Siri in OS X 10.9

[Tar Sniffer]

Last week it was reported that Siri might appear in OS X 10.9. Most comments regarding these rumours have mainly been criticisms of extra iOS features and the naming scheme of the next OS X version rather than the possibilities, which is what prompted me to create this thread.

Siri on the iPhone has received lots of criticism and appears to have been left unused, so I’m wondering if this will be the case for Mac users given the potential practical uses it may offer.

Do you think Siri will change how you use your Mac? What practical tasks do you think it could be used for? Are you excited about it possibly making an appearance in 10.9?

 

[GoCubsGo]

I think Siri on the Mac is going to change the way we use our Macs overall. The whole voice operation is going to be great, in my opinion.

 

[Eithanius]

Do you think Siri will change how you use your Mac?

Oh yes, I'll probably have people staring oddly at me for holding up my mac close to my face and talk to it...

Or worse, some passing-by mental health care people would just walk up to me, hand his/her card, and ask me to make an appointment...

 

[Tilpots]

I think Siri on the Mac is going to change the way we use our Macs overall. The whole voice operation is going to be great, in my opinion.

Sorry, I did not understand 'I think Siri on the Mac is going to change the way we use our Macs overall. The whole voice operation is going to be great, in my opinion'. Would you like me to do a Google search?



Nah. I love Siri. She's only going to get better with time and expansion to other devices and uses.

 

[Mr. McMac]

It's unfortunate that OSX is becoming more toy like. I'm sure many others feel the same

 

[Eithanius]

Nah. I love Siri. She's only going to get better with time and expansion to other devices and uses.

Nah...! Siri ain't on its prime time yet... I'll take only when it can answer whether Mars once sustained life... you know, without having to dig hard on the internet for answers...

 

[ThE.MeSsEnGeR]

ever since Siri was introduced on the iPhone I thought of the possibilities for it, and I knew that at some point in the future it will be implemented on the mac.

as for how we will actually use it. well, of course we'll have the basic Siri commands we already have. but something interesting would be like,

"siri, gather all my worksheets from last year, organize them alphabetically in a new folder called "sheets" and place it in the desktop with a red tag"

or

"siri, resize all my pictures in folder "summer trip" to a 50% and mail them to all my family"
(of course already having a group list of contacts named 'family' including the members)

things like that will make Siri truly a personal assistant.

 

[Eithanius]

It's unfortunate that OSX is becoming more toy like. I'm sure many others feel the same

Very unfortunate indeed...

----------

By the way, where should I find a Home button on my MacBook Pro...?

And I don't wanna call Siri by its name... Who thought of that name Siri anyway...? That fella should have been shot...

Why can't we have something like those on Star Trek, just by calling it "Computer..."

DAMN APPLE...!!!

 

[GoCubsGo]

Sorry, I did not understand 'I think Siri on the Mac is going to change the way we use our Macs overall. The whole voice operation is going to be great, in my opinion'. Would you like me to do a Google search?



Nah. I love Siri. She's only going to get better with time and expansion to other devices and uses.

Are you being serious? No need to google it. I just thing the voice capabilities of Siri for launching apps and such will certainly be a welcomed addition. I don't have a laptop so to be able to sit back and yell that crap at my HTPC will be nice.

 

[MonkeySee....]

ever since Siri was introduced on the iPhone I thought of the possibilities for it, and I knew that at some point in the future it will be implemented on the mac.

as for how we will actually use it. well, of course we'll have the basic Siri commands we already have. but something interesting would be like,

"siri, gather all my worksheets from last year, organize them alphabetically in a new folder called "sheets" and place it in the desktop with a red tag"

or

"siri, resize all my pictures in folder "summer trip" to a 50% and mail them to all my family"
(of course already having a group list of contacts named 'family' including the members)

things like that will make Siri truly a personal assistant.

"Email "Holiday 2012" event to Uncle Ben as a shared photostream"

oh the possibilities.

 

[Krazy Bill]

Siri is basically the dictation interface you all have now in ML except it doesn't talk back to you. Nobody uses it. (Queue the plethora of rants like, "I used dictation to write my 10th novel!").

In both Dictation and Siri, it actually takes more effort to carefully mouth and enunciate every word so the algorithms understand you. (Your jaw actually hurts after a while). Then you have to scan each letter/word making sure it's correct. Of course before doing all this you need to wait on Apple's Servers to send it back to you first - which can take up to 20 seconds at times.

Siri is still gimmicky crap. And I don't know how you use it on a Mac with no wifi.

 

[Small White Car]

It's unfortunate that OSX is becoming more toy like. I'm sure many others feel the same

Asking a computer to set a calendar appointment is a toy to you...?

I now feel very sorry for your childhood.

 

[PVisitors]

Siri is basically the dictation interface you all have now in ML except it doesn't talk back to you. Nobody uses it. (Queue the plethora of rants like, "I used dictation to write my 10th novel!").

In both Dictation and Siri, it actually takes more effort to carefully mouth and enunciate every word so the algorithms understand you. (Your jaw actually hurts after a while). Then you have to scan each letter/word making sure it's correct. Of course before doing all this you need to wait on Apple's Servers to send it back to you first - which can take up to 20 seconds at times.

Siri is still gimmicky crap. And I don't know how you use it on a Mac with no wifi.

