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  • Hey Siri, what time is Westworld on?

  • Here are matches for Westworld.

  • Westworld, Westworld, Beyond Westworld,

  • Westworld on a Budget.

  • Siri has been around for almost seven years,

  • but it still kinda sucks.

  • Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa

  • keep getting updated with cool new features,

  • but Siri feels outdated and stuck in 2013.

  • Here's what went wrong with Siri

  • and what Apple can do to fix some of the problems right now.

  • Siri felt revolutionary when it first came out

  • in 2011 on the iPhone 4S.

  • While it wasn't the first digital assistant ever created,

  • it felt almost magical to be able to talk to your iPhone

  • and have it respond.

  • But the magic didn't last very long.

  • Within a year,

  • Google had a similar answer called Google Now.

  • Google Now tapped into Google's vast knowledge

  • of the internet to get you exactly what you asked for.

  • You could ask things like, "How old is Tom Cruise,"

  • or, "show me cute pictures of corgi puppies,"

  • and you'd get exactly that.

  • Siri started to look pretty dumb by comparison

  • and it never caught up.

  • Now we have three major digital assistants

  • fighting for your attention.

  • There's Apple's Siri, Google's Assistant,

  • and Amazon's Alexa.

  • And Apple could actually look to those rivals

  • for inspiration to fix Siri now.

  • The biggest problem with Siri today

  • is that it doesn't integrate

  • with third-party services very well.

  • There are a few categories it does work with,

  • like messaging or ride-hailing,

  • but for the most part it's a closed-off ecosystem.

  • This turns out to be Alexa's greatest strength.

  • There are thousands of third-party skills

  • and apps that work with Alexa,

  • meaning it's a wide-open ecosystem

  • where anything's possible.

  • You can check your bank balance,

  • you can order a coffee from Starbucks

  • and have it waiting for you when you arrive,

  • and it works with a lot more

  • smart home appliances than Siri does.

  • And it's the same story with Google's Assistant.

  • Think of it like this.

  • How terrible would your iPhone be

  • if you couldn't download any third-party apps

  • from the App Store?

  • That's the state we're in with Siri today.

  • Another huge problem with Siri

  • is that there's so many fragmented versions of the service.

  • Siri on the HomePod is mostly

  • just to ask for songs from Apple Music.

  • It can't even do basic stuff

  • like checking your calendar appointments.

  • Siri on the iPhone is different than Siri on the Mac,

  • and that's different than Siri on the Apple TV

  • and the Apple Watch.

  • Apple has failed to give you one consistent version of Siri,

  • no matter which Apple device you're using.

  • If a digital assistant's going to be successful,

  • it needs to be the same, no matter where you are,

  • in the home, in the car, in the office,

  • and no matter what gadget you're using.

  • This is another area Amazon's Alexa

  • and Google Assistant excel.

  • Today, Siri is a fragmented mess

  • when it should be the same everywhere.

  • Apple should unify it so there's one version

  • across all of its devices.

  • The final major problem with Siri is updates.

  • While Google Assistant and Alexa

  • constantly get better over time,

  • Siri only gets significant updates

  • once a year with new versions of iOS on the iPhone.

  • Apple should really start looking at

  • Amazon and Google's strategy here

  • and update Siri throughout the year

  • as soon as the updates are ready.

  • The bottom line: Siri has a long road ahead of it,

  • and Amazon and Google aren't going to quit.

  • But there are a lotta simple things Apple could do right now

  • that'd make the experience a whole lot better.

  • It's not too late, but Apple needs to act fast.

  • Here are shows available on iTunes.

  • Vanderpump Rules, The Last Ship, Turn, Washing--

  • Shut up.

Hey Siri, what time is Westworld on?

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