Scottish Accents Foil iPhone 4S=?windows-1252?Q?=92_?=Siri | TPM Idea Lab

Victor Steinbok aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM
Wed Oct 26 22:56:37 UTC 2011


Oh, goody!

http://goo.gl/QqsMh

> /The Times/ reports that when asked if it can fetch one of its owners
> a “fish supper,” Siri answered: “I don’t know what you mean, ‘can I
> pick up your professional drum people.’”
> Other comments, such as “Cheers” said in a Scottish accent, was
> interpreted to mean “chairs.”
> /The Times /quotes the Scottish novelist James Robertson accusing
> Apple of “linguistic imperialism.”
>
>     “If the phone doesn’t recognise a simple word like ‘cheers’ it
>     won’t recognise much,” Robertson complained. “People are obliged
>     to moderate their voices to make themselves understood by
>     machines. It has the effect of modulating everyone’s voice toward
>     the most powerful, dominant people in the world.”
>

I have similar problems with voice commands in some cars, but I don't
have a Scottish accent.

     VS-)

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