I believe voice interfaces will be the biggest change in computing interfaces since the rise of smartphones ten years ago. In the near future rather than waking up to look at our smartphones we will wake up and say "Hey [alexa/google/siri/etc]....". I'm convinced that the company who wins this fight will dominate consumer tech for years to come. Many people I've talked to are skeptical but all major tech companies are making huge bets on voice.
Right now the technology is far from seamless but all of the problems that I see are solvable. Like any new interface the biggest challenge is making users comfortable when they use it.
I own a Google Home and have been a shareholder since 2004. I decided to go with the Home because I subscribe to google music, but had I not been a subscriber I probably would have opted for an Echo. As a research and data driven company they have clear advantages when it comes to natural language processing. However they are at a disadvantage when it comes to customer service and product design. If voice does become the dominant interface and Google misses out it will be a huge threat to their search/advertising money fountain.
Amazon has been first to market with a standalone voice product. Their customer oriented approach gives them an advantage in addressing customer needs with greater agility. They have the engineering resources and their shareholders are less likely to pressure them to generate short term profits. Their key disadvantages relative to google are natural language research and the lack of a productivity suite (calendar, email, etc...). Given the low cost ($40 for dot) I might buy an Echo to try it out.
It's still pretty early to know what the killer app will be although right now it seems like it's home automation.
I haven't used Cortana or M and I rarely use Siri. Curious to know what /r/investing thinks, especially if you use any of these products.
Submitted January 09, 2017 at 03:12PM by wefarrell http://ift.tt/2jw3tsd
