In Episode 119, Julie Daniel Davis discusses the concern she has over the quirkiness of voice assistants. With any technology, there is a tipping point in the mind of the user that makes them decide if the benefits outweigh the quirks. Amazon Alexa debut in November 2014, and some of the quirks we see feel like they should have been solved in the 6+ years it has been on the market. If we want users to adopt the device for more than just a novelty, the value add has to be apparent. The usefulness has to outweigh the tech issues and I am not sure we are there for most users. Another topic of this podcast is the major shift Apple has made to help users protect their privacy by making all apps ask for permission to track user's digital activity across other apps and websites. The hope is this solid move by tech giant Apple will cause other tech companies (including voice technologies) to follow suit.
