Siri Is In Trouble: Who Ya Gonna Call? Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson To The Rescue
Monday, July 24, 2017 at 06:06PM By Barry Janoff
July 24, 2017: According to a new report from data measurement and consulting firm Verto Analytics, usage of personal assistants apps – apps that use artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud-based natural language processes to accomplish everyday tasks (i.e. messaging, navigation, accessing entertainment content, searching information) — has shown “spotty growth and even some decline among consumers.”
According to the San Francisco-based firm, "While some personal assistant apps have seen some major user growth, in general, this sector has experienced stagnation and even a decrease in users among certain apps like Siri . . . Phone-based personal assistant apps, such as Siri and S-Voice, are slowly falling in popularity . . . "
Although Apple’s Siri still is the most-used of the lot — 41 million vs. 23 million for Samsung S Voice and 20 million for Google Text-To-Speech — between May 2016 and May 2017 Siri’s active user base declined by 7.3 million monthly users, per Verto Analytics.
This news, combined with the release of iPhone 8 later this year, seems to have put Apple on the defense regarding its outgoing iPhone 7 and the decline in popularity of Siri.
Who better to stem the tide, or at least stop the bleeding, than Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
The former WWE star is among the most popular and highest paid actors in Hollywood. He earned an estimated $65 million over the past year (including The Fate of the Furious, Moana, Baywatch and HBO’s Ballers, plus his own production company, Seven Bucks), according to Forbes.
His legion includes 90.6 million followers on Instagram, more than 57.4 million followers on Facebook and11.6 million on Twitter.
In a new "film" that runs nearly four minutes, "iPhone 7: The Rock x Siri Dominate the Day" (Hungry Man Productions) Johnson uses Siri to show us how he has become one of Hollywood’s busiest people.
"You should never, ever, under any circumstances, underestimate how much Dwayne Johnson can get done in a day with Siri," according to Apple.
As The Rock himself touted on social media, "I partnered with #Apple to make the BIGGEST, COOLEST, CRAZIEST, DOPEST, MOST OVER THE TOP, FUNNEST (is that even a word?) movie ever. And I have the greatest co-star of all time — #SIRI."
Apple will use segments of the long-form to run as ads.
"I make movies for the world to enjoy and we also made this one to motivate you to get out there and get the job done,” according to The Rock. “I want you to watch it, have fun with it and then go LIVE IT."
Although he is constantly using Siri in this film, Johnson does not fit the profile of a "personal assistant ‘super user’ — someone who spends more than twice as much time on this category of apps as the average consumer." According to Verto Analytics, that would be a 52-year old female who spends 1.5 hours per month on personal assistant apps.
None the less, the film itself, like Johnson, is non-stop action. He already is multi-tasking when he says, "Hey, Siri, read my schedule."
"You have 25 appointments at 7:15, then at 7:20 . . . "
A news report on TV talks about The Rock: "Can he do more? Experts say no."
To Johnson, "That sounds like a challenge."
"You should never, ever, under any circumstances, underestimate how much Dwayne Johnson can get done in a day with Siri."
With his iPhone and Siri for companionship, he orders a Lyft ride to LAX (driving the car himself), commandeers an airplane and flies it to Rome (so he help repair Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel), heads to Japan to discuss his new fashion line (which he helps to present on the catwalk), cooks a meal with renowned chef Ludo Lefebvre, practices music on his Chinese zither, manages to take a rocket into space (where he uses his iPhone to take a selfie) and returns to Hollywood to film the closing scene in his latest action movie.”
"Glad to be back,” he says. “I have a lot to do."
"So much fun," he wrote on his social media platforms. "Happy the world is digging the campaign. We're just getting started. So much fun."
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