So the news is out that I am the UK voice of Siri. Did Apple silence me? Do I have revenge on my mind? Let me try and set out the facts:
Apple didn't silence me - although they did call me and tell me that as an Apple employee I wasn't supposed to talk about my work. When I explained that I wasn't an Apple employee and I had no contract with them or received any money from them, they seemed rather perplexed. They said they would get back to me once they had made further consultations. That was in the middle of October and they never contacted me again. Had they done so - I was perfectly prepared to listen. So they didn't silence me, they just weren’t very clever in their approach, but then they tend to do their PR with a sledgehammer. During the conversation, I was told that the company was “not about one person”. Given that the media was full of articles about the “one person” that completely represented Apple, and his death just a few weeks earlier, the girl in the PR department had obviously failed to do her homework!
In truth, I was delighted to discover that I was the UK voice of Siri. I learned by seeing the BBC’s technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, giving his preview of the machine on air and thought “I recognise that voice”. So I’m very chuffed that I’ve been included in the various identities that Siri has been given.
The Scansoft system is a very good one. The problem with English is that the pronunciation of words is not consistent. So if I say “ My latest project is to learn how to project my voice” you can immediately see and hear the difficulties facing a piece of software. Siri contends with that very well and is the closest thing to natural human speech that you can get. Scansoft and Nuance did a great job.
Many people had made the connection between my voice and Siri already – which was why it was a bit odd to get Apple’s phone call. Was I supposed to pretend it wasn’t me? I’m a pretty well known voice in the UK. The Weakest Link pulls in 2-3 million viewers on a weekday and as the voice of BBC Radio 2, around 8 or 9 million people heard me every day – so for most of the last ten years we reckon I’ve had an audience of some 13 million people on a weekly basis. I wasn’t hard to spot! As my brother works for the Telegraph as a sports journalist – the word got around.
I hasten to add that I haven’t come out to wave two fingers at Apple – far from it – I’m really pleased that my voice, and the text to speech system that I have contributed to, is regarded as good enough for a company that prides itself in creating brilliant technology. I love Apple’s products and have championed them since the early 80’s when anyone who used an Apple was generally looked at with raised eyebrows. “Oh you’re one of those…” they would insinuate! I still own a Macintosh SE which sits on my landing as a reminder of how technology progresses. I do all my audio work in my own studio on two Apple iMacs using Pro Tools. I absolutely believe that the original iPhone changed the face of the mobile industry and Siri will be the next game changer – and I love fact that it has a sense of humour.
I have worked as a broadcast journalist since the early 1980’s. One of the stranger facts is that aged 19 I joined BBC Radio 4 as a reporter for the BBC’s first foray into Information Technology, on a programme called “The Chip Shop” presented by Barry Norman. It was a brave move, given that our main method of communication with computers is visual. We spent a lot of time looking for PC’s that made sound. It’s ironic that it’s come full circle and that instead of reporting on it, I’ve ended up as the voice of the technology almost 30 years later.
It’s true that I didn’t receive any money from Apple. I signed away those rights when I did the original recordings for Scansoft – but I got well paid for those. To be honest, my voice is a gift that I haven’t had to study for or work hard for as many others have to do for their work, and if it is seen by others as being suitable to become part of their everyday life, I am thrilled. It gives something back for the benefits that I have received over the last 25 years for something I was naturally blessed with. In some ways while I love being in people’s pockets, I am more proud of the fact that this system allows people who have impaired vision, or who are restricted in their communication skills, to use technology and communicate with friends and family just as easily as I can every day. If my legacy is simply that, to be involved so personally in something so vital to everyday life, I shall be a very happy person.
