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Amazon Echo Dot

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Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#361

Post by icebraining »

BatFastard wrote: post #252

I love my echo! I probably use it 15-25 times a day. 1) Acts as my alarm 2) Turn on my favorite radio station while I make breakfast. 3) Timers for cooking breakfast. 4) Listen to flash news 5) Alarm again if I need a nap. 6) Timers for lunch meal 7) Add item to shopping list. 8) Add todo items. 9) Plays spotify while I work on my computer from across the room. 10) More flash news (its really quite extensive) 11) mor…

Where did the strange sense of "everyone is spying on you" come from? A bloated sense of self importance?

Beyond what others have written, there's also a matter of principle. I don't think I'll be personally and directly affected by it, and so I'm kind of sloppy with my use of online services, but I don't want to live in a world where these devices are everywhere, because they are dangerous when ubiquitous and hence unavoidable.

The phrase "vote with your dollars/euros/etc" may be often misapplied, but there's some truth to it, and the corollary is that every time you buy something, you're also making a wider impact on society regarding what is acceptable.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#362

Post by sib »

davis_m wrote: post #41
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.

I would be super interested in Echo in my car, but mostly because I don't have one of the fancy new cars that connects to my phone over bluetooth for that sort of stuff.

Ford announced an Alexa integration at CES this year.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/ford-working-on-amazon-echo-int...

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#363

Post by fluxquanta »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #312
fluxquanta wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We all spend our money how we want, and cell phones most certainly aren't free, either. Aside from that, I didn't purchase the Echo with the intent of it being primarily kitchen timer. It just so happens that after owning it for over a year my usage of it is mostly limited to that. My usage is probably around 85% timers and alarms, 10% streaming music, 4% shopping lists, and 1% everything else.

I'd be interested to find out how much you still use it a year from now. Do you think you've used like you thought you would, or did you have ideas about how you might use and those didn't pan out or the device didn't work very well for those?

I ordered it originally purely on the "Oh, cool gadget!" factor, and I was willing to part with $99 for it.

I really didn't have a particular use case in mind at the start, but I was (and still am) impressed by the sound quality from such a small speaker. It's nice to be looking in the fridge and say "Alexa add X to my shopping list" or when my hands are covered with flour say "Alexa set a timer for 30 minutes" or whatever. And for those things it's worth the cost to me.

Most of the features that have rolled out just seem gimmicky, though. Take the news briefing: It either provides too little info to be useful, or it drones on and I get annoyed by the voice which, while it sounds natural compared to Microsoft Sam, still feels cold and artificial. In general I like having more control over my internet actions. I'll never use it to order a pizza or anything from Amazon because I don't know what happens if it misinterprets me or I make a mistake. And the third party apps are clunky ("Alexa, ask X to do Y").

To sum it up, aside from the very basic features I've used since day one it just feels like a toy.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#364

Post by _snydly »

fluxquanta wrote: post #106
arien wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost. More specifically, we didn't think that the personal assistant would have to communicate with a corporation that wants our info to make (more) money. The government option doesn't sound any better, either. I think they are rather creepy, because it's so obvious there is (or, could be) a hidden agenda.

While indeed creepy, I ordered the original Echo as soon as it was made available, but I'm probably a special case. I live by myself and barely even speak out loud at home. If Amazon can somehow monetize my primary use of Echo as a glorified kitchen timer I will be impressed.

> I live by myself and barely even speak out loud at home.

Not sure how other people feel about talking out loud at home, but as someone who also lives alone (in a 250 sqft apartment) and always wears headphones, I can't really imagine talking out loud. Just seems weird for some reason. I never use Siri either.

Wonder if that's a living alone thing, or a small apartment thing, or ...?

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#365

Post by tlrobinson »

sib wrote: post #354
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…

The traffic is encrypted. But you could certainly watch the network traffic and see that there's no traffic if the Echo doesn't wake and the lights don't turn on. (Of course, you'd have to trust that it isn't time delayed for hours in some sort of intentionally-sneaky way.) It would also be possible to take a look at the hardware design and determine the linkage between the "mic mute" button light being on and power…

> It would also be possible to take a look at the hardware design and determine the linkage between the "mic mute" button light being on and power going to the mics.

How would the mics listen for the wake word if they aren't always on?

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#367

Post by balls187 »

nogridbag wrote: post #340
balls187 wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The speaker is for voice feedback only. Doesn't actually support music, news, audiobooks etc.

Do you have a source for that? I have an Echo in my living room, but I was thinking of picking up one of these for my bedroom. I don't really care about sound quality as I would just be using it for Philips Hue, weather, and news.

Sure, this was the link that was emailed to me from Amazon, which also included the following text:

> With its built-in speaker, you can place Dot in the bedroom and use it as a smart alarm clock that can also turn off your lights, or use Dot in the kitchen to easily set timers and add items to your shopping list using just your voice

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=14047587011&ref_=pe_184...

See the technical details:

> Built-in speaker for voice feedback when not connected to external speakers

My Echo news is a mix of Text2Speech and audio, so I'm not sure that it would work for News.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#369

Post by saym »

mehta wrote: post #348
saym wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The use of Google Now from my bluetooth'd helmet has really improved my motorcycling experience. Real easy to say: "Okay Google... navigate to California Academy of Sciences." What's missing for me is spotify/app specific integration.

I thought this already worked. Okay Google... Play music will start Music app Okay Google... Start Radio will start NPR app

I can say "Open Spotify" and it will open the app. Then I have a button on the helmet that sends the Play command. But I can't do anything robust like playing a specific artist.

Perhaps if I used Google Music the integration would be built out.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#370

Post by api »

arien wrote: post #98
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".

Almost. More specifically, we didn't think that the personal assistant would have to communicate with a corporation that wants our info to make (more) money. The government option doesn't sound any better, either. I think they are rather creepy, because it's so obvious there is (or, could be) a hidden agenda.

Basically everything B2C today is a data play. Customers want everything to be cheap or free, so the only way to make money in B2C is to turn the customer into the product.

It's a deflationary race to the bottom. The bottom is a hell where everything watches you and sells absolutely everything about you to whomever can afford to buy the data.

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