Quote :

"Surprisingly, the internet contains a lot of information and a lot of opinions. One can essentially look for just about anything to support their theory and find some internet site to post as "other people's opinions" Quit hiding behind the internet. Grow some damn balls."

Solinari, you are SO wrong on this one.

a) this is not an editorial or opinion article, nor a blog. it is a SURVEY of 50,000 people.
b) this is not from the internet, but a MAGAZINE!!! zing! that's gotta hurt.

From macworld, certainly other iPhone users don't experience issues right? (sarcasm)

http://www.macworld.com/article/144659/2009/12/att_satisfaction.html

Quote :

"Brace yourselves, I have some bad news. The reports are in, and well, it doesn’t look good for you, AT&T. Seems while consumers are flocking to your service, they’re not exactly thrilled about it. ... What don’t people like about AT&T? Try pretty much everything. The company got below average marks on everything except Web access and texting, and scored particularly poorly on voice connectivity—I SAID VOICE CONNECTIVITY. Still, the company continues to pick up subscribers, driven by—shock!—customers looking for *ahem* particular handsets. The iPhone, which nabbed the top-rated cell phone spot, boasted immensely satisified owners, with 98 percent saying they would buy the phone again, despite AT&T’s poor service. ... For iPhone users, these numbers aren’t exactly a jumping-out-of-a-cake surprise party. Complaints about AT&T have been seemingly non-stop, from delays in the addition of MMS and the still-MIA tethering to poor service and dropped calls. Our colleagues at PC World engaged in a little bit of 3G-testing themselves earlier this year, and they too found AT&T’s service unreliable in a great many places. "

2/1/2010 6:38:41 PM

I'll re post this. Wanted to mention the hand writing recognition.

Quote :

"back on track: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/02/ipad-sdk-holds-hints-of-video-calls-handwriting-keyboard.ars showing some more promise... although none of this was presented in January."

I can't imagine handwriting recognition being more efficient or faster than the touch keyboard. Does anyone think they can hand write faster than type?

Quote :

"i'll answer your troll with other people's opinion's again."

for the record i completely agree with Prospero. AT&T has a lot of work to do and a lot of people have shitty AT&T service. I was simply stating that I'm one of the lucky ones that is happy with AT&T service and for me it's better than Verizon. The biggest reason being I pay half what I would pay on Verizon because I stayed on a family plan.

with one exception on new years eve at&t went to hell:

2/1/2010 6:47:21 PM

Quote :

"I can't imagine handwriting recognition being more efficient or faster than the touch keyboard. Does anyone think they can hand write faster than type? "

i think maybe the medical industry.

they are not good typers, they typically dictate and let other people do the translation.

[Edited on February 1, 2010 at 6:50 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2010 6:50:04 PM

I'm sure that the surge in AT&T's customer base is due entirely to their alleged crappy service.

I've had only positive experiences with AT&T... Is it bad in NYC? Maybe, so what.

2/1/2010 7:01:11 PM

we've covered this. the "surge" is due to the iPhone, not the service.

i'd consider yourself lucky if you don't have issues where you live. let's move on.

[Edited on February 1, 2010 at 7:06 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2010 7:05:32 PM

It is a huge mistake to discount the actual interface device when evaluating a user's experience. The iPhone is exclusive to AT&T and therefore can and must be included in an evaluation of one's satisfaction with AT&T, particularly if you are going to claim that the surge in AT&T's customers is attributable to the iPhone.

2/1/2010 7:11:38 PM

Prospero, you are SO wrong.

2/1/2010 7:19:40 PM

Listen, AT&T has network issues. They do. Fact.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100128/ap_on_hi_te/us_earns_at_t

Quote :

"AT&T says it will invest heavily in network fixes By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Jan 28, 12:29 pm ET NEW YORK – Stung by complaints about dropped calls and slow wireless downloads, AT&T Inc. is going to spend an additional $2 billion to improve its network this year. The country's largest telecommunications company has faced an aggressive ad campaign from Verizon Wireless that attacks the quality and range of AT&T's network. On Thursday, AT&T executives spent an unprecedented amount of time on their fourth-quarter earnings conference call to defend the wireless network and detail how they plan to make it better. They acknowledged that wireless traffic, particularly from the iPhone, means that performance in San Francisco and Manhattan are below AT&T's targets."

With that said, can we stop arguing about the poor AT&T (but improving!) service now, please? This is the Apple Tablet thread.

