Rush Limbaugh, Siri, and the wrath of the technocrati

19.04.2012

But even a cursory reading of the , posted at RushLimbaugh.com reveals something much more like the befuddlement of a "consumer power user," as Limbaugh terms himself, over encountering a technical problem that he had not run into before.

In Limbaugh's account, he's on his way to work Tuesday morning trying to do voice dictation, something he's done in the past without problem, using his iPhone, Siri, and his in-car Wi-Fi and LTE connections. First, nothing happens and then he gets transcriptions that bear no resemblance to what he spoke aloud.

Following along in Limbaugh's account, his first conclusion is that something is wrong with Apple's Siri servers: the "system is down" he thought. Then, after seeing the strange Siri transcriptions of his spoken words, he thinks that possibly "someone hacked" Apple's Siri servers and that it must be affecting many other iPhone users. It's Limbaugh's listeners, in calls and emails, that later raise the issue of Limbaugh himself being personally targeted and personally hacked. But he finds all of these latter speculations "unsatisfactory."

Here's how he begins his description: "Now, if there is anybody in this audience listening that writes for an Apple or high-tech blog -- or if there is anybody listening to this program that works for or at Apple, Incorporated -- you have to hear what happened to me this morning."

There's no suggestion of being hacked or targeted, no hint of a conspiracy. It reads much more like an end user asking more experienced users for technical help. Overall, no one would mistake the blogosphere's response as that of the New Testament's .