I promised not to write any more Siri blogs, but I couldn’t help one more. I just finished reading Michael deAgonia’s excellent blog on how Siri has changed the way he works. I too find myself using the service more and more often.

But I also noticed that I practically yell at Siri whenever I’m trying to get her to do something. “SIRI! TELL LISA I’M GOING TO BE 10 MINUTES LATE!” I was talking so loud to here that I refused to use her in our clients’ office environments because they’d all be listening to me yell at a computer. It just seemed rude. I had come to the conclusion that Siri couldn’t be used in regular office environments (cube farms) because we’d all be listening to each other yell at our computers all day.

So I conducted a little experiment to see how quietly I could speak and still have Siri hear me accurately. Answer: very quietly. Much quieter than normal conversation. So, what explains my yelling at her?

I’m a bit embarrassed to say it, but I think the cause of my yelling is similar to what happens when people meet someone who speaks a foreign language: our natural reaction is to speak louder. We know its rude and not even helpful, but we almost can’t help it. I think I’ve somehow been seeing Siri as a foreigner . . . maybe if I just yell a bit louder, she’ll understand.