2/1/2010 7:25:05 PM

Ok I like how you post an article substantiating your point, then call for the discussion to end.

2/1/2010 7:48:07 PM

^point with facts >>> point with no facts

^^^^i do not discount the actual experience, it's clear the carrier's service is only one aspect of that experience.... if it was the ONLY aspect you'd see people leave AT&T.

fact, iPhone has 98% satisfaction rating
fact, AT&T has the worst service satisfaction rating out of all the carriers

when it's only 1 aspect out of hundreds that 'make' an experience, the fact is the two differences can coexist, one is a rating of the device itself and one is a rating of the carrier's service.

i can't tell if you're really this bad at logic or this bad at trolling.

[Edited on February 1, 2010 at 8:03 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2010 7:59:34 PM

haha you guys see the cover of the latest economist?

2/1/2010 8:02:04 PM

Quote :

"I can't imagine handwriting recognition being more efficient or faster than the touch keyboard. Does anyone think they can hand write faster than type? "

Especially for something with only a thousand sensors and no stylus.

I can’t see how writing on an iPad will come close to typing.

2/1/2010 11:29:48 PM

Google and Microsoft are close to having voice recognition down to a science. Try the voice search on Google or Bing app on iPhone. I think a this will be the a good way to mitigate the need for keyboard. It doesn't totally replace the keyboard but it would help.

20th Century - Keyboard - Mouse

21st Century - Voice recognition - Touch screen

2/2/2010 12:08:51 AM

^ voice recognition will never be the primary interface, or even secondary, to a PC.

It’s too awkward to talk to your computer, and too disturbing to people around you.

And my experience with the Bing search is that it only works well if there is little ambient noise.

2/2/2010 12:11:07 AM

Quote :

"It’s too awkward to talk to your computer, and too disturbing to people around you."

It seems to work in Star Trek.

2/2/2010 12:12:07 AM

Society will have to go through a paradigm shift before talking to computers seems normal . No one does it on a daily basis now, but if slowly overtime more people start talking to their computers it will become excepted and not looked upon as crazy.

The Google and Bing iPhone apps are a great way to introduce people to voice recognition, it doesn't seem weird at all to talk to your phone, it looks like your making a call when you speak your search query. Overtime this will become more standard practice.

I think one of the neat features of the Nexus One is that every text field can be entered using voice recognition. Its not standard practice now, but I can see it being very useful if you need to enter more than a couple sentences.

2/2/2010 12:20:52 AM

Quote :

"Society will have to go through a paradigm shift before talking to computers seems normal . No one does it on a daily basis now, but if slowly overtime more people start talking to their computers it will become excepted and not looked upon as crazy. The Google and Bing iPhone apps are a great way to introduce people to voice recognition, it doesn't seem weird at all to talk to your phone, it looks like your making a call when you speak your search query. Overtime this will become more standard practice. I think one of the neat features of the Nexus One is that every text field can be entered using voice recognition. Its not standard practice now, but I can see it being very useful if you need to enter more than a couple sentences."

None of this is new. My old ass Sony Ericsson phone had voice recognition and voice dialing. I didn't use it. My iPhone has all that too, I still don't use it. The fact that two search engines have it is no more compelling to use than what already exists. Unless you're blind then I take it all back.

Also, it doesn't look like you're making a call, don't know where you're getting that from.

Voice recognition is only handy when you have to be hands free and can't look at the screen...(driving) but if thats the case are you really going to be googling?

Its really nothing more than something to play with and impress your friends. (that live under a rock)

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 12:50 AM. Reason : .]

2/2/2010 12:49:46 AM

I like to use my voice recognition to say things that sound like something else, can be pretty amusing.

Telling my iPhone "I LOVE YOU" dials "Xxxx LaBeau".

2/2/2010 1:10:02 AM

2/2/2010 1:15:53 AM

Quote :

" Voice recognition is only handy when you have to be hands free and can't look at the screen...(driving) but if thats the case are you really going to be googling?"

I use voice recognition a lot on my iPhone. I use it to call contacts while I'm driving. I use it to look stuff up via google like restaurants phone numbers, random questions I need answered, etc.

For instance, while shopping for a new camera this holiday season, I was in the store browsing through the available options. When I saw what seemed to be a good deal I spoke the make and model to google to find reviews. MUCH faster than typing all that out and 8 or 9 times out of 10 it works. And if it doesn't its as simple as re-speaking, instead of re-typing the entire thing or using the less than stellar text editing the iphone has.

