Robot voices

I'm listening to more BBC these days. I cannot get most of my online radio stations to work at work because of some security settings. That's fine just as long as I can get out on the world wide web.

One of the stories on the BBC this morning was whether you want a male or female voice on your electronic devices like GPS and phones. One of the comments was from BMW that had to recall some cars and change the GPS to a male voice because so many male BMW drivers refused to take directions from a woman. I always thought BMW drivers were assholes. This only reinforces that stereotype.

I just don't care as long as I can tell I'm talking to a robot. In a few years, it will sound and react like a human. That is what I do not want. Some of the vlogs I view regularly use the iPhone thing that you talk to. I'm not sure how useful it is, but I know it is a time waister.

Voice recognition was a cool thing back in the eighties. Most companies gave up on it because people don't want to talk to their TVs or dish washers. Those days are gone. So are TVs in the form they had back then. I would love to tell my dishwasher "Run tonight after midnight." I would like ask my DVR "What was that show I liked last week?" and have it give me the correct answer. It will be great when I can ask the house where I left my keys.