Siri, My New Best Friend

Siri, in my opinion, is by far the best feature on the iPhone 4S.  She is a lot of fun (and she’s sassy) but also extremely helpful and productive.  As for sassy, ask her to marry you, or to tell you a story (if you keep asking, she will eventually tell you her life story) or who is on first. As for productive, let me give you an example. I was driving home from work the other day and wanted to know if a certain product was back in stock at Target.  Since my car is equipped with Bluetooth, I simply pressed and held the home button, my radio automatically muted, and then I heard Siri’s distinctive ding. In a normal voice, I responded: “Call the closest Target.”  Siri told me that she was checking my current location and within a few seconds, Siri produced a list of Targets with the closest one first on the list.  I touched the first one and a few seconds later, I was talking to Target and being told that it will be another week before the product I want was back in stock.  After ending the call, I pressed and held the home button again and told Siri to set a reminder for November 16 to “call Target.” Siri scheduled my reminder on the calendar.  It really is that simple and easy.

Let me give you another example.

Finding a restaurant and getting directions…

The other night, my family wanted to eat out for dinner.  As usual, no one wanted to pick a place.  Finally, one of my children sputtered out German.  I picked up my iPhone and told Siri that “I was in the mood for German food.”  Siri determined my location and told me that there were seven German restaurants nearby.  I picked one, and up pops Google Maps giving me directions to the restaurant.

Inviting friends…

While en route, I asked Siri to call the restaurant and we were able to put our name on the list for call-ahead seating.  Knowing that it was going to be about a 15 minute wait, my wife suggest that it would be fun if Dave and his family could join us for dinner. Not sure where Dave was at that moment, I simply asked Siri, “Where is Dave?” Siri used Find My Friends and found Dave.  Seeing that he was not too far away, I touch his number (which is listed in Find My Friends) and within a few seconds, Dave and his family were on their way to meet us at the restaurant.

What is…

After a short wait, we were seated and talking about what we were going to order.  Since I don’t eat German food very often and was unsure what a couple of dishes were, I asked Siri.  Within a few seconds, Siri was describing the dishes.  I will admit that this search was a little more difficult.  I quickly discovered that instead of saying “What is…” which usually resulted in locating a restaurant, I learned to say “Define…” which resulted in an explanation of the dish. If Siri is unable to define it, users are directed to a web search which defines the dish and displays photos of the said dish.

Sales tax and tip…

Do I really need to explain this one? Actually, yes I do because it is really cool.  You simply ask Siri, “How much is $29.36 plus Steamboat Springs sales tax?” From Wolfram Alpha, Siri shows you the calculations.  And, if you want to split the ticket, ask Siri, “What is 20% tip on $93.46 for four people?” Not only do you get a Wolfram Alpha response for 20%, but Siri also shows you the calculations for 10%, 15%, and 25%.

Hungry for dessert but want to go to a different place?

Yep, you guessed it.  Ask Siri.

I will admit it: I am enamored with Siri. Yes, I will also admit that Siri does have some flaws – not understanding certain commands, sometimes not answering the question asked, and outages. But her biggest flaw is her unwillingness to marry me.  Seriously, I have only scratched the surface of Siri’s capabilities.  It truly is an amazing and super productive feature on the iPhone 4S.  Ever since I was a kid and saw my first episode of Star Trek, I dreamed of future technology like Siri.  Siri is such a giant step in artificial intelligence– but, it is only the beginning.  I can’t wait until the next generation of artificial intelligence. Maybe I will be able to have a complete, intelligent conversation with my phone.