> That Apple is swimming in money just makes things like this more jarring.
This is a common theme. Big Tech Company X is rich therefore they should be able to do Y. But corporations don't really work that way, they build a monopoly around a few domains and then their organization is structured to maintain that monopoly. It's the exception, not the norm, for established companies to gain competency in a new domain, and it usually comes with an acquisition or a special initiative by senior management.
Mostly true, but Apple's whole thing is that their domain is user experience, not any particular technology. That's how you get from GUI to iPod to Apple Silicon. They should be able to do Siri right by focusing on experience.
I think the real problem is that they see Siri as a checkbox compete feature and not a core value prop that must be not just better but categorically different user experience. IMO it's a will problem, not an expertise one.
This is a common theme. Big Tech Company X is rich therefore they should be able to do Y. But corporations don't really work that way, they build a monopoly around a few domains and then their organization is structured to maintain that monopoly. It's the exception, not the norm, for established companies to gain competency in a new domain, and it usually comes with an acquisition or a special initiative by senior management.