can get a weather report with far more context in about 30 seconds on weather underground either on my phone or on a computer. And for places where I can't just go to a computer or phone, e.g. my car, I find Siri frustratingly difficult to instruct to perform specific tasks, especially without taking my eyes off the road or hands off the wheel. Even setting a GPS destination by voice alone is hit or miss much less finding a podcast that hasn't been pre-loaded.

Scarblac 5y ago

I stutter, and as a result just don't like talking. I'll never use an interface like this.

m463 5y ago
I wonder if there was an interface that required singing, or possibly it would play classical music while you talk - would it work for you? I say this because of two things I've heard (possibly misconceptions) One was that people who stutter can sing ok the other was the movie "the king's speech" where playing classical music while talking would prevent the king from stuttering.
- Scarblac 5y ago
  As I got older, the stuttering became less and less of a problem; now in my late 40s it happens rarely. I probably wouldn't actually stutter talking to a device (might be different with other people present). I just that since I was young I have always preferred text over voice whenever there was a choice, and this is no different. I think the singing thing is true but someone who is extremely self conscious of how their speech comes across is never going to sing instead.

_fat_santa 5y ago

For me it's that my brain just never got used to asking the assistant to do things. Sure I asked it the weather or for the news when I first got it. But after a while I noticed that if I wanted to know these things I would just pull it up on my computer or phone without even thinking to ask the assistant. I'm sure if I used it longer I would get used to it.

lostgame 5y ago

I was like this up until I got my first Apple Watch. Maybe because it’s that I’m white and speak english, but it’s dictation is unbelievable and I can even send Facebook messages or texts an average 9/10 times without needing to modify it. I’ve never - for instance - had an issue where I’ve said ‘set a timer for 5min’ and it’s never worked. I think everyone’s mileage varies.