Great Scot!
For all the lovely technological advances of our era, it still seems that part of the globe is at a disadvantage because of a linguistic barrier.
Take the the most recent example: the fancy schmancy new iPhone.*
Check out the ruckus after the jump.
According to a feature on BBC News the iPhone’s built-in assistant Siri lives up to all the magic in America but not so much for the UK crowd–especially in Scotland where some regional accents are thick enough to momentarily stupefy the smart phone.
iWhat?!
The whole selling point of the new iPhone is that Siri understands what you say and what you mean.
Awk-ward…..
The unforeseen glitch begs the following questions:
- As we integrate more and more technology into our lives, how far will we really go to customize each and every apparatus to every user?
- Have we come to expect each and every apparatus to be flawless customized to us?
- And…what what would you do if you were Scottish in a voice-operated elevator?
I was thinking about how our relationship has evolved with technology and how we have more dependent on technology as it has integrated more seamlessly into our lives. The BBC had a reality show called Electric Dreams where they illustrate this point by having one family live in the 70s, 80s, and 90s with the technology of the day. I thought it was mind-blowing how many of our innovations and necessary gadgets have come about in the past 10 to 20 years. Which makes me wonder how much we’ve giving up to our conveniences and how much more we’re willing to give up.
No word yet on whether the iPhone will adapt to regional dialects in English or any other language.
* I’m sure it’s a real and technical term used in Silicon Valley.
