The Future is Now?

I don't have the smartphone that is supposed to be a personal assistant of sorts, Siri, so I could be mistaken about it's capabilities, but I am not impressed all that much. I really don't want to be bombarded with "I found 4 stores near you selling watches" when I ask what time it is or whatever. That it can [evidently] recognize joking is kind of cool. Then again, observing from a distance, it doesn't know what it just said to you, it seems.

I think we are getting a glimpse of what is possible very soon though, with Google. I have started to use Google constantly for rather odd tasks, which I think is revealing. If I don't know how to spell something, and am not in a program that assists, I start typing it into Google. I get the answer even before I finish. If I want to translate a foreign phrase, I just start with "translate:" without even bothering to say 'what language' [this was real handy with re-reading The Gambler by Dostoevsky, which is full of un-translated French.] Many times the auto-fill has the answer I am looking for after I type two letters! [especially if a FAQ evidently]. I just used it to find the name Siri; without this ability I probably wouldnt have started this post, irritated that I didn't have the name critical to the post.

More and more it is like asking a personal assistant a question. How much longer will it be before a smartphone app will be just that? The next version of Siri? The current version of Siri?

This will happen in our lifetime.

some links:

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429316/even-sleeping-smartphones-could-soon-hear-spoken/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siri_%28software%29

Quote: odiousgambit

I think we are getting a glimpse of what is possible very soon though, with Google. I have started to use Google constantly for rather odd tasks, which I think is revealing. If I don't know how to spell something, and am not in a program that assists, I start typing it into Google. I get the answer even before I finish. If I want to translate a foreign phrase, I just start with "translate:" without even bothering to say 'what language' [this was real handy with re-reading The Gambler by Dostoevsky, which is full of un-translated French.] Many times the auto-fill has the answer I am looking for after I type two letters! [especially if a FAQ evidently]. I just used it to find the name Siri; without this ability I probably wouldnt have started this post, irritated that I didn't have the name critical to the post.

Google has gotten really, really good the past 3-4 years or so. I have put in a name of an attorney on a legal record and gotten their firm name popped up instantly, almost always on the first or second result. You have no idea how much easier this makes curing defective real estate titles. This past week I typed in a notarial term and again, I had the answer on one of the first results. I have typed in names from the 1800s and found gravesites and wills. I mean names of people I just found, not famous folks. It is amazing, and looking back to 1997-2000 when you used say InfoSeek and it had to be an exact spelling with an exact phrase, well one cannot believe it.

When I remember 1993 and the first "search engine" where you had to EMAIL your phrase and it took several minutes to get results back and those results were things you had to type in and we thought "this is amazing" I am more amazed!

FWIW, the gravesite website is useful to researchers and cemetary fans would like it. Helps you confirm DOD for people way, way back.

Quote: odiousgambit

I have started to use Google constantly for rather odd tasks, which I think is revealing. If I don't know how to spell something, and am not in a program that assists, I start typing it into Google. I get the answer even before I finish.

If I want to translate a foreign phrase, I just start with "translate:" without even bothering to say 'what language' [this was real handy with re-reading The Gambler by Dostoevsky, which is full of un-translated French.] Many times the auto-fill has the answer I am looking for after I type two letters! [especially if a FAQ evidently].

I've been using Google as a spell checker forever.

You reminded me of the Isaac Asimov short story written 50 years ago where someone figures out how to do simple mathematics by memory or with a pencil and paper. Since no one else can do mathematics without a machine, he is unique in the world.

Now with Google not only do I not have to remember the name of the short story, but I can find a film version.

Quote: AZDuffman

When I remember 1993 and the first "search engine" where you had to EMAIL your phrase and it took several minutes to get results back and those results were things you had to type in and we thought "this is amazing" I am more amazed!

I remember those days. I've always been an info wonk
and I used to make lists and go to the library and bookstore
to look something up if it wasn't in an almanac I had or
the encyclopedia. Now I feel like a totally spoiled rich guy,
whatever I want to know, I just type it in and there it is.
Its like having a servent that will fetch you anything you want.

In every generation, there comes some new technology or invention, or something, that people wonder how they ever lived without.


FedEx is a perfect example.

FedEx was a service created to fill a need that wasn't there. Who needed overnight delivery? Except once the industry was created, suddenly, we absolutely DID need to get it there overnight. So much so, that FedEx now has several competitors.