Not quite sure what to make of this. At almost 4 minutes long, it’s too long for a commercial, though it could easily be cut into reusable snippets. Could this be the beginning of a long-term deal between Apple and Dwayne Johnson (formerly known as The Rock)?
And what about the voice of Siri itself? In the commercial, it’s the voice we all know and love, that of Susan Bennett. But in iOS 11, Apple is shifting to a synthesized voice, a voice that, to me, bears no resemblance to the Siri we’ve all grown to know and love.
Is this new investment in Susan’s Siri voicing a sign that Susan Bennett will have a home in iOS 11?
No matter, take a few minutes and watch The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, take Siri through his day. Boring, this is not.
UPDATE: Just installed iOS 11 beta 4 and the old Siri voice is back, no settings changes on my part. So could the synthesized Siri voice be an experiment, one that was rolled back? Or is this new version a better synthesis of Susan Bennett’s Siri? Either way, it’s good to have you back, Siri.
Love the moment when he lands in the movie set and you hear the famous Wilhelm scream in the background that’s been in movies, games, and everywhere else since 1951.
My Lyft driver last week would totally kick The Rock driving to the airport. Waze said 28 mins with the traffic, he did it in 12.
Dave, thank you! I’ve bitched about the change in voice for Siri on Apple’s dev forums since iOS 11 dropped, and no one else seems to care. They give a wholehearted “meh.”
After what, 5 or 6 years of Siri, I admit there is some emotional attachment to that voice. Now it sounds nothing like her and isn’t much more natural to my ears. I think it’s messing with the brand, as now Siri could be just any other voice assistant.
Meh, wholeheartedly. I like the improved voice. It’s… how should I put this? An improvement. 😉
Yeah well, if you and all the others on the Apple forums are any indication, Dave and I are solidly in the minority. That doesn’t mean we’re wrong though! 🙂
As Wayne once famously said to Alice Cooper, I was not aware of that.
I mean… it’s new, it’s big it’s different. But to me it doesn’t really scream quirky but also classy tech company like their ads used to, it doesn’t scream hip music company … it screams, “We like celebrities now that Steve isn’t here to tell us no.”
Show don’t tell.
A+.
Everything’s subjective. The pre-’11 female Siri voice makes my skin crawl. I change it on every new device.
There used to be a great clips video for a funny hiphop tune called “That Calls for a Wilhelm Scream,” but I think the original’s been taken down.
This is cute and well made, but it feels right on the border between glorifying celebrity hubris and ridiculing it.
It’s just preference. There’s probably no right or wrong. But the new Siri is capable of nuance. The old Siri was largely incapable of nuance. What’s the appeal of the old Siri over the new? Siri is just another voice assistant, TBH. It’s the reality of an increasingly sophisticated market. Do you want the old Siri, simply to hold on to the memories of the old days, when she was all that was going? Tech evolves or it goes extinct.
To what?