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Amazon Echo Dot

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Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#291

Post by chc »

lyime wrote: post #285
ghaff wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that voice interfaces break down pretty quickly once you try to do anything complicated. The Echo has pretty solid voice recognition--far better than anything else I've ever used--but it's still hard to get it to do anything useful once you get beyond a pretty narrow script. (e.g. what's the weather forecast, play this artist, etc.)

That holds true with pretty much all first generation products of it's type. The first "smart phones" couldn't do a whole lot of things. Over time, the Echo will improve and you'll be able to hold conversations with it.

Just like you hold conversations with Siri, Cortana and Google Now?

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#292

Post by jimktrains2 »

Karunamon wrote: post #176
jimktrains2 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have 3 separate devices nearby that are Google Now voice activated (the newer devices support this even if the screen is off), and they will sometimes trigger at the same time accidentally. > Since the processing is cloud based, and they know my identity, Interesting, so everything said in that room gets processed and potentially sent to Google for indefinite storage? What a 1984-style luxury.

AFAIK, every one of these devices does nothing until a "wake word" is heard, and only then do they record+send. Having all of the devices listening all the time would be a bandwidth and power nightmare, if not for the sender, for the receiver.

What about accidental triggers of the wake word? What about planted "wake words" to record people discussion "inappropriate" things?

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#293

Post by squeaky-clean »

jdminhbg wrote: post #248
fluxquanta wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think when we were kids we didn't think that the personal assistant would have to communicate with the outside world via the internet in order to perform its function. If all of "Alexa" was included in a disconnected local database I bet it would still be as appealing. Rosie on the Jetsons didn't have to "phone home".

> I think when we were kids we didn't think that the personal assistant would have to communicate with the outside world via the internet in order to perform its function. Human personal assistants were connected to the outside world -- how else would they make appointments and reservations, book flights, find out what the weather would be, etc.? The whole point is to be connected to the outside world, automatic or n…

Sure, but I also wouldn't let a human assistant live in my bedroom 24/7 listening to everything I say. I would also choose my words and topic differently when a human assistant is around.

You have to be able to trust that Echo isn't recording everything you say, unless you prefix it with "Alexa", and that this behavior will never change (say this is the behavior for the average user, but with a police warrant, they're able to tap your Echo).

I'm part of the group that thinks the tradeoff is worth it for the convenience, but I understand why many people would disagree.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#295

Post by bckmn »

startupfounder wrote: post #14

The transition from primarily visual UX towards an auditorial UX is really powerful. Looking at screens to get key information distracts me from my surroundings and seems archaic. My wife is a sound designer who has opened my eyes to the importance of sounds both in film and in the world. It's not that I was unaware of sounds, but I didn't realize how important they are to centering me in this world and the made up w…

You would probably be interested in what we've been building over at https://www.narro.co.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#296

Post by oaktowner »

ryandrake wrote: post #216
caractacus wrote: post #63

When did I turn from the enthusiastic kid who dreamed of audio-controlled personal assistants like this to a cranky old man who doesn't want anything remotely spy-possible in his house?

I love "smart" devices, but hate "devices that needlessly insist on connecting to the Internet". One of the worst offenders is Dropcam. They have a super camera, easy to set up and use. Great picture quality. Would be an awesome baby monitor or "closed circuit TV replacement". But why the goddamn hell does it need to connect to the Internet? Why is the only option available to needlessly stream video out of my home n…

Their business model depends on some percentage of their customers using the subscription service.

My guess is: if they offered the version you describe, they'd need to make it much more expensive. Which many consumers would find odd: the one with fewer features would cost much more. Granted, those consumers wouldn't be looking at the big picture...but I find many consumers don't. Up front costs matter a lot to consumers.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#297

Post by m3mnoch »

jbob2000 wrote: post #264
publicfig wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would you find useful? You seem upset that a product was designed for a user that is not you, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a use. Subscribing to music streaming services, ordering delivery, using Uber; these aren't incredibly uncommon things just because you don't use them. It is rare for new and exciting technology to just pop out of nowhere. Almost all new products are reiterations of previous product…

