More Proof That Siri Is Intended to Be A Google Killer. Siri And The iPhone’s Physical Keyboard. The backlash was inevitable. Siri has had a bit of an image problem this past week. Just like all technology propelled by the tailwinds of hype, it hit the inevitable wall of tech punditry. This magically turned the stream of largely positive stories into a river of negative stories under the guise of things like: “the voice of reason” or the “wake up call”. It’s the oldest trick in the book and it never fails to generate massive pageview energy. First of all, the downtime issue is a total red herring. That’s why stories demanding an explanation for Siri’s downtime are comical.
The more interesting angle of the backlash goes after what Siri is and what Siri is not. Yet. Again, see: beta. The key is when Jordan also complains that she can often type faster than Siri can think. Now all of those people seem to happily be using iPhones (or Android phones) without physical keyboards without problems. Everyone is amazed now when they see children interact with the iPad in such a natural way. How to Get a Siri-Like Personal Assistant on Your Android Phone for Free. Why if you miss Siri you’ll miss the future of the Web. Siri is the most useful thing I’ve seen so far this year. But after playing with it, getting an interview with its CEO (video here on building43) it’s even more important for you to pay attention to.
It is the best example of what the web will be. Let’s go back. Web 1994 was the “get me a domain and a page” era. Web 2000 was the “make my page(s) interactive and put people on it” era. Web 2010 is the “get rid of pages and glue APIs and people together” era. Siri is the best example. Why is it so different? Because on the back end they’ve stitched together a sizeable group of APIs from services like Opentable to Flightstats.
Before it was common only for a couple of APIs to be joined together, here they have dozens. That’s the other thing. Why is this really new and important? No, the real secret sauce and huge impact on the future of the web is in the back end of this thing. I just asked Siri “who checked into the Half Moon Bay Ritz?” This is the future of the web.