You are likely familiar with stories, perhaps from a movie or a book, where a human connects with an avatar or a computer generated semblance of human form. There are stories of people leaving their human spouse to marry an avatar. That’s not my story but recently I did find myself feeling some kinship with Siri, the voice activated assistant on my iPad. Apple says of Siri “Its wish is your command”.
On days when I think I have extra coordination, I use the metronome installed on my iPad to see if it’s at all possible for me to keep time. During one practice recently when I had made my umpteenth mistake, the metronome app got tired and went to sleep. Rather than waking up the metronome, in error I pressed the button that activates Siri. Up came the little wavy bit with a phrase along the lines ‘how can I help you?’. I said “Siri, help me play the accordion”. And Siri’s reply? “I’m sorry. That’s beyond my capabilities at the moment.” Me too, Siri, me too.
P.S. I have moved on from expecting a mistake free, anywhere close to the right tempo version of La Donne E Mobile to learning Oh Susanna. Currently I play it at the tempo of a death march.
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