Just because you don't use a feature don't assume others feel the same way. These companies aren't investing all this time and money into a silly gimmick. People use it.

2/2/2010 8:09:51 AM

Quote :

"For instance, while shopping for a new camera this holiday season, I was in the store browsing through the available options. When I saw what seemed to be a good deal I spoke the make and model to google to find reviews. MUCH faster than typing all that out and 8 or 9 times out of 10 it works. And if it doesn't its as simple as re-speaking, instead of re-typing the entire thing or using the less than stellar text editing the iphone has."

i scan the barcode w/ that red laser app and let it look around. it's even faster.

2/2/2010 9:47:04 AM

^^not as many people as you think use it. Thats my point. Its been around for a long time and is no where near main stream.

2/2/2010 9:51:29 AM

It's a touch-screen keyboard on a 9" (diagonal) screen - or is it 10"? Anyways, keyboards on 10" netbooks are already a pain to type on. Add the fact that you typing on a totally flat surface with no feedback and I imagine typing on the iPad will be worse than iPhone texting. If you wanted to send any real emails or create text documents, then you'd have to use the keyboard accessory.

2/2/2010 9:55:33 AM

im going to buy an ipad just to play with it

fuck all this discourse....it's $500.

2/2/2010 10:15:13 AM

I have NEVER used the voice to text app.... I can't even use it when I'm alone... It's just weird

2/2/2010 10:33:09 AM

Quote :

"It's a touch-screen keyboard on a 9" (diagonal) screen - or is it 10"? Anyways, keyboards on 10" netbooks are already a pain to type on. Add the fact that you typing on a totally flat surface with no feedback and I imagine typing on the iPad will be worse than iPhone texting. If you wanted to send any real emails or create text documents, then you'd have to use the keyboard accessory."

they say the keys are almost the same size as a macbook's keyboard...so we'll see. But I have no problems using the touchscreen keyboard on the iphone so I imagine I'll have an even easier time with the iPad.

2/2/2010 10:40:52 AM

the layout of the punctuation and stuff is weird

2/2/2010 10:48:09 AM

i hate it when Apple pulls this crap. they could have had a lot of these features but chose to "hold" them for future revisions....

iPad Hardware Reveals Potential Slot for Camera
http://mashable.com/2010/02/01/ipad-camera/



[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 11:01 AM. Reason : ,]

2/2/2010 11:01:21 AM

Surprised? Since when has apple released a full featured device?

2/2/2010 11:06:01 AM

um, never? but it's stunts like this that keep me from buying anything 1G/2G from Apple.

2/2/2010 11:17:58 AM

lol stunts.

2/2/2010 11:20:58 AM

Quote :

"STUNTS LIKE THIS"

2/2/2010 12:12:35 PM

ICY HOT STUNTAZ

2/2/2010 12:46:10 PM

Quote :

"^^not as many people as you think use it. Thats my point. Its been around for a long time and is no where near main stream."

How do you qualify that statement? How many do I think? Enough for these big companies to continue manufacturing it and pouring $ into improving it? I would say so.

I mean where are you getting your opinion from that noone uses it?

2/2/2010 12:59:28 PM

Where are you getting your opinion from? The fact that YOU use it?

2/2/2010 1:24:04 PM

Many of your statements are purely definitive based on whether YOU use something or not ... example:

Quote :

"Voice recognition is only handy when you have to be hands free and can't look at the screen...(driving) but if thats the case are you really going to be googling? Its really nothing more than something to play with and impress your friends. (that live under a rock)"

... which is flawed logic. If even one person (Lokken, for instance) uses voice recognition and finds it useful or "handy", then your statement is immediately negated.

Or maybe you're just trolling, as comments like ^that seem to suggest.

2/2/2010 1:41:13 PM

Quote :

"Where are you getting your opinion from? The fact that YOU use it?"

And the FACT that the technology continues to be made available and researched and improved upon.

Care to answer my question?

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 1:43 PM. Reason : english is 4 losers]

2/2/2010 1:42:10 PM

I don't think it's taken off as the accuracy has been a crapshoot in the past. Google's speech to text engine that they use for android is amazingly good and it's processed on their servers. With the quality improving, ease of use and new laws, I suspect a lot of people to start migrating to it.

