iOS developer Bryan Irace wrote a great piece on Siri. Here’s a snippet:
Most of the criticism that I read about Siri – especially when comparing and contrasting to Alexa or the Google Assistant – seems to focus primarily on speed and/or reliability. While these are perfectly valid vectors of criticism, it’s easy to foresee how Apple could improve on both of these fronts. A more worrisome flaw, to me, is that there is not one Siri after all. There are many.
He’s right, and this is something I’ve been talking about on podcasts in recent weeks. Actually, I extend this argument to all of Apple’s ecosystem. Too many features work on only some of Apple devices. But with the release of HomePod, the fracturing in Siri is in the spotlight.
It’s a very good read, and he makes some excellent points.
So Mr. Irace’s criticism of Siri seems to come down to the issue of “client-side” vs “server-side” functionality. The fragmentation/limitations of Siri are due to it’s “client-side” orientation. While Mr. Irace’s is very critical of this, I think the difference is driven by Apple’s commitment to user privacy. Is there anyone here or really trusts either Google or Amazon NOT to mine the server-side database for user-specific data which they can sell on the open market? I, for one, see Apple’s commitment to privacy a feature, not a limitation. I won’t have either Amazon Echo or Google Home in my my home. I might consider HomePod.