I just purchased an iPhone 4S. Although I was motivated less by the allure of new technology than frustration with my cellular service provider, the new features are plenty exciting. The feature that has everyone chattering — and understandably so — is Siri, Apple’s intelligent personal assistant, which takes voice recognition software to the next level by interacting with the user. Apple wasn’t content to leave it at the simply functional level, though. Siri responds in interesting ways to unusual questions. For example, “What’s your favorite color?” yields the following response:

My favorite color is… well, I don’t know how to say it in your language. It’s sort of greenish, but with more dimensions.

Through such responses, an engaging android personality emerges, worthy of the Apple reputation. Musician Jonathan Mann has utilized this built-in eccentricity to create a clever duet with Siri, which he has posted on YouTube. Styled as a love ballad, the song has Siri giving rejoinders to Mann’s guitar-and-bass-accompanied lyrics. When asked to marry him, Siri says “I’m not allowed to do that” or “Let’s just be friends, OK?”

I can only say, I wish I’d thought of this idea first. Check out the duet below.
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