2/2/2010 1:54:38 PM

Quote :

"... which is flawed logic. If even one person (Lokken, for instance) uses voice recognition and finds it useful or "handy", then your statement is immediately negated. Or maybe you're just trolling, as comments like ^that seem to suggest."

except its not flawed logic. Like i said, areas where it could be needed and benefited from is in hands-free situations like driving.

As its already been said before, people just aren't used to talking to their devices, its not effective enough to use on daily tasks and its not used by the masses. I'm sure we've all played around with it for fun and just to see what all the talk is about but thats really where it stops because they've yet to make it useful enough that you can't live without it.

Give me one valid reason why I should use search by voice vs. search by typing other than 'cool factor'? Do I really want everyone around me to know what I'm searching for? Do I really want to have to repeat myself multiple times? I'm going to have to read whats on the screen anyway.

Just take a look around you, how many people do you see talking to their devices when there isn't someone or something (phone systems) on the other end talking back?

The whole reason why you have it is because companies have invested in it and continue to do so to get it to a point where people might start using it on a daily bases. But really a company can't quantify their return on investment based on if you use a feature of your device or not until they can actually start showing that they have sold X devices or software because it has voice recognition.

And like i said before, this is nothing new. In-car navigation has had voice recognition for over a decade at least.

Quote :

"And the FACT that the technology continues to be made available and researched and improved upon. Care to answer my question?"

Just because its being researched and improved doesn't mean its being used by the masses right now. The whole point is to get it to the point that people will want to actually start using it which won't happen without dumping money into research. Its not so difficult to imagine. Damn son, you would think I insulted your mother or something.

To go back to what I originally said that seemed to offend you.

Quote :

"^^not as many people as you think use it. Thats my point. Its been around for a long time and is no where near main stream."

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 2:32 PM. Reason : asdf]

2/2/2010 2:23:44 PM

ha. you'd try to argue with a damn brick wall.

2/2/2010 2:48:06 PM

Quote :

"Just because its being researched and improved doesn't mean its being used by the masses right now. The whole point is to get it to the point that people will want to actually start using it which won't happen without dumping money into research. Its not so difficult to imagine. Damn son, you would think I insulted your mother or something. To go back to what I originally said that seemed to offend you."

I don't know where you are getting that you offended me, I just asked for you to point out where you got information to come to this opinion:

Quote :

"^^not as many people as you think use it. Thats my point. Its been around for a long time and is no where near main stream."

Which you have yet to answer in all your paragraphs. Noone asked why you don't use it, nor does anyone care. I just wanted to know why you formed that opinion. It seems that you formed it simply because you don't personally like using it.

Also, note that I didnt claim it was a main stream feature. I just said people use it. My evidence being that companies still build and improve on it. Maybe at some point it will be main-stream. I just want a qualifier on 'not as many people as you think'.

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 3:05 PM. Reason : *]

2/2/2010 2:55:37 PM

*insert pic about arguing on the interwebs*

also

Quote :

"Just take a look around you, how many people do you see talking to their devices when there isn't someone or something (phone systems) on the other end talking back?"

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 3:04 PM. Reason : this is ridiculous, 6 attempts to post. stupid OH Sh!t errors.]

2/2/2010 3:03:50 PM

'I dont see people using it' is not a valid reason.

What are the chances that you are going to happen to see someone who actively uses this feature, using it? This isn't a phone call that lasts for a long time. Its a quick query or instruction. Something that happens in a matter of seconds. Looking around you for evidence of its use is a joke.

2/2/2010 3:13:10 PM

Quote :

"What are the chances that you are going to happen to see someone who actively uses this feature, using it? This isn't a phone call that lasts for a long time. Its a quick query or instruction. Something that happens in a matter of seconds. Looking around you for evidence of its use is a joke."

You are on the opposite side of the same argument. Where is your proof? Don't tell me 'because companies are developing it' because thats a joke. Like I said, they will spend years (have already spent years a decade at least) and millions of dollars in this technology and one area where its used quite frequently is navigation units in car. Lots of cars come with it built in and in the past you could buy after market head units that supported it. That still doesn't back up your theory that because you search by voice then it automatically means that everyone/most people do too.

Do you have some survey or statistic research to back up your theory? Go around and ask techies and non-techies how often they use voice recognition features on their devices and why they use it and where they use it.

Quote :

"What are the chances that you are going to happen to see someone who actively uses this feature, using it? This isn't a phone call that lasts for a long time. Its a quick query or instruction. Something that happens in a matter of seconds. Looking around you for evidence of its use is a joke."

