All this excitement about Siri makes me wonder, would people really talk to their phones in public places? Sometimes social barriers are much harder to overcome than technological ones.
Especially if I install loudspeakers in my classroom that whisper 'rm -R ~/' over and over like a mantra...
Back on topic, some years ago if you saw someone walking along having an animated conversation with no visible participant, you would have assumed a form of mental illness. Now, you just assume they are using their hands free set. I think it will catch on.
I think it will, and Apple have made a brilliant design choice in allowing Siri to fire up when you bring the phone to your ear (and you're not in a phone call). People are already comfortable talking on the phone in public, and it's not immediately obvious to onlookers that the "person" being talked to is the phone itself.
I have actually seen people talking on the phone to people just holding the phone in front of them, so there's already precedent for that as well. I don't think social barriers will last long.
At least in my area, people already talk to their phones in public. You just have to think of Siri as the "person" on the other end of the line and it isn't strange at all.