Totally fair point! But would you buy an Echo Dot if you only used Uber and didn't use any of the other services? Or if you used 1 or 2 of the services? How many of these services do you need to use before the functionality of Echo becomes apparent? I want to be a fly-on-the-wall when someone sets one of these up in their home. I can't picture it fitting in with my lifestyle, so I'm curious to see how others would ac…

we've had an echo for about a year now and we love it.

by 'we', mean my busy family of four. it acts as everything from shopping lists to homework timers to streaming pandora/spotify to telling jokes -- and more. we easily talk to her (she is basically part of the family) a dozen times a day.

i can totally see how someone who doesn't have all this commotion and such would think it useless. for us tho, it's not useless. it's both fun and functional.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#298

Post by samstave »

lyime wrote: post #285
ghaff wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that voice interfaces break down pretty quickly once you try to do anything complicated. The Echo has pretty solid voice recognition--far better than anything else I've ever used--but it's still hard to get it to do anything useful once you get beyond a pretty narrow script. (e.g. what's the weather forecast, play this artist, etc.)

That holds true with pretty much all first generation products of it's type. The first "smart phones" couldn't do a whole lot of things. Over time, the Echo will improve and you'll be able to hold conversations with it.

My children are quite young. The world is going to be an amazingly interesting place when they are my age.

I can recall the first time I ever saw a computer and how primitive they now look.

Now we have little bots that listen to you and reply with info.

When my two-year-old is forty - we will have ghost in the shell.

It's crazy beautiful and scary to me that we all grew up reading cyberpunk fiction and watching anime and not all of us did, but pretty much all of us are actually building that future.

There is a balance between dystopia and utopia though.

We are all working at the Great Game - and the future is going to be interesting, but we can never turn back. So hopefully we keep the balance and get it right.

My worry is that at this literal nascent stage of technology, that we don't fuck it up as we don't fight hard enough for privacy policy.

We need privacy policy that is thinking at least 50 years in advance.

The control of government apparatus is thinking in advance - I personally feel that the tech sector's vision is myopically focused on today's profits and not in the future where it should be viewing, with the exception of this most recent case between apple and the FBI. At least Cook's comments were salient and forward thinking and truly for the greater good... Let's hope that invigorates the tech industry as a whole to think about where we are headed.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#299

Post by tlrobinson »

e40 wrote: post #267
tlrobinson wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Echo (supposedly) doesn't start sending audio to Amazon until you trigger it with a "wake word", i.e. "Alexa". Of course: a) it's not open source so we can't be sure (aside from monitoring network traffic, which is probably encrypted) b) if the FBI is successful in compelling Apple to develop a backdoor for the iPhone there's nothing stopping them from compelling Amazon to do the same with Echo. c) better hope you do…

b) if the FBI is successful in compelling Apple to develop a backdoor for the iPhone there's nothing stopping them from compelling Amazon to do the same with Echo. No backdoor needed if they information is sent to Amazon. All that is needed is a court order for Amazon to hand it over.

Sure, but all you'd get are commands you give Alexa ("Alexa, turn off the lights", "Alexa, what's the weather today"), which I suppose could be interesting to law enforcement, but certainly not as interesting as the "full-take" of an always-on wiretap.

I'm suggesting in order for the FBI to use Echo (or any other internet connected device that has a microphone) as a wiretap, the FBI could try to compel the manufacturer to write, sign, and push an update that causes the device to transmit audio to the FBI at any point.

That would have seemed a little far fetched in the past, but the current FBI/Apple situation could set a precedent.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#300

Post by rdl »

Slippery_John wrote: post #170
rdl wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just thinking "I want echo with a speaker port" 3 days ago. The thing I really really want from them is echo in the car.

You could put a Dot in your car. It's USB powered and you can plug it into your stereo with an AUX cable or some such. You would just need to tether your phone's wifi or have some other in-car wifi solution.

Lots of issues with hacking something together like that, though -- I really want something which ties into vehicle sensors, the can handle calls/mute/etc., mixing nav + voice + music dynamically, etc.

At that point it's basically worth building a car computer. Possibly using Alexa for the voice, but if I'm doing a car computer, I think a hack to work with Cortana or Google or Siri might be easier.

It's amazing no one has done a good job of this yet -- it's been within feasible for 10y, and commercially viable for 5y for big companies, or 2-3y for startups just using existing hw. I think it's because not enough good product/dev/etc. people have 1h+ car commutes.

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