Peter Rojas Iain Thomson on why Siri is bad, left in the dust by Alexa, Google; Apple bad at AI/ML | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Amazon's Alexa has the potential to become a successful platform for developers, but it needs to focus on incentivizing them to build for the platform and figuring out ways for developers to monetize their skills.

Key Insights

• 😚 Apple's complacency and lack of investment in improving their technology caused them to lose ground to companies like Amazon and Google.
• 🏛️ Building a platform requires not only reach and a great SDK but also support for developers and opportunities for monetization.
• 🤑 Amazon's focus on building Alexa as a platform gives them an advantage over competitors, but they need to incentivize developers and provide ways for them to make money.
• ❤️‍🩹 Siri's poor performance is a result of Apple's failure to improve its back-end architecture and machine learning algorithms.
• 😶‍🌫️ Apple prioritized secondary products like the Smart Watch instead of focusing on areas where they are less capable, like software and cloud services.
• 🏛️ Amazon and Google invested in machine learning and building significant datasets, giving them an advantage in the market.
• 👤 Apple's dedication to user privacy limits their ability to mine data for improving their technology.

Transcript

I think it is not as good of a product I think that Apple became complacent and lost ground and I think that app Amazon and now Google are extremely motivated in this area Amazon particularly remember they tried to introduce a phone the fire phone yeah when that was a huge disaster for them and they did that their own iPad the tablets the tablets a... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: What are the key components required to build a successful platform like Amazon's Alexa?

Building a platform requires having hardware, either created by the company or through partnerships, and support from partners or the ability to produce one's own hardware. Additionally, it is important to have a developer community and an opportunity for them to monetize their products.

Q: How can Amazon incentivize developers to build for Alexa?

In addition to offering a great SDK and reach, Amazon needs to create ways for developers to build viable businesses on top of the platform. This could include incorporating advertising, commerce, subscriptions, and allowing users to pay for skills.

Q: Why does Siri perform poorly compared to Alexa?

Siri's performance is subpar because Apple dropped the ball and failed to invest in improving the back-end architecture and machine learning algorithms. Apple also lacks the training data that companies like Amazon and Google have invested in, partly due to privacy concerns.

Q: What has caused Apple to lose ground in recent years?

Apple became complacent and focused on secondary products like the Smart Watch instead of investing in improving its core products. Other companies, such as Amazon and Google, were more dedicated to advancing technology and dominated in areas such as home automation and cloud services.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Apple became complacent and lost ground in the technology market, while Amazon and Google are motivated to excel in the field.

• Alexa provides Amazon with the opportunity to establish a platform and operating system for developers to build on.

• Amazon needs to encourage developers to build for Alexa and help them find ways to make money off their skills.