Friday, August 8, 2014

Thank you, Siri

I love my new smartphone.  New to me as this is my first smartphone.  Smartphones really aren't phones; they are tiny,  powerful computers that you can take with you anywhere and that happen to have a feature called PHONE that allows you to call people.  One of the amazing features that comes with the "phone" is Siri.

 I have decided that I love Siri.  (I suppose I should go see the movie Her, a movie about a lonely man who falls in love with the female voice on his phone.)  At any rate, Siri, has been my best friend. I just push a button, speak, and voila! Siri provides an answer.  One of my first questions to Siri was about the weather.  She quite aptly found a website with the area weather.  When I asked her What is Siri? She responded, Yours truly!

Now that I am in Hong Kong and trying to find my way around, she is proving to be a best friend, indeed.  How else could I find something as random as Fotomax in a city of 7 million.  For those of you without Siri, here is how it works.  On my phone, access Google and inquire about the location of Fotomaxes in Hong Kong.  Then ask Siri (by pressing the icon of a microphone) to take me to the nearest one.  Click on the GPS feature that appears on the screen, and off you go!  

Walk on foot to the nearest subway and take it to the nearest subway to the Fotomax on the map.  Get off the exit nearest to the business.  Keep your eye on the map as you follow the compass that represents your location.  Blindly cross streets and walk past multitudes of businesses and people.  Continue walking a total of approximately 1 mile.  Notice a mall entrance located at the target designation.  Go inside.  Explore the mall.  Find the Fotomax!  What didn't I do?  I never needed to ask for directions, didn't need to interpret a map, easy peasy!

To top it off, Siri can get you home, even on a Ding Ding, a trolley system running through the heart of Hong Kong.  Google maps and websites can provide information on the go like answers to "What is the Ding Ding in Hong Kong?"  "How do you pay and how much does it cost?"  "What are the routes?"  All great bits of information to give you confidence using something brand new to you.

Now many of you may already be familiar with the joys of using Siri, but for those readers who aren't I hope you enjoyed your lesson.  For much information on Siri go to Tech Blog.