Siri, An Austic Boy’s BFF

Judith Newman:

It all began simply enough. I’d just read one of those ubiquitous Internet lists called “21 Things You Didn’t Know Your iPhone Could Do.” One of them was this: I could ask Siri, “What planes are above me right now?” and Siri would bark back, “Checking my sources.” Almost instantly there was a list of actual flights — numbers, altitudes, angles — above my head.

I happened to be doing this when Gus was nearby. “Why would anyone need to know what planes are flying above your head?” I muttered. Gus replied without looking up: “So you know who you’re waving at, Mommy.”

Just when you thought every morsel of meat, every ounce of marrow, had been snipped and sucked from the public discourse on technology, and all that was left to do was gnaw on the snarky bones.

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