![]() ![]() You might say the wake word more often than you’ll say the name of your partner or a beloved family member. We’ll start talking to our digital assistants every day, multiple times per day. Voice-controlled devices are only expected to become more commonplace in everyday life. ![]() We grant tremendous power to large technology companies when we become dependent on their voice-controlled devices, and we give up even more power when we allow them to dictate to us what we should call them. But have they considered the power that’s in a name?įrankly, there’s something dangerous about Amazon suggesting we call its personal assistant Amazon or use its trademarked feminine name, Alexa. Prior to permitting “computer,” all of the wake words for Amazon’s Echo were registered trademarks of the company: “Amazon,” “Echo,” and “Alexa.” Similarly, Google suggests that users activate its Home device by saying the company name: “Okay, Google.”Ī number of concerned citizens have observed the creeping monopolistic power of leading tech companies. (That’s just point #4.) “Computer” is simply the right choice. Not only should “computer” be available as a wake word for all of our smart devices, it should be the default - and not just because "Star Trek" is the most influential science fiction series of all time. It should be standard not only for the dominant Echo, but for Apple’s Siri, Google Home, Microsoft’s Cortana, and future digital assistants. He was perplexed why people would constantly ask him about some film voice over he did back in the 60’s.Earlier this year, Amazon added “computer” to the list of approved wake words for its Echo devices - previously, when you wanted to ask their intelligent personal assistant a question, you had to call it by the corporation’s trademarked moniker, “Alexa.” “Star Trek” fans love the addition of “computer.” Since 1966, “computer” has been the command word that characters use to interact with the show’s voice-controlled AI systems.Īmazon, however, should not be the only company to offer this option. A co-founding member of the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. Thus, APPLE was forced to search for a HAL replacement.Ĭasting director: “OK, give me your best HAL 9000 voice.”įor over 50 years, Douglas Rain was an accomplished and deeply respected stage actor trained in the classics. Rain thought voicing a commercial was “beneath him.” “I am sorry, APPLE, I am afraid I cannot do that.” When you are constantly trying to find that special tone and delivery that hits a home run (and hits pay dirt) it’s humbling to know that Rain refused ALL offers to “talk like HAL.” APPLE wanted him to reprise the voice for a Superbowl commercial involving the “Y2K” bug. Voice actors have been trying to do the “HAL” read for 50 years. Watch the red orb and hear Douglas Rain portray HAL:Īnd then there’s “KITT” the talking car from the 80’s TV show “Knightrider.” Where do you think the inspiration for that character came from? You hear “that” voice in your head whenever you think of the film. Rain’s “HAL” character instantly became a part of pop culture. ![]() ![]() His relaxed method of speaking was achieved by voicing the lines barefoot, constantly resting his feet on a pillow (very cool trick) while director Stanley Kubrick sat beside him, four feet away. In 1967, Rain (who grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba) spent 9 1/2 hours in a New York recording studio, voicing HAL. That all changed when Douglas Rain perfected the gentle yet somewhat unsettling computer voice that became the surprise star of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. I must’ve been given that as a reference point a hundred times in the studio, over the years.īefore HAL came along, the computer voice was usually done in a slow, monotone, staccato sharp way (thaaank yooou verrry muuuch.) “Can you voice this spot kinda like HAL the computer from 2001?” ![]()
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