The words “personal digital assistant” bring to mind visions of Stepford Wives speaking in monotone unison, beckoning with waggling index fingers, to come hither and ask them anything.

And for Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana, their siren’s song, while tempting, should be limited to mobile devices and avoided at all costs on the desktop.

Everyone looks like a schmuck talking into their tablet or phone. You look equally challenged talking into your desktop computer. It doesn’t mean you should do it.

Before the latest rash of Windows 10 updates from Microsoft, Cortana was effectively banished from all of my Win 10 computers including laptops with built-in microphones. After the latest updates, Cortana came back, begging, “Ask me anything.”

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