iPhone's new 'assistant' a reminder of e-discovery beyond keywords.

October 4, 2011

You've heard, by now, that Apple's newest phone will include Siri, "virtual assistant" technology. Voice commands have been around for awhile, but Apple is, arguably, opening the technology to everyday, wide-scale use.

Which is just a reminder: keywords aren't always the best way to find things. In a world where audio and video are becoming commonplace, the evidence you need might not be in easily-searchable text format. Your witness won't type in a search request, he or she will speak it. Starting now, you're looking for the 'Assistant' audio searches, not just e-mails and texts.

Keywords continue to be the most common way to find data, but they're just the beginning, not the end, of e-discovery.