The future ... today
Did you see ‘Her’, the 2013 movie staring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson? This is the the storyline, as writtten for IMDb:
Theodore is a lonely man in the final stages of his divorce. When he's not working as a letter writer, his down time is spent playing video games and occasionally hanging out with friends. He decides to purchase the new OS1, which is advertised as the world's first artificially intelligent operating system, "It's not just an operating system, it's a consciousness," the ad states. Theodore quickly finds himself drawn in with Samantha, the voice behind his OS1. As they start spending time together they grow closer and closer and eventually find themselves in love. Having fallen in love with his OS, Theodore finds himself dealing with feelings of both great joy and doubt. As an OS, Samantha has powerful intelligence that she uses to help Theodore in ways others hadn't, but how does she help him deal with his inner conflict of being in love with an OS? Written by Bob Philpot
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it. The ending is as crazy as the beginning, but I believe the technology angle reflects the future.
In the movie, Theodore has an earpiece that he uses to engage with his smart device and the operating system. It reminds me of the Apple AirPods connect to an iPhone and iOS.
Earlier this week, Apple introduced the Apple Watch, Series 3 with LTE. They promote it by using a modified line from the iPod pitch: “stream 40 million songs from your wrist”. You can send text messages, make and receive phone calls, and many of the task you normally accomplish on your iphone, but without having your iphone with you. Siri even ‘talks’ on the watch!
Cool .. I’m in.
But think about this .. once you connect a Series 3 watches to a set of AirPods, how far are you from having a ‘Samantha’ like personal assistant?
Siri is much better on iOS 11, but we are not there yet. In time, and it’s not that far into the future, this is going to be how interact with our personal assistant technology. You will not need a smart phone. It will be a wearable device, maybe just in your ear, maybe something else, but it will be amazing.
I am getting the LTE Series 3 watch, primarily to try on future, today. I will post more once I have some time to experiment, I mean play. Regardless, I think we are looking at the future. I can’t wait to leave my iPhone behind, and work from a wearable. Voice will be a key technology enabling this transition. Hang on tight .. the future is now.
Rick