Survey says: Siri usage is low
Friday, May 4, 2012 at 2:20AM It would seem as if Siri is failing to catch on with the majority of iPhone 4S users, at least according to a new survey by iMore. The numbers are much lower than I was expecting to see, but then again if I am a typical user it makes sense. I haven't touched it in months.
"iMore is an iPhone enthusiast site, so our community is predisposed to adopt new features quickly and use them extensively. Yet Siri usage among the iMore nation remains curiously low. As of today, with over 4000 votes cast, nearly 50% of our readers seldom, if ever, use Siri.
That’s… astonishing. Here’s the full break down:
Almost 5% use Siri often, many times a day.
Over 15% use Siri frequently, on a daily basis.
Roughly 23% use Siri infrequently, at least several times a week
Nearly 50% almost never use Siri, monthly or less.
Just over 7% might use Siri, but it’s not yet available in their native language.
Taken together, only 20% of our iPhone 4S users are using Siri on anything approaching a regular basis. That leaves 80% using it irregularly at best, and 50% barely using it at all."
Reader Comments (4)
I hope the follow up asking why. I wonder how many people would talk to their phone in public or at work. Even at home. The only place I really see the use is in the car, as a hands free assistant. I certainly use voice commands to make calls and play music. I would love the ability to dictate notes as well.
This all assumes that it can recognize my voice and transcribe accurately. A friend of mine tried Siri and quickly gave up because the accuracy was bad. I can understand getting used to one's voice, but there should be an easier way to do it. For example, have a setup section where the user can read back a list of words or a few sentences so that Siri can adjust based on inflections, accents and so on.
Anecdotally, it's the same over here with both siri and google voice actions. I just find I use my phone mostly in discreet settings where talking to your phone would be just as rude as talking to the person next to me. And none of my android friends use google voice actions either. I doubt S-voice will change that.
I used to work for a speech recognition company and when we visited users to find out why some had great recognition and others didn't it basically came down to what Bob and David highlight above. Some people can't speak normally into a microphone when there are other people around. They mumbled and tried to dictate as quietly as possible. Result, crap recognition rates. Nothing we could do except turn up the volume on the mic and ask them to speak clearer.
The numbers are no surprise to me, personally. When I saw the demo, I was impressed, but when I read it would use internet... that's not good. Neither will be with SIII S-Voice. It must be available on the device alone.
If we think about it, Siri was the main feature presented by Apple that stood out in the crowd, but I believe in all honesty that it's failed. The argument is good, but people won't go that way... maybe 25% will, but people won't talk to the phone, it's much more private and natural to "touch" commands.
I personally tried some commands and it failed miserably also. One time I asked for the weather and the iPhone came out playing Beatles very loud. I imagine if I was in some place quiet... nop, Siri is something that needs perfecting.
... and forget about phonetics... I tried every accent I know (British, American, Spanish-English speaking, Italian... ;-)