Page 182 - The Apple Experience

and its improved features: graphics, gaming, photographs, and video. “It’s the
most amazing iPhone yet,” Schiller said. “But I haven’t told you the best
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feature.” And with that Schiller introduced Siri with this Twitter-friendly

headline: “Siri is your intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just

by asking.”

Apple’s senior vice president of iPhone software, Scott Forstall, then took

the stage to demonstrate Siri. He began by asking it simple questions such as,

“What is the weather like today?” Siri responded by saying, “Here is the
forecast for today.” Then came the wow moment. Forstall wanted to

demonstrate that Siri understands words and context, the meaning behind

the words. “Do I need a raincoat today?” Forstall asked Siri. “It sure looks

like rain today,” Siri responded.

Forstall continued to demonstrate context by asking Siri to find a Greek

restaurant in Palo Alto. Siri returned this response: “I found fourteen Greek

restaurants. Five of them are in Palo Alto. I’ve sorted them by rating.”
Forstall concluded the demo with this question: “Who are you?” Siri

responded, “I am a humble personal assistant.” The audience laughed and

cheered. The mental Post-it had been stuck on their brains.

Apple sales professionals demonstrating the Siri technology encourage

customers to challenge the personal assistant with questions. Some of the

most common questions include “What is the weather like today?” or

“Where can I hide a dead body? (Siri offers a flip response to the effect that

it’s illegal to do that and then points you to the nearest cemetery.) But in

many cases customers are challenging Siri with far more involved questions
such as “What is the meaning of life?” Apple employees encourage customers

to stump Siri. It becomes a game where everyone—employees and

customers—is having great fun. Customers get a laugh when a Specialist will