Battle of the personal assistants.
I don't heavily use Cortana, and I don't think Google Now or Siri would ever sway me from one platform or another. But I just finished reading an article talking about how Cortana was WP8's most identifiable feature and it sparked something in my mind of the more holistic differences between the 3, and Cortana certainly does come out on top. It is largely too bad Microsoft wasn't the first with such tech and that it wasn't out several years earlier when they were still number 1.
In terms of how identifiable each is I would rank them in increasing order; Google Now, Siri, and then Cortana on top. Google Now isn't really in the same vein as the others but adds a lot of similar functionality. It is meant to be unobtrusive, which may what a lot of people actually want. Hence its lower ranking here. I mostly included it to ensure to all 3 platforms are represented.
For those who are intrigued by a more interactive experience there is Siri and Cortana. Immediately a difference pops out. These are actual names assigned to technology. Human-esque names if you will. This is WAY more personal than a branded service. And on this front both Siri and Cortana are equal.
Both Siri and Cortana can take voice commands and respond back with a voice of their own. Another area where there is feature parity.
The last point though, which brings Cortana out ahead is a move I questioned earlier on and that is the existence of a real persona. Who is Siri? At the end of the day, it is a just a way of attempting to anthropomorphise a service. Cortana is a character taken from a video game that can actually draw some strong parallels to the services Cortana on WP renders. I questioned it originally for a number of reasons, and many of those reasons are valid; such as not everyone knows who Cortana was prior to being WP's virtual assistant and it is a bit tacky/cliché.
I think the silly Cortana circle needs to be replaced with a face to cement the persona of the assistant. Even the silly smiley like face that is being used in China is a better move. I think that the image, voice and name need to be personalize-able as well. And, I think the first virtual assistant to deliver on those things will win the "virtual assistant wars". Right now Cortana is on top, but she is missing some key ingredients to cement that lead.
In terms of how identifiable each is I would rank them in increasing order; Google Now, Siri, and then Cortana on top. Google Now isn't really in the same vein as the others but adds a lot of similar functionality. It is meant to be unobtrusive, which may what a lot of people actually want. Hence its lower ranking here. I mostly included it to ensure to all 3 platforms are represented.
For those who are intrigued by a more interactive experience there is Siri and Cortana. Immediately a difference pops out. These are actual names assigned to technology. Human-esque names if you will. This is WAY more personal than a branded service. And on this front both Siri and Cortana are equal.
Both Siri and Cortana can take voice commands and respond back with a voice of their own. Another area where there is feature parity.
The last point though, which brings Cortana out ahead is a move I questioned earlier on and that is the existence of a real persona. Who is Siri? At the end of the day, it is a just a way of attempting to anthropomorphise a service. Cortana is a character taken from a video game that can actually draw some strong parallels to the services Cortana on WP renders. I questioned it originally for a number of reasons, and many of those reasons are valid; such as not everyone knows who Cortana was prior to being WP's virtual assistant and it is a bit tacky/cliché.
I think the silly Cortana circle needs to be replaced with a face to cement the persona of the assistant. Even the silly smiley like face that is being used in China is a better move. I think that the image, voice and name need to be personalize-able as well. And, I think the first virtual assistant to deliver on those things will win the "virtual assistant wars". Right now Cortana is on top, but she is missing some key ingredients to cement that lead.
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