News
Apple hires Amazon exec Stasior to run Siri
By Phil Dzikiy
News Editor, iLoungeGoogle+
Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2012
News Categories: Apple
Apple has hired Amazon exec William Stasior to run its Siri unit, according to a report from AllThingsD. With a doctoral degree from MIT, Stasior was recently in charge of A9, Amazon’s search and search advertising unit, which he co-founded, and previously served as an executive with AltaVista. Although Stasior will be in charge of Siri, the report speculates Stasior could also help to boost Apple’s search and search advertising technology. Apple’s Siri unit has notably lost two co-founders in the past year — Adam Cheyer left recently, and co-founder and former CEO Dag Kittlaus left last October — raising further questions about Apple’s ability to retain key personnel after major acquisitions.
Related Stories
- Report: iRadio might miss WWDC debut
- Fair Labor Assoc.: Foxconn, Apple still exceed work hours
- Cook talks Apple’s taxes ahead of Senate testimony
- Apple releases iTunes 11.0.3 with new Mini Player
- Apple patent filing uses multiple devices to light a scene
- App Store hits 50 billion downloads
Comments
If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods/iPhones/iPad or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod/iPhone/iPad products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.
Recent News
- iLounge Weekly arriving Monday, giveaway reminder
- Report: BBM iOS app won’t support iPad at launch
- Report: iRadio might miss WWDC debut
- Fair Labor Assoc.: Foxconn, Apple still exceed work hours
- CW to bring content to Apple TV
- Moshi debuts aluminum USB Cable with Lightning Connector
- Cook talks Apple’s taxes ahead of Senate testimony
- iLuv intros Aud 5 Lightning speaker dock for iPhone 5
- Apps: Can Knockdown 3, eBay 3.0/2.3, Jungle Book + Sonic the Hedgehog 2.0
- Apple releases iTunes 11.0.3 with new Mini Player
Recent Reviews
- BlueFlame 2M Charge and Sync Cable with Lightning Connector
- HMDX Jam Party Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Speaker
- Logitech Harmony Ultimate Universal Remote Control
- MyCharge Freedom 2000 Battery Case for iPhone 5
- Nike Nike+ FuelBand
- OCDesk OCDock for iPhone 5
- Bluelounge MiniDock (With Lightning Connector)
- Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation Pro
- PhoneSuit Flex Pocket Charger
- Olloclip Quick-Flip Case + Pro-Photo Adapter for iPhone 5
Recent Articles
- Calendar info disappears after iCloud restore
- Remove old iCloud backup after restoring to a new iPhone
- Setting up a ringtone in iTunes
- Using a Wi-Fi hard drive with an iPad
- Backing up and restoring an iPod classic
- Can’t restore iPod touch without passcode
- Retaining older versions of Apps during an iOS Restore
- Can’t eject iPod nano without closing Firefox
- Can’t change iTunes Apple ID to iCloud e-mail address
- Effect of erasing an iPhone on the Find My iPhone feature
1
Here’s hoping he can pull it out of beta. Me and my daughter have only had access to Siri since Friday and it is one great source of comedic relief but not remotely functional.
In addition to the bit about, “raising further questions about Apple’s ability to retain key personnel after major acquisitions”, it also highlights what I see as one of Apple’s bigger stumbles in recent years: they love going after what they see as the shortcut.
They notice a popular app and instead of thinking they should put more effort into their own inadequate voice control they’d left fallow for years, they decide to spend over 200 million for the app and make it exclusive to certain hardware “just because”. Apple could have hired 200 top shelf programmers, assigned them to voice control project, and paid them for a decade for what they paid for Siri. Now after more than a year, Siri is still a toy, and because they’ve made it such a high profile part of iOS AND Android equivalents are popping up like mushrooms, now they’re right back at having to do all the heavy lifting themselves, including poaching this guy for who knows how much money, because they thought it would be easy to just buy it off the shelf.
Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on October 16, 2012 at 5:37 AM (PST)