The ear-based personal assistant isn’t a completely new idea. “Apple’s AirPod device … is a significant step forward toward a new interface paradigm that has long been anticipated in science fiction,” says Ari Popper, founder of the futurist consulting and product design firm SciFutures. “The movie Her is an interesting articulation of this.”
The sentient assistant OS in Her is perhaps the best developed imagining of the in-ear assistant, but the concept goes back far further than that.
When I read about the AirPods, my first thought was “Her” the Spike Jonze film. I love that movie and will watch it again very soon. It is a perfect example of the potential for AirPods. Obviously, Siri has a long way to go but I wanted AirPods because I’d keep one in my ear all day long from wake-up to bed-time. I wouldn’t listen to music in it because the quality wouldn’t meet my specifications but the ability to have Siri in my head at all times and ready for my commands is extremely powerful.
The potential is huge. iPhone in 2020 w/ AirPods 4.0 is going to be a crazy combo I think.,