Andy Rubin, Google’s senior vice president of mobile, doesn’t particularly care for Siri and the idea that the iPhone 4S could be your personal assistant. Rubin says it’s just a little weird for people to be talking to their phone. Those words he’s going to eat.
“I don’t believe your phone should be an assistant,” Rubin Wednesday told an audience at AllThingsD AsiaD conference. “You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone,” he added Although “to some degree it is natural for you to talk to your phone,” Rubin isn’t convinced Siri will be accepted by consumers. “We’ll see how pervasive it gets,” he told Wall Street Journal tech guru Walt Mossberg.
Besides, Siri isn’t “a new notion,” the Android creator noting two other companies considered the idea and presumably rejected putting an assistant in your phone. The real problem Rubin appears to have with Siri is that Apple bought Siri and added it to the iPhone. Then again, it could be that bit of Steve Jobsian snark that Siri displays when asked about other phones: “Wait… there are other phones?”
We think Andy Rubin is going to have to eat these words. They’re hilariously short-sighted, the sort of panicked statement other tech heads tend to throw out when Apple catches them with their pants down. What do you think?
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
105 responses to “Google’s Android Boss Doesn’t Think Siri Is Cool”
After a week of using Siri, I can say that people who make claims like this, either have not used it, or have no way to compete with it. My money is on the later.
I think as a recent (as in June) Mac convert, I had to ask Siri who Andy Rubin even was.
You mean like when Steve said people would never want to read on an e-device?
His statements are riddled with contradictions:
Besides the fact that talking to a phone is in fact quite natural (since it’s a phone), the phone is your assistant with or without voice.
What do you think people use their smartphones for, Andy? They check the weather, they find locations, check recommendations, browse products. The phone is absolutely an assistant. Siri just adds a natural voice-controlled layer on top of the GUI.
No one said that Siri in concept is new. What is new about SIri is the degree to which it can process natural language. The fact that Rubin tries to portray it as an old hat idea is laughable, especially coming from a Google executive (considering Google took an old hat idea – search – and improved and naturalized it).
And finally, the fact that Rubin would be upset that Apple bought and integrated Siri is laughable. Nearly all of Google’s innovations have been through acquisitions, including Android itself.
Laughably short sighted words, indeed.
Actually what he said was to this tune:
“5% of the American public actually reads one book a year.”
Hmm, Sounds familiar .Remember this : http://youtu.be/eywi0h_Y5_U
The negativity coming from Google is pretty disappointing and petty, yes the tech isn’t new but Apple got it and its working better than most. How hard is it to say good for you, thanks for pushing things forward and we’re going to use our energy in a positive way to bring it even further?
My wife never wanted an iPhone. She watched the Siri demo video. She is getting an iPhone 4s. That says it all right there.
They have the ingrained attitude that the phone is technology and the user will naturally see it as and interact with it as a piece of technology. The way Siri works is that it hides the fact that it’s technology. You talk to it like it’s a person.
If you don’t have to think about it, it’s not technology.
Rubin just proved he only understands geeks, not humans.
That is the difference between Apple and other companies. Apple has their vision on the future. “a little weird talking to your phone”? well I’m a true believer in moving forward with technology. And I know that one day either me or at least my kids will walk into the house and control the thermostat, lights, radio, windows, curtains, etc. by giving voice commands to the house.(Ironman style) Like it or not that is the future. That’s why you bearly get original products, all you see is one company with the balls to try something new and when they make it all the others copy. But they always hate before they copy. ;-)
I’m sure this comes as news to the team that develops and maintains the voice-based search products for Android and iOS.
This is one of those times when the best thing to say is “we’ll just wait like everyone else and see how it turns out.” Otherwise, he runs the risk of joining Ballmer’s Let’s-scoff-at-iPhone-then-look-incredibly-stupid-later-on club.
I think he forgot that Google has voice actions on Android phones that require a person to talk to their phone. So is claiming that it’s unnatural to talk to your phone in natural language but it’s OK to talk to it like a robot in structure phrases so Google voice actions app can understand. Moronic!
Between this and Ballmer’s nonsense, I don’t understand what it is about these tech company CEO’s that just seem to love having their feet in their mouths all the time.
“Rubin just proved he only understands geeks, not humans.”
And that’s exactly who Android phones are really designed for–geeks, not humans.
Digital Equipment Corp. founder Ken Olsen’s 1977 quip, “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.” Talk about short sighted thinking. With that kind of thinking we would nowhere technologically. I found this quote on Computer World.
http://bit.ly/n9DKnd
Exactly!!! Well put. It’s actually disappointing Google would behave in such a stereotypical way.
If I was an investor I would be worried about a CEO who can’t see the potential of Siri when it’s being laid out in front of him.
Steve Ballmer II ?
I’m a happy iphone 4 user.. will be excited to use Siri when I buy the iphone 5 (whenever that may be). As much as i understand everyone’s mockery of this guy’s comments on Siri.. I dont think he’s 100% off. To everyone who is glorifying apple as never coming out with ANYTHING that is not thought out/would never be amazing.. let me remind you of Ping. Does anyone actually know what that does/ what it is for? And to everyone saying Siri is the shit, well, like i said, im excited to use it as well.. but know that it wasnt the most thought out feature either before being released. Just ask all the people that speak the hundreds of languages it doesnt cater to. Or, someone that knows very good english, but speaks with an accent. Or, anyone trying to use it for location-type requests who do not live in the US. I think Siri is promising, and one day it may be great. But right now, it’s got a ways to go.
Getting worried… If that’s how top Google Executives thing, I’m selling all my GOOG shares… …
Getting worried… If that’s how top Google Executives think, I’m selling all my GOOG shares… …
I don’t envision the future where everyone is talking to inanimate objects. Controlling everything by voice seems impractical and believe it would become very annoying. But I do agree that using voice commands for some things will be come very routine and common.
Me speaking to my toaster to burn my toast or my refrigerator to turn down a degree, really doesn’t seem to be the next step for these appliances.
But given that talking (in) to a phone is pretty normal, speaking voice commands seems to be a very natural progression for the next step with interfacing with smartphones.
So a nice mix of both will suit me fine. :)
The novelty wears off of these ‘personal assistant’ apps in a couple days usage. Siri will die. Mark my words.
LOL, new?? Android has had voice command forever. Just as with everything else, Apple is late to the party and claims to be hosting it.
these comments look a lot like the comments that were posted when the first ipad was coming out. “Windows already has tablets, this is nothing new!” “when the novelty wears off it will die.” “There is already products like this out there!”
And yet, iPad DOMINATES the tablet market. So much so, that other vendors now copy apple. Siri is just such a product; nothing new, but done the apple way, it becomes, magical.
I do think everyone likes this new type of personal assistant. Its really has done its job and brought it to the next level compared to the average voice recognition phones that are not even close to Siri. Its just honestly what Apple does best… make better ideas come out of average inventions that nobody thinks of toping or thinking of how to improve it before anybody else does. So to say that people will not like it, well time will tell of course, however its amazing useful and easily is more than just talking to a phone, it codes precisely, implements simply what you ask it in a humanlike format. Its fun and new. -David.D
The iPhone has had voice controls for as long as Android has. “Play X track. Call X person.” Android has never had a natural language processing engine. And unless Google acquires a company like Siri, it might never have that capability.
Unfortunately, you’re misunderstanding what makes Siri different than every previous voice command system. Siri is a natural language processing engine. That means it can actually understand human speech, translate that into API calls, and return relevant data. It sounds simple, but that’s fairly profound. You don’t have to adjust your speech to accomodate the device – rather, the device can actually understand you. It’s isn’t a “voice command” system, and that’s precisely why it matters.
Such a degree of human-system interaction has never before been achieved on a consumer basis. If the GUI created a new layer of interaction, and fundamentally changed how people interact with systems and manipulate data, natural voice processing a la Siri is probably the next step.
It matters. Stop being a rampant Google fanboy and acknowledge that this is profound and important. And it doesn’t even matter that Apple was first to the field with it, either. However, the fact that a Google executive is blindly denying the importance of this technology should be concerning – especially to Google’s shareholders.
Even the strongest Fandroids I know are jealous of Siri. It is too early to tell just how important it could become, but lets be clear – any comment like this is major sour grapes. He should know better… then again people like that are still eating major crow over iPad comments (as they chase and chase and chase with no hope of catching up)
Then again this is the company that doesn’t think tablet sized apps are important. Pffff… nice vision, Google… nice vision.
I agree, time to sell any Google shares I have left…. you should too.
Weird to talk to a phone? Isn’t the main purpose of a phone is to talk to other people? So technically isn’t that talking to your phone?
I think your comment sums it up nicely. After this post I, too, am going to ask Siri who the hell Andy (my head is in the sand) Rubin is. Actually I already know I’m just interested in what Siri has to say.
P.s. I noticed my iPad autocorrect knows Siri’ name should be capitalized. Too cool.
The reaction of the two also-ran Andys (Rubin of Google & Lees of Microsoft) was predictable. Had Android or Windows Phone been the first to come up with a real gamechanger like Siri, expect Google or Microsoft & their respective media hacks to proclaim it as a must-have. Andy Rubin was just sourgraping, and at the same time, trying to keep the focus on the latest version of the copycat iOS.
And no, Siri cannot be compared to Ping (which wouldn’t have flopped had Facebook not killed it). As any iPhone 4S owner would tell you, Apple’s servers get clogged up because of the sheer volume of Siri chats. Fact is, Siri is a hit – and before the iPhone 4S unit even reached the consumer!
And no, a company like Apple which is becoming increasingly dependent on the Chinese market for its long-term profitability cannot come up with a product that discriminates against individuals who don’t speak English with a native American accent. One just has to enunciate & follow the official pronunciation of a word. I expect Siri to support additional languages, including Mandarin & Cantonese, sometime next year.
While it is primarily targeted at iPhone 3GS owners, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a sizable number of upgraders from the iPhone 4 (not to mention switchers from competitive OS) because of Siri & the improved camera (which has received favorable comparison with really good stand-alone prosumer brands).
Just letting you know, there will never be an iPhone 5. That would suggest that it is a 5th gen phone & the next generation would be 6. FYI
As for Siri, I have the 4S & I think it is cool but I don’t like the idea of my personal business being sent to Apple. The big brother crap like this & tracking before 4.3.3 bothers me. Plus, I have been getting “Can’t get on the network” messages when I just want a song played. Lame.
I will get all excited when all Siri data is crunched on the phone. That would be powerful stuff.
He is just jelous the fact that it has patent and cannot be copied it will takenthem 3-5 years to deliberately copy it at the same time invest much on the servers to support SIRI like personal assisstant. So they tried to put in face recognition which is being used in laptop which is not a big hit in laptop.
I have an iPhone4s, and to be honest, since I’m un the UK felt a bit disappointed with the thing only aimed at the USA market for the time being…. but time will change that…. I felt that Siri was just a gimmick, yet only the other day I had parked up the car, threw 50p in the meter, checked the time on it and then….. usually I have to click up the alarm option on my phone, click the time, etc….. but this time, (and it felt natural) I clicked the home button, said “set an alarm for 15:30” and had it done in 5 seconds and I wandered off into my client!
Like all technology that is new, it’s only when you have a NEED for it, not just what you are bing SOLD that you then begin to really appreciate it.
Each to their own, but everyone I have demonstrated Siri to has been absolutely stunned!
Yes, because typing into your VOICE-BASED COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE is much more natural.
I used to think like that when I was your age.
Totally agree. I have a 4s and I need
To remember to use Siri. When I do I’m amazed.
Every few years major CEO’s insert foot in mouth. Until now Michael Dell held the title of the dumbest comment ever about Apple selling its stock and giving the money back to its shareholders. Recently, the Netflix guy was in line for the new title until Rubin stepped in with “You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone,”. He wins, hands down. Nobody else even come close.
What is “wierd” is how Google, a company that prides itself on technical innovations does not like Siri.
The reality is is that Siri circumvents Google’s web based banner ads which is the only revenue stream for Google. That is why they do not like it. At the moment most of Googles mobile ad money comes from iOS devices as many Android users don’t use their phone for anything other than phone calls and texting. If iOS based ad revenue dries up then Google profits will diminish.
Ummm… Phones shouldnt be a personal assistant??? Isnt a smart phone an evolution of the PDA Personal Digital Assistant!!!??? I’m typig this on an iPhone 4S and i like siri alot everyone i show is amazed by it
Having an opinion doesn’t mean you’re sour. I for one agree with him. I think I would prefer a more streamlined optimized touchscreen than a voice assistant.
Because I use my phone around people. And don’t want to look like a douche every-time I try and do something.
And as for the people that say it would take Google 4 years to copy it? LOL – Just lol. In 8 hours at a programming comp the other day IRIS (siri backwards) was born. Quite the long shot from 3 years…
Lol the classic”my dog did not bite you””I dont have a dog” – and even if i did it did not bite you”Im Allergic to dogs – so its impossible for me to have had a dog at that time””You shouldn’t be communicating with the phone””We don’t like the feature its strange””besides, Siri isn’t “a new notion,””we already have this but did not use it”
Lol, thanks for explaining it to him Jeff, hate is one of the subtle indicatiors of jealousy
Absolutely! That’s all Google cares about… They’re losing control of their ad revenue and they don’t like it. What idiots… Haha!
You won’t tell your toaster to toast your bread because the house is not going to put the bread in the slots. But I believe you will be able to tell your oven to “pre heat at 400” and that your house will notify you stuff like,
“the dryer is finish, do you want me to stop it or should i continue to prevent wrinkles?”
It will be annoying now that the technology is just a few years old. But we will be there in (30 years or so) i.e. Tony Stark(ironman) does not get annoyed by his house, he gets helped by it.
Google is the new Microsoft, this guy sound like the new Balmer…
No problem.
“Tape the football game.”
Technology validated.
He’s either being coy or he’s legitimately short sighted. I believe it’s the latter – which is as surprising as it is disappointing.
Is anyone feeling uncomfortable that all this talking is just more data on the Apple servers? I think I can keep on dialing my own numbers for now; I’m really not so busy that I need an assistant on my phone. I’m glad if Siri is working for you!
Meh, google dropped the ball. Bottom line is the server siri uses is wulfram not apple so thats an empty debate. The siri program itself is small and if you dont like it apple did make an off option for it. I find it useful and it does detour texting and driving.
The brilliant geeks at Google have been bitter for years over their frustrating inability to predict “cool” like Apple has. Remember when Eric Schmidt said “competitors are responding with lawsuits as they cannot respond through innovations”? Ironic since they rewrote Android to copy iPhone’s touchscreen gestures.
The truth is that those geeks at Google innovate a lot… really cool but haphazardly, releasing all kinds of experimental rough around the edges stuff. Apple innovates less quantitatively (rather, releases innovations less) but focused in the right directions and with absolute polish.