Siri. You love her or hate her. For many of us, Siri is a novelty at best, and an inconvenience at worst: the annoying voice who starts asking you what you want from your back pocket when you accidentally sit on your iPhone. But for those who love Siri, she can be a lifesaver … literally. Because Siri may have just helped a 2-year-old save her mother’s life.
Liz Neaton of Montrose, Minnesota, has a nervous disorder that causes her to have fainting spells on occasion when she stands up. She’s also the mother of Eve, a smart 2-year-old girl who Liz trained to use Siri to call 911 in case of emergency.
That little act of foresight paid off big time last week, when Neaton had a fainting spell and only her daughter was around to help her. Remembering what her mother had taught her, Eve picked up her iPhone, pushed and held the home button to call up Siri, then used the voice assistant to make an emergency call.
I think scenarios like this show the real use of Siri, and why it’s a fantastic addition to Apple’s line of services. Siri is useful to the rest of us in many different scenarios, sure, but what Siri does is make using an iPhone accessible to everyone, from the elderly to the preverbal. It may not be the perfect user interface, but it is the most intuitive and easy-to-understand one.