Understands me perfectly. Maybe it's more to do with the fact you speak with a regional dialect and thus don't pronounce words in the way 'Siri' expects you to.

Unfortunately this is going to be the main problem of accessible voice control, when people themselves sometimes struggle to understand dialects and accents, It's fundamentally impossible to have an all perfect voice recognition on a computer. Siri on a Mac would be an interesting concept but even then I'm not sure I would use it.

 

[Macman45]

I think Siri on the Mac is going to change the way we use our Macs overall. The whole voice operation is going to be great, in my opinion.

I agree..At first Siri was little more than a gimmick...Particularly in the UK where it was crippled and could do very few things...Text messages email, and a few other things. That changed in IOS 6.0.1 and it's now a very useful tool indeed. Further integration into OSX seems a logical, and IMO a worthwhile step forward.

 

[nuckinfutz]

It's unfortunate that OSX is becoming more toy like. I'm sure many others feel the same

Yes and they would be just as wrong as you.

Siri is basically the dictation interface you all have now in ML except it doesn't talk back to you. Nobody uses it. (Queue the plethora of rants like, "I used dictation to write my 10th novel!").

In both Dictation and Siri, it actually takes more effort to carefully mouth and enunciate every word so the algorithms understand you. (Your jaw actually hurts after a while). Then you have to scan each letter/word making sure it's correct. Of course before doing all this you need to wait on Apple's Servers to send it back to you first - which can take up to 20 seconds at times.

Siri is still gimmicky crap. And I don't know how you use it on a Mac with no wifi.

No...the dictation interface is modular. Siri could use a Nuance or Vlingo front end if Apple wanted to. Siri takes over after the dictation input and applies the semantic engine which then feeds into a domain system where structured data is access through API (like Yelp, or Wolfram or anyone that has delivered API to their structured data)

Simply calling Siri a dictation feature is tantamount to holding up a placard telling the world you don't have the foggiest clue about which you speak.

I agree..At first Siri was little more than a gimmick...Particularly in the UK where it was crippled and could do very few things...Text messages email, and a few other things. That changed in IOS 6.0.1 and it's now a very useful tool indeed. Further integration into OSX seems a logical, and IMO a worthwhile step forward.

Siri potential is huge but if Siri is going to be out Google it's going to have to absolutely nail the backend. Right now it really only handles of handful of partners but the idea eventually is anyone who has structured data to access. While Fandango is there for movies ideally consumers are going to want multiple service providers or there's no need to use Siri in lieu of just opening up the fandango app.

This means there needs to be a way of denoting a users preference in Siri. I may prefer movietickets.com for booking or AMC theatres vs Regal. Siri needs to be able to "remember" my favorites and from what I hear you can say things like "my favorite author is Horatio Alger" and Siri should remember.

Lots of work needs to be done but Siri is definitely aiming at being more than a mobile tool.

 

[Mr. McMac]

Asking a computer to set a calendar appointment is a toy to you...?

I now feel very sorry for your childhood.

Really now, I had a great childhood. Maybe yours wasn't so good?

 

[Small White Car]

Really now, I had a great childhood. Maybe yours wasn't so good?

If updating calendars is the benchmark for fun then, no, I guess mine wasn't good!

I had no idea.

 

[Mr. McMac]

If updating calendars is the benchmark for fun then, no, I guess mine wasn't good!

I had no idea.

Look pal, no offense at all. We're all are entitled to our own opinions. You're right, and I'm right. Sound fair?

 

[Krazy Bill]

Understands me perfectly. Maybe it's more to do with the fact you speak with a regional dialect and thus don't pronounce words in the way 'Siri' expects you to.

No. The problem with Siri is the devices's inability to filter out realistic background noise like in a car moving at 75mph or just walking down the street.

 

[ThatGreekMacGuy]

Suppose Siri comes as a feature with OS X 10.9; will all of us be able to take advantage of it? I mean, I have the mid 2010 27inch iMac (my specs are in the signature below just if you wonder) and my Mac was excluded from AirPlay Mirroring this year. Most likely same thing will happen with Siri @10.9, unfortunately... =S

 

[nuckinfutz]

Suppose Siri comes as a feature with OS X 10.9; will all of us be able to take advantage of it? I mean, I have the mid 2010 27inch iMac (my specs are in the signature below just if you wonder) and my Mac was excluded from AirPlay Mirroring this year. Most likely same thing will happen with Siri @10.9, unfortunately... =S

All macs earlier than the Sandy Bridge 2011 models don't do airplay mirroring because of the lack of hardware support that Sandy Bridge delivers.

 

[BRyken]

I feel like voice control isn't really going to take off on a serious level for at least a few more years. Right now its just kind of a cool thing that people CAN use if they want. But being able to do serious work by only using your voice is years away.

 

[nuckinfutz]

I feel like voice control isn't really going to take off on a serious level for at least a few more years. Right now its just kind of a cool thing that people CAN use if they want. But being able to do serious work by only using your voice is years away.

Writing is serious work and David Pogue has written the majority of his books with NaturallySpeaking.

There's a lot that can be done with programs like NaturallySpeaking custom tailored macros that can do some interesting things.

 

[BRyken]

Writing is serious work and David Pogue has written the majority of his books with NaturallySpeaking.

YouTube: video

There's a lot that can be done with programs like NaturallySpeaking custom tailored macros that can do some interesting things.

For mainstream applications in everyday use however, I still feel were miles away.