Harvard Business Review has a great write up likening Siri as being as
revolutionary to computing with it’s hands free interaction as was the
Mac with it’s desktop metaphor using a mouse, and as with the iPhone
using multitouch gestures. The article states that Mac brought computing
accessibility to the masses but over the years, complexity via added
functionality introduced issues that broke the “desktop metaphor”. Siri, it contends, solves these complexity issues.
“The advantage of using speech over other interaction paradigms is
that we have honed its use over thousands of years. It is entirely
natural for us to talk to one another. Talking is one of the first
things we learn how to do as children. It’s second nature for us to
ask a colleague or a friend a question and for them to answer the same
way. Being able to talk to a phone like it’s a personal assistant is
something that people are going to get very used to, very quickly.
It’s a much more natural approach than using a mouse on a desktop.”
iOS has had some manner of voice control since iPhone 3GS launched, and although useful, the implementation was
lacking. I’ve often asked to voice dial “Fred”
only to get my ac/dc playlist to start blaring from my speakers instead. I certainly
like the idea of Siri. I definitely hope that it will work as
advertised but mouse and multitouch have been tested and proven over years of use now, and Siri is only just hitting the market today.
Have you tried Siri yet? Do you think it’s the next great leap forward?
Source: Harvard Business Review
