A new live-streaming app called Periscope popped up a couple of months ago and it has already created ripples in the world of social media that have the potential to turn into a tidal wave!
Discovering Periscope
Shortly after Periscope launched I jumped in and started showing my herb garden off, talking about the different herbs and their properties along with gardening techniques, accompanied by the ever present Bilbo the cat. I then started doing broadcasts of me playing the guitar and also giving short tutorials and tips on using the iPad.
Small screens, small keys – voice is the future
A lot can be achieved with voice and the number of things that you can do with Apple’s built-in assistant Siri is ever increasing. It seemed then, that Periscope would be a great platform to broadcast some more how-to videos. With it’s easy to use mobile app and it’s portrait-only mode, Periscope feels similar the short form video platform Vine, or even Instagram video, both of which I have used in the past to share how-to videos.
I’ve long wanted to push Siri to her limits to see if I can find new uses, or discover a new one of her quirky response that she has become known for. And so ‘Conversations with Siri’ was born.
Conversations with Siri
The concept of the show is simple, a short daily broadcast on Periscope that demonstrates and explores the different ways in which Siri can be employed to accomplish tasks that you are probably currently doing that hard way, with your finger.
A different topic is covered each day and is promoted on Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc.
Audience Engagement
Viewers are encouraged to ask questions and offer up their own Siri tips in the live comments. Periscope’s heart feature also gives the user the ability to show their appreciating of what the host is doing or saying at any time simply by tapping the screen.
Often the conversation is carried on over at Twitter after the show. I always follow-up with everyone who expressed interested in each broadcast on Twitter.
Some pre-show discussion occurs over on Instagram and Google Plus, which is where I regularly post the promos for each show about 12 hours in advance.
Sunday Sessions with Siri on Periscope
At the end of each week we look back at the past week’s episodes of ‘Conversations with Siri’, recapping what we covered and then looking forward at next week’s shows. Here’s Siri’s part of the today’s broadcast:
Next Week on Conversations with Siri
Next week we’ll be looking at the latest Siri-related news in episode 12 on Monday.
Because we are located Down Under we live in the future, and so it’ll be Tuesday when Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) occurs when all the shiny new things that are to come from Apple will be revealed. So we’re planning to have a look at some of these announcements. We’re expecting some very exciting news for Siri if the rumours turn out to be true.
On Wednesday in episode 14 of ‘Conversations with Siri’ we go all Crocodile Dundee on you and show you how Siri rolls Down Under…crikey mate!
Thursday is our ‘how to’ session and this will be an exciting one! Did you think that Siri was trapped in your iOS device? You’ll see how Siri breaks out of your hand and onto the desktop with Siri on the Mac.
Then, due to audience requests, there’s another exciting ‘how-to’ in episode 16 on Friday: A Personal Assistant named Siri’.
We get into some deep thinking on Saturday and dig into some philosophy. There’ll be some difficult questions for Siri in this episode of ‘Conversations with Siri’.
- Monday, episode 12: News
- Tuesday, episode 13: WWDC
- Wednesday, episode 14: Speak Australian
- Thursday, episode 15: Siri on the Mac
- Friday, episode 16: A PA named Siri
- Saturday, episode 17: Philosophy
- Sunday, episode 18: Recap of the Week & a look at the week ahead
Follow @Vintuitive on Twitter to receive notifications of when ‘Conversations with Siri’ starts.
See also the set on Flickr, Vine, and Google Plus where announcements are made of upcoming shows.