Telling
I like telling my phone what to do. I’ve been using the dictation feature on the phone a LOT - certainly a lot more than expected. If I am using the phone to communicate with someone electronically - a text, an email - I’ll communicate with *the phone* vocally. It’s so damn efficient. Instead of willing my thoughts into text through clumsy thumbs stabbing at glass, I just utter them. <boop> BAM.
This is a far cry from talking through the phone to a bank’s automated voice response unit that can’t even comprehend four digits and ends with you screaming AGENT! into the phone over and over again in desperation to reach a human. This is software that WORKS.
For long writings, I prefer a keyboard, but that will probably change over time as interfaces improve. Siri points to the day when the primary way we interact with machines is voice. “Cook on high for two minutes,” you tell your microwave, using both hands to insert leftover pie. “Record the North Carolina/Duke game and the next debate, and play me the 3 newest episodes of Louie,” you tell your TV, opening Cheetos.
Of course it makes sense talking to machines - when they get it. And Siri gets it almost every time. Star Trek shit, yo.
If we’re making such advances in human-machine interaction (and we really are), why aren’t there similar advances in human-human interaction? Why is it easier than ever than to interact with a device but just as hard as ever to interact with a cute girl on the bus?
As humans use voice more to interact with machines, we should consider using gestures more when interacting with humans. We have this growing library of gestures we now use to interact with devices (swipe, pinch, drag, so on), but we really only have two universal gestures to interact with each other. One is the thumbs-up (approval!) and the other is the extended middle finger (disapproval!!).
What about a universal gesture for ‘I’m sorry’? So when you accidentally cut another driver off in traffic, you can acknowledge your mistake. Something like your hand to your chin. And a universal gesture for ‘thank you,’ like touching your shoulder. More than anything, the world would benefit if there was a simple, universal gesture for ‘I like your style.’ Think about it. A signal that you could give to a stranger that cuts through the abyss of formality, a signal that says you like what they’re wearing or what they’re doing or how they smile. We don’t really have a gesture like that, and I think it would make interacting with each other - in person - a lot easier.
