People who use iPhone now are interested in calling Siri It’s definitely no stranger to it. Whether it’s setting an alarm, sending messages, or quickly checking photos, you can just ask it to do it for you. Siri’s name is familiar to everyone, and it is closely integrated into Apple’s ecosystem, but do you really know this virtual assistant silently behind you?
Where did Apple’s “Siri” get its name?
In fact, before Siri appeared on everyone’s phones, computers, and TVs, it almost didn’t happen because Apple was still picking out a name for its new virtual assistant. At that time, Apple did not include the name Siri in the list of options. The original Siri was not built for the iPhone. Surprise! The story behind Siri’s name involves the acquisition of a startup, a Norwegian name with hidden meanings, and some events that may rewrite the history of technology, until the catchy name was settled on at the last minute.
Before Siri became Apple’s built-in voice assistant, it was the brainchild of a startup that was the spinoff of years of secretive research at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The technology originated in a 2003 U.S. Department of Defense-funded program called CALO (Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes). Co-founders Dag Kittlaus, Tom Gruber and Adam Cheyer founded Siri Inc. in 2007 to bring the technology to the public, and Siri launched as an iOS app in February 2010.
according to Network World According to reports, Siri was named Siri because of the idea of choosing a short, memorable and easy-to-spell pronunciation. The name Siri met all conditions. Of course, there are also more emotional reasons. Dag Kittlaus, the CEO of this new company, once worked with a person named Siri, and Siri means “the beautiful woman who leads you to victory” in Norwegian. The reason why Adam Cheyer likes this name is “secret” in Swahili, which is a commemoration of the early secret development stage. Of course, the name Siri also has similarities to the SRI Labs where it all started.
It took two weeks after the Siri app was available in the App Store to pique Steve Jobs’ interest, which was no easy feat given Apple’s reputation for being picky about its products. But the app achieves something Apple has been pursuing since 1987: a concept video imagining how a smart assistant would work. According to Dag Kittlaus, Steve Jobs thought the startup had a solution. At first, the Siri team was hesitant about Apple’s offer. The app grew in popularity and a deal was struck to have Verizon bring it to Android, but the opportunity to expand with Apple proved more attractive. By April 2010, Apple acquired Siri for a reported $200 million, quickly halting any plans for cross-platform expansion and leaving Apple with full control of the technology.
Apple revamped the technology before launching it on the iPhone 4s in 2011, taking Siri from text-only to speaking (or, more appropriately, speaking), and it’s deeply integrated into iOS, allowing it to interact with apps and handle tasks. However, the name almost didn’t work out. Steve Jobs didn’t like the name, and Kittlaus had to lobby hard to keep the voice assistant from losing its real name. In the end, Apple kept Siri’s original name because it couldn’t come up with a better alternative. Until now, Siri has become ubiquitous in the Apple ecosystem, and of course the current version is very different from the original appearance.
Source: KOCPC Chinese