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Comment by colemorrison | Hacker News Reader

How many of you use voice commands? (i.e. siri, record voice notes with evernote etc.)

The primary problem with copying the star trek computer is the user interaction. One of the biggest reasons all of the star trek's utilize a voice command computer is ...

For directing.

Otherwise when the crew entered a command, recorded a log, etc. they'd either always be shouting it out or making us watch / read the creation of text. It was quite brilliant from a directing perspective, but do you want everyone around knowing how many times you go to facebook/hacker news/gmail all the time? For that matter, personal log entries etc. Yes it has its place when you're in isolation, but its quite difficult when around others.

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I use google now's voice search almost daily, and some other voice-command like "what song is this?", "set a timer...". Personally, I wish my desktop had google now and voice search.

I've especially found voice search to be the more socially acceptable way to search for something when conversing with a group of people. For instance, during a discussion about movies at a bar with friends, to tap the phone and ask it a question fits into the dynamic far better than putting your head down to tap it into a keyboard and wait for results.

Asking the question aloud shows everyone that you didn't suddenly start texting someone or checking facebook mid-conversation, but rather searching for something in order to add to that conversation. Same goes for "what song is this?".

I almost forgot my all time favorite while driving (whether alone or with a car full of people): "Navigate Home"

Great point! You know, I hadn't thought of it for the more "social" situations. I was more thinking of it in a functional, individual setting.

PC Google has voice search, you may have to enable it.

I use siri all the time for setting appointments and adding notes/reminders. Also good for knowing when games might be going on at the local sports bar (so I can get a seat prior to the rush).

So for me, its become exactly like the computer from TNG.

The only place I could really see myself using it would be in the car; as much as I love Google Now the only time I use the voice commands is when I'm showing someone how great they are.

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