Siri: Innovative tech or over-hyped gimmick?

For many people, the day the iPhone 4S came out is one they would rather forget. After so much hype surrounding the iPhone 5, all we got was an iPhone 4 with an extra letter on the end.

Apple claim the 4S offers a bit more than just the letter ‘S’, but not much more in my opinion. Yes, the iPhone 4S comes with lots of great features, but for most people the main feature was something Apple hadn’t done for a long time – disappointment.

Another first for the tech giant came in the form of Siri. If you haven’t heard of Siri, then you’ve either been living under a rock for the past few months, or just instantly switch off as soon as iPhone users start talking about their iPhone like it was carved from a unicorn’s bone marrow.

At first Siri seemed quite impressive. As a life-long non-iPhone user, I felt a slight twang of jealousy towards those who got to play with this voice-recognition software.

With Siri, Apple shows its funny side, giving users humorous answers to slightly odd questions. It even knows a couple of jokes.

But there is only so many times you can ask it “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” before it gets a little old.

So is it just a gimmick, to placate disappointed Apple customers who had been hoping for an iPhone 5? At first, it seemed like this was the case, but tech wiz-kids have started to use Siri in new and exciting ways.

It is worth remembering that Siri is still a very young piece of software, and the possibilities it offers are truly mind-blowing. So far, Siri has been used to control a thermostat, start a car and even play a digital piano.

So while iPhone users may be getting a bit bored with it, for true tech enthusiasts, Siri really could be the start of something quite special.