Does Siri Embarrass You in Public?
Since Siri debuted on the iPhone 4S, voice assistants have become all the rage, with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft all following suit. Apple put Siri on the Apple Watch and the fourth-generation Apple TV, and rumors suggest that Siri may come to the Mac in the next version of OS X. A survey of 500 consumers by research firm Creative Strategies shows that most people have at least tried Siri, with only 2 percent of iPhone users having never used Apple’s digital assistant.
How heavily is Siri actually used, and in what contexts? According to the study, 70 percent of iPhone owners use Siri only infrequently, which is a little sad to hear, but the more interesting statistic to emerge is that many iPhone users are too embarrassed to talk to Siri in public, with a vanishingly small 3 percent of iPhone users saying they do so. This might account in part for why the living-room–based Amazon Echo is doing so well — 39 percent of smartphone consumers say they use voice assistants at home. The primary place people are happy to talk to their technology? 51 percent of respondents used voice assistants in the car, where hands-free control is essential. And where no one can hear you.
Maybe because Siri is so embarrassingly stupid. When it works, it's awesome but when it fails, it's OMG stoopid.
Siri is not stupid nor smart as it's not an intelligence. Siri is a voice call and reponse based system that's often used in the worse possible places imaginable.
Echo on the other paw is limited to being in a house and generally used for simple tasks, I.e. ordering groceries.
Can you imaging how impossible voice recognition must be for other languages - like French? If thinking about that gives you a headache, take 122 tylenol every 6 hours.
I recently discovered that the iPhone's general settings, under Siri, contain a Voice Feedback setting. (No idea which iOS update led to this setting or how long it has been there.) I set Siri to "Hands-Free Only" since there is no way to completely turn her voice off. Now, I can whisper requests to Siri and see (not hear) the response.