Skip to main content

Tim Cook probably won’t be retweeting Conan O’Brien’s Siri fail

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW1UDKyxJJ4]

Tim Cook’s may be on Twitter now, but he’s probably not going to be retweeting a poor showing from Siri on the late night program last night.

Screen Shot 2013-09-25 at 7.43.43 AM.

Actress Jane Lynch’s tweeted a recent experience with Siri in which it apparently responded to her request for directions to Le Pain Quotidien with “I have no listing for Let Pam Cookie Ian.” She recounted the story in an interview on Conan, in which two further live Siri attempts also failed.

The first, Lynch’s voice on O’Brien’s phone, wasn’t really a fair test: Siri keeps personalised voice files for each user on its servers. But the second, in which O’Brien used his own phone, resulted in the infamous “I’m really sorry about this, but I can’t take any requests right now” message.

With some iPhone fails, though, you have to look more to the human factor than the phone. Sure, it’s a bit of an oops moment when Apple Maps directs local drivers onto an airport taxiway, but as with many other GPS fails, you’d kind of think drivers might notice that they were crossing a runway – or that an international airport might, you know, make sure the gate was closed or something …

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. PMZanetti - 11 years ago

    Siri’s failure rate on iOS 7 is extreme.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 11 years ago

      I haven’t found it extreme here, but yes, a higher failure rate for some reason

      • Jesse McIntyre - 11 years ago

        Does it have to learn your speech from scratch again?

  2. Seth Perry - 11 years ago

    Apart from sounding better, Siri’s understanding or language isn’t as good as it used to be. Text to speech is the same. I was hands free and wanted to go to store.apple.com and it typed store.apple.calm. I tried to remain calm.

    Also if I haven’t used Siri for several hours and then I try to use it, Siri gives me that same response, “I’m really sorry about this, but I can’t take any requests right now”. But if I immediately try again, it goes through. Not sure whats up.

  3. lagax - 11 years ago

    Well any promotion is good promotion. ;)

  4. Rob Smithson - 11 years ago

    So much for Beta ending.

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


Ben Lovejoy's favorite gear