The tech pundits keep making comparisons between Siri and Google Now. The problem is that this is almost the same as comparing cars to planes based solely on the fact that they both get you from point A to B.
Google Now, at least for the moment, is really not a lot more than Google Voice Search with a pre-canned card metaphor for limited information display. Sure Google Now has a little more information about things like your location or upcoming events, but not a whole lot more. This will likely evolve over time, but that is about it right now.
This is all fantastic, but it isn’t the same as Siri, and I am not sure it is ever meant to be.
Siri serves up some information similar to Google Now – for instance, I am a Packers fan. If I ask both Siri and Google Now when is the next Packer game, they both return nicely formatted data in the form of cards. It’s at this point that Siri stands out a little. Now ask them both what is the current passer rating for Aaron Rogers. Siri returns a nicely formatted card with the data results. Google Now sends you to Google search results for the answer.
Okay, Siri has some enhanced sport data, no big deal.
Now ask both of them to text your wife a message. Siri, knows who my wife is, composes the message, prompts me to review the composed message and then asks if I want to send the message. Google Now sends me to Google search results for text my wife. You see, Google Now is about retrieving information. Some of that data retrieval is enhanced with information about me such as location, but it is still about information. Siri is about becoming a personal digital assistant, in part that means information retrieval, but it also means a good deal more.
Right now Siri is still pretty naive, but getting smarter with each upgrade.
The purpose of Apple with Siri is very different than that of Google Now.
It is a difference of action.
Siri is rapidly gaining new and more meaningful actions that it can perform. Whereas, at least today, Google Now has only one real action, search.
Apple, at least seems, to be attempting to take their early Knowledge Navigator concept and make it a reality, a true digital assistant.
Google appears to be furthering their goal of organizing the worlds information and then making it easily searchable.
Two wonderful goals, but not really the same thing. To be honest, they are complimentary products instead of adversarial products.
So when pundits attempt to compare them as though they are adversarial products, it simply doesn’t work.