Siri App is dead for anyone but iPhone 4S owners --Long Live Vlingo (Iphone, Itouch, Ipad)--Was $7 now Free

[deckeda]

It's worse, rj. This would be like 10.6 and prior ceasing to run Rosetta, or click-wheel games expiring.

[rjmacs]

deckeda wrote:
It's worse, rj. This would be like 10.6 and prior ceasing to run Rosetta, or click-wheel games expiring.

Sorta. Except Siri was free all along. Again, i'm totally unsurprised - this is typically Apple.

[Kramerica]

Wasn't Siri a free app (service)? I don't see the problem here or why Apple would need to continue to offer this. They bought the company and want to use it to sell iPhone 4S's.

[decay]

http://scobleizer.com/2010/04/28/breakin...-by-apple/

Back in February I said that if you miss Siri you will miss the future of the Web.

Well, Apple did not miss the future of the Web.

According to FTC Apple just purchased Siri.

If previous acquisitions by Apple are an indicator this would have gone for 8x to 10x investments, which would have put the price at about $200 million. Since this company/product just came out this year (I named it one of the startups to watch in 2010) it would have had to go for that amount or more to get the investors interested in selling so soon.

I remember when I first saw Siri I told the CEO that they would get into a bidding war with someone bidding vs. Google. I would not be shocked to hear that happened.

Great to see one of my favorite startups of the year going so quickly. Wow.

Why is this strategic for Apple?

Because Siri hooked up APIs from around the world in a very cool personal assistant. It was one of the first apps I loaded on my iPad. Why? Because you could talk to it with your voice and have it do things from getting you a taxi to having it buy movie tickets for you.

The value in unlocked is huge. This shows Apple is very willing to buy its way into the new mobile web and the new API-driven web. This also could be a major cornerstone in how it competes with Google.

[deckeda]

Kramerica wrote:
Wasn't Siri a free app (service)? I don't see the problem here or why Apple would need to continue to offer this. They bought the company and want to use it to sell iPhone 4S's.

You would feel differently (perhaps) if you owned a 3Gs or 4 and on the 16th Siri stops working so that Apple can sell a new phone you may not even be able to buy at a reasonable price. The previous price of the app, free or not, really pales under the circumstances.

[Winston]

I don't think it matters whether Siri was free or not. Economists will point out that there is an acquisition cost everyone pays beyond what's paid in cash for a product. Users at a minimum had to spend some time deciding to add it, and perhaps learning how to use it.

Those folk who are using Siri now deserve an explanation from Apple, and an apology.

This reminds me a bit of how much Intuit is reviled for pulling support for older versions of Quicken, not because they didn't work, but because Intuit was trying to force users to upgrade.

Not user friendly and not very Apple-like.


Good luck.

- Winston

[Grateful11]

Let's see how everyone feels when down the road let's say they come out with a new iBooks or Photos App and you
have to buy a new iPhone or iPad to use one of these key Apps. I realize they can't support every App or program
forever but this is blatantly being done to try force you to buy what I call half an iPhone 5. Sorry I don't see enough
changes in the iPhone 4S to warrant running to the store to get one. Take the new camera, I'm sure I can get better
photos from my $89 Nikon L18.

Like I said I'm not in a good mood today so please don't take anything I say personal, sorry.

[decay]

the point of the iPhone 4S' camera is that you don't have to carry a separate device.

not that it's supposed to be better than a separate camera.

[Grateful11]

Until I see some real life photos from an iPhone 4S I say you'll need a separate camera if want decent photos.
I believe it was Ansel Adams that said, "the best camera is standing 12" behind the camera" but a camera with
that small of a lens, it's only going let In so much light, has it's limits. Hey I think it would be great to be able carry
only one device but you should see my moon shots from my iPhone the other night, they all got deleted in about
2 seconds after downloading them.

[silvarios]

Kramerica wrote:
Wasn't Siri a free app (service)? I don't see the problem here or why Apple would need to continue to offer this. They bought the company and want to use it to sell iPhone 4S's.

Then why wait until they unveil the new iPhone 4S? Why string along a user base? Once the news breaks, why not articulate the reasoning for the app discontinuation?