Had huge problems with my MacBook and with a zoom wifi cable modem and a dlink ac router. Connection to xfinity wifi was better. Then we moved and I got fiber with their commercial wifi router and things have been stable. Less APS around. At work we have Cisco access points which were stable when not misconfigured.
Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
191–200 of 273 posts
Re: Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
#192I had one for two weeks and sent it back. The requirement to summon an app before asking your question is clumsy and really takes the "magic" out of the experience. I'm waiting for the Google Home to be available. Critically lacking in both ecosystems, is the ability to handle multiple user profiles so that it can recognise who is asking the question and tailor the answer to that users schedule, travel etc.
How will saying "Okay, Google" not be summoning the app?
I agree that a conversational interface will cut down on summoning the app.
Re: Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
#193[deleted]
Re: Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
#194I want a thing like this with one single difference: I don't want to talk to it.
In that case you can just buy a smartphone or laptop?
I was unclear: I want an "integration hub" that controls sonos/hue etc with a massive corporation polishing it, instead of the usual suspects of home automation crapware.
I'm happy to use it from an app rather than with voice
Re: Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I hate those touch stoves with a passion. What were they thinking? It has one job! They're easier to clean. They look better. They're possibly cheaper.
>> They're easier to clean. They look better. They're possibly cheaper. You add supposedly safer as well. Since no heat is generated unless the pan is on the stove, it's safer for kids. Apparently the jury is still out on the technology since it uses electromagnetic currents: Another Dangerous Cooking Appliance – