A Little Late to the Party

When Siri was first released in 2011, I immediately wanted to make use of this voice recognition technology to make my life easier. I liked keeping myself up to date and fancied being more savvy than most of my Gen X circle of family and friends. After going through setup, I thought it would be a breeze but I did not count on one major thing. Siri started saying things like, “I don't understand what you said.”or “Uh Oh. We have a problem.” or “Sorry; I didn't get that.” I could not get why Siri never seemed to work until one day my son mimicked a word I said. He laughingly said,"Mom, you sometimes have such a thick accent." I was affronted. I could not possibly have one. I am a Theresian and my mother taught English for over two decades. However, it is also true that I once lived in Hongkong and picked up what I thought was a reasonable facsimile to a British accent. In my defense, I was quickly disabused of the idea and dropped that affectation almost immediately. The bottom line is that it appears I speak with an accent that Siri finds difficult to understand. I turned her off and for years I was perfectly happy with typing in what I needed on my smart phone. 

Technology caught up with me a couple of months ago. My car came installed with Apple Airplay because it is illegal to drive and use a mobile phone without a hands-free device.   

I thought this time would be different so I resurrected Siri. My first passenger happened to be a very good friend in her seventies, so I thought I she would be suitably impressed by a demonstration. She oohed and aahed over the features of my new car until I said "Hey Siri!" The last thing Siri heard from me was "Bite me!" 

Over Christmas, I got inundated by commercials showing how I could use the Echo Dot to order things automatically on Amazon or Google Home to help me through a recipe while my hands were covered in flour. Last night, I caved in and bought a Google Home Mini. Baby steps.

I was a little hesitant but I figured that I could always use it just to play music. I had no problem with downloading the Google Home and Google Assistant apps and configuring my devices. The real test came when I opened my mouth to say "Hey Google, what's the weather like?" Eureka! I got emboldened and asked another question, and then another. I got it to play my show on Netflix and my station on Pandora. Best of all, we now have conversations that goes like this:

"Hey Google, can I boil raw peanuts in a slow cooker?" Apparently I can. She found me a recipe and walked me through it.
"Hey Google, can I eat raw peanuts?" The answer is you can at your own risk or something to that effect. 

My early success got me rethinking my relationship with Siri. Maybe it is me and not her. I held my iPhone in my hand and said "Hey Siri, compose a text message." She said, "Who do you want to send it to?" I think I am going to have a lot of meaningful conversations with her in the future :)