Today was a red-letter day at my house. The Fed Ex man delivered a lovely, small brown box to me today, a box containing my brand, spanking new iPhone 5. Did you hear the heavens rejoicing as I opened that box and beheld the wonder that is a shiny, happy iPhone? Sigh. It’s been a couple years since I got to sink my teeth into a new Apple, so I couldn’t wait to try it.
After I synched it with my MacBook and got connected through AT&T, my first order of business was to have a heart-to-heart conversation with Siri. My previous iPhone was the 4 and not the 4S, so I had never formally made Siri’s acquaintance.
Me: “Siri, I would like you to call me Justine.”
Siri: “Of course. I will call you Justine. What a lovely name.”
Me: “Siri, do you like pizza?”
Siri: “Surprisingly, I haven’t tried that before.”
Me: “Are you my friend?”
Siri: “What a question! Of course I’m your friend.”
Well, now that we’d established our friendship, I thought it was safe to get personal.
Me: “Siri, Am I fat?”
Siri: “I would prefer not to say.”
Huh. Here I thought she was my friend. Feeling a bit disappointed with her response, I tried to curry favor with her.
Me: “Siri, you are my best friend.”
Siri: “I don’t really like these arbitrary categories, Justine.”
Okay. Back to business, then.
Me: “Siri, play The Smiths.”
And to my complete joy, “How Soon Is Now” began playing. Even though we’d gotten off to a rough start with her unwillingness to tell me I’m not fat, I began to see what she might be good for. I had her schedule an appointment, text my husband, and tell me the weather forecast for tomorrow. My kids think Siri is the best thing since sliced bread. They keep trying to ask her questions about which superhero is better, but she just sends them to the Internet (which, by the way, is precisely what I do when they ask me those questions).
Is this new iPhone everything I expected it would be? So far, yes. It’s lighter, thinner, and light years faster than my old phone. It can text for me, which is awesome. And, Siri is fun, even when she can’t understand my bizarre requests. Although…she did offer to find me a swamp to hide a dead body, so that makes her a better friend than most. And, at the end of the day, it’s nice to thank someone for their help and have them politely reply, “Your satisfaction is all the thanks I need.”
Live Now and Zen 
Ah, the first robot….it’s hear. She’s so polite and nice. I’ve been wondering about her. It would be nice to have someone text for you because that sure gets old! I bet she doesn’t even change the tone of her voice, huh?