While walking through a parking lot yesterday, I held my phone in front of me and talked to the robot who lives inside. I asked her to remind me to do something when I got home, though I can't remember what. She obliged, of course — it's her job.
The phone, of course, is an iPhone 4S. The robot is Siri.
To someone who just heard the conversation, it probably didn't seem too terribly strange. But based on a few strange looks directed my way, people thought I was nuts. Who is this wacko, they must have though, talking to his phone?
Let's call this the Siri Stigma. If you talk to your cell phone in a public place, people will question your sanity. At the very least, people will think you're weird. Not "guy who drinks his coffee with his pinkie in the air" weird, but rather "guy who slaps himself the face while crying out for voices to stop" weird.
It will get better
If you manage to use Siri in public and not get institutionalized, congratulations. Things will get better for you over time. Do you remember when people who talked on their cell phone in public were outcasts? How about when people first started texting and walking? Freaks.
Well, at least they were freaks. Now they're normal. Now they're you