> ...the central point is that Siri is a search engine that doesn’t just go out onto the Internet and fetch a bunch of links and ads, but actually takes your “query” and executes your intended task. If you don’t see how that paradigm would be disruptive to Google Search, you might be a redneck.

Talk about hyperbole. Google in danger of being killed by Siri? Either the OP has never used Google's voice tools or he has a lot of stock in Apple...how else to explain his inability to contemplate how Google's data strength would make it easy to ape Siri's task specific functionality...I mean, wasn't this well demonstrated during the Maps fiasco?

Did you actually read the whole post?

Google is in no danger. Google Now already has a head start on Siri because it presents things to me before I ask for them. Apple is never going to be able to do that because they don't have the kind of data Google has on their users. Never mind that Apple has a consistent history of failing at projects involving lots of data.

Apple ought to be worried. Every user that switches to using Google Maps/Chrome/Gmail is another user they're losing data on.

Every few months I try to use Siri. And every single time I reach the same conclusion: Unusable and worthless to me. I don't have a weird accent, a lisp or a speech impediment of any kind. Just plain "clean" adult (as opposed to "like" bubblegum teenager) California English. I have never gotten anything useful out of the technology from the day it was introduced.

Just one data point of course. Yet, I'd be willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of iOS users don't use Siri but for the speech recognition version of fart jokes here and there.

This is so exceedingly stupid I can't believe it's honestly posted on TechCrunch. Not that there's a ton of rumor for my opinion of TC to fall further, but they'd do themselves a favor to pull this.

It's so obvious that the author has never used Google Now and/or has no idea what he's talking about in general. Painful; I honestly checked twice to make sure this wasn't a "post from the past" where we were jestfully mocking in hindsight the silly "OMG SIRI IS THE BEST THING EVER" attitude from two years ago.

Honestly I thought that was dead even before Google Now came out and sprinted laps around it...

Actually, I've used Google Now extensively, and think it's really cool.

But I think you're missing the point: Siri has major disruptive potential that isn't being realized at all (by Apple).

Google Now is kinda a half-measure, and if Google wants to really defend itself against disruption (not just from Siri, but from the task-completion engine paradigm) it has to go all out on Google Now.

But then it risks bulldozing the AdWords model.

Serious question: what does Siri do well that Now doesn't, and makes Now a "half measure"?

Siri doesn't do much well (besides set geo-fenced reminders), but the underlying technology enables a much broader set of use cases.

When I say "half-measure" I don't mean that Google Now is worse than Siri. I mean it's not really an all-out assault on the existing model of Google Search. It's more like a complement to it, rather than a disruptor.

A real task-completion engine would be disruptive, and not a half-measure.

>Siri has major disruptive potential that isn't being realized at all (by Apple).

And Google is already doing (or it's obvious they're in progress for) all of those things.

How can anyone who has honestly used both services, in any world in our known Universe, call "Now" a "half-measure" compared to Siri? You could cut off one of its legs and it'd still lap it.

Google is going all out on Now. What are they averaging, 3 new card integrations every 2-3 weeks? EVERYTHING funnels into it. It literally knows where I'm going 90% of the time I get in my car. It alerts me when my packages are delivered. It's far more intelligent and has access to more of my data than Apple will likely ever have for any of their customers.

Here, I'll make it easy: What opportunity does Apple have with Siri that Google doesn't have or hasn't already leveraged with Now?

>But then it risks bulldozing the AdWords model.

Nah. I made a note to myself earlier today aloud "Google, note to self, pick up toilet paper". That was instantly automatically saved in Keep. Now, because Google knows I'm driving home, they can look up a retail partner that is close on my route home and automatically remind, navigate me there and then back home. There are a ton of usage stories like this. What if my partner emails me a "pick this up at the store"? They can add a filter like they're already doing for flights and shipping and they're done, they get that integration and visibility surfaced "free" through Now. There are PLENTY of opportunities for Google because of the data they have access to.

(Cynical hackers forget that advertising works because in some cases it ADDS VALUE for the consumer. That's what Ad Words have always been about. If they're not intelligently targeted, they're useless.)

I don't see any reason that Google Now has to obliviate AdWords. And in fact, funneling data to/through Now gives huge, huge advantages when we already know that Google is work on Glass and Watch.

It sounds like you're angry because you don't feel I'm giving enough credit to Google Now.

But the piece itself wasn't about Google Now; it was about how Apple is screwing up the opportunity to do something really awesome with Siri, for reasons that I don't really understand.

For the record: I think Google Now is really interesting, but it's more like a "pre-emptive search" engine than a "task completion engine." If Google really builds a task-completion engine (and they certainly have the talent to do so), it would change the search paradigm.

But they make tons and tons of money on the existing search paradigm, so they have an innovators' dilemma.

>I think Google Now is really interesting, but it's more like a "pre-emptive search" engine than a "task completion engine."

It's both? Is there some "task" that Siri can do that Now can't? Because it has intuition, it's bad?

>it was about how Apple is screwing up the opportunity to do something really awesome with Siri

And my point is that they have none of the data necessary to do the real smart, amazing things that Now already does and will be able to. Even now, I guarantee (okay, not really, I can't say this as inside fact) that the Bing team isn't giving Apple query data unless it goes through Siri, so they're still never, ever going to have the full picture of their user like Google has.

I guess my point is, why would Siri try to fight Google on this, they have no unique leverage or technical or data advantage, it seems like any money spent trying to compete with Now's intelligence would be foolish unless they're really just going to go full-frontal on all Google services which would be utter insane suicide based on iCloud.

I mean, when you say "task based", what is more task based than a service that automatically notifies you about tasks like flights or shopping lists or package shipping notifications or directions to your destination, all without you never lifting a finger, based purely on your email and search habits (this already exists, today, with Now). That's as "task" driven as I can imagine. Each "card" is basically a task.

A classic example of Apple trying to fix this is a Maps app for Mavericks that has a "send to phone" feature. Something Google had and already retired in favor of Now and that works amazingly well.

If I use Google Maps on my desktop, search for directions, then choose public transportation, that's what goes to Now. If on another day I choose bike directions, that is what goes to Now.

Same goes for open tabs in Chrome, searching for flights and more. You perform the task on your computer and your Android phone, with Google Now, "just knows" what you are/were looking for.

One cool feature that I think came from ITA Software purchase is that, if the flight you looked for is delayed, Now lets you know it's delayed and change your directions to fit the new flight arrival if needed. When I first saw the delayed info on Now I didn't believe it, so I dismissed. Upon arrival on Heathrow, the arrival board was showing the exact same delay as Now. I was blown away.

>You are so missing the point it's hilarious.

I'm happy to provide humor. Cool links, bro. Nice how they all refer to the same old, stale data, but you list them so nicely in a list as if there's some obvious conclusion that is somehow relevant to this discussion.

Siri's a gimmick and everyone knows it. I'm baffled by the attribution of some magic to it that is going to allow people to stop using Google. If anything, those ridiculous links would indicate that Google's not going anywhere, anytime. I want to know how Siri is going to do all of this magical nonsense when Apple hasn't done any of the work to make themselves available to the data necessary to do so. As I've mentioned basically from the beginning. Sigh.

Oh and several of those are "total mobile revenue". We all know people buy through the App Store more.

You seriously think that UI is what is holding Siri back?

Please stop.

I'm glad you liked it!