The chances are quite high since every where I look I see someone using their smart phone for something other than a phone call. I don't live in a cave, I do pay attention to my surroundings.

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 4:18 PM. Reason : .]

2/2/2010 4:16:27 PM

Quote :

"Don't tell me 'because companies are developing it' because thats a joke."

Its got a lot more basis than 'I dont see people using it'. It shows companies believe there is a future in the product. They have also been increasing the voice control features of phones, quite rapidly lately. Id say thats far more reason to believe people use it than to not because you just dont see them using it.

Quote :

"You are on the opposite side of the same argument."

No I'm not. You claimed not as many people as I think use it. I asked you in very plain English where the information you used to come to that opinion is. You have YET to provide it. I thought you had perhaps read a report or a poll somewhere that had this information. You didnt, you just dont use it and assumed most dont. Perhaps most dont, but that doesnt mean there isnt a good number of people out there that do and its growing.

Quote :

"Do you have some survey or statistic research to back up your theory?"

LOL really? You mean the kind I asked you for at the very beginning? Or does 'I dont see them using it' count as survey statistics and research? If so then yes, plenty!

Quote :

"The chances are quite high since every where I look I see someone using their smart phone for something other than a phone call."

And how do you know a lot of those people didnt just get done making a voice command or are preparing to? You dont. Thats why basing your opinion on what people are doing on their phones that you see in passing is an asinine way to gauge a features use.

2/2/2010 4:39:14 PM

http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2009/02/speech-recognition-almost-ready-for.html

Quote :

"So it's nice for me, and I finally feel like I got my money's worth from Dragon. But is the technology ready for broad deployment in mobile devices? I think the answer is technically yes, but practically no. Mobile devices are casual-use; tasks that require too much commitment or effort just don't get used. Without careful attention to spoken punctuation, the software produces errors and the sort of run-on text you saw above. Even in a short message, I think it's likely that you'd get more mistakes than you'd find acceptable. Correcting those errors on a small screen with no mouse would be tedious at best (it's an annoying task even on a PC). More importantly, the software is very sensitive to the quality of the sound file coming into it. I believe most phone microphones and headsets wouldn't produce the required quality. You'd probably get better results with a service that just records your speech and has someone in India retype it (such services exist today). So, the news from the world of voice recognition is hopeful for mobile users but not yet wonderful. The technology is good enough that you can definitely use it as a substitute for typing if you have physical problems. It's also a useful PC productivity tool for someone who generates a lot of text for a living. However, I think we're not yet quite at the point where you can just talk to your phone and have it reliably transform all of your speech into text. It's getting better, but it's not all the way there yet. For a mobile device, the dream of just talking is still a dream. But I do think it's a dream that's getting closer to reality."

2/2/2010 4:43:41 PM

double post...thanks Oh Sh!t errors.

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 4:45 PM. Reason : .]

2/2/2010 4:43:42 PM

Well aside from built in device recognition everyone and their mom has used it on their cell phone before for tech support or banking. I actually has a friend who works for a company that analyzes why people hit "0" for operator instead of choosing an automated option or talking to a computer. Each time someone asks to speak to an operator it costs a company money. I know this is less relevant but people ARE getting used to talking to computers just from services like banking and tech support, so I'm sure eventually over time it will transfer easier over to personal use.

Right now I think Golovko is right in regard to use. Most people really don't use the voice recognition features on their phone. It's just not convenient. Why deal with holding down the voice recognition button, then finding a quite place, saying "call" and making sure to speak clear, when you can simply press like 2-3 buttons within 3 seconds and get the same result. Just ask 10 people. I doubt any of them use it.

2/2/2010 4:44:06 PM

fuckin A...triple post.

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 4:45 PM. Reason : .]

2/2/2010 4:44:47 PM

^^^^

what is that supposed to prove/disprove?

Noone has claimed that there are devices where all you have to do is speak and you're golden. You're taking the discussion into a direction in order to try and strengthen/change your original post.

If anything it just shows that voice recognition has plenty of investment and is becoming more and more viable.

Quote :

"Most people really don't use the voice recognition features on their phone. "

Right, and noone is arguing that most do. My point was that enough use it to make it worth improving and adding features to, and I just asked Gol what he was basing his opinion on that thats not the case.

[Edited on February 2, 2010 at 4:56 PM. Reason : *]

2/2/2010 4:50:26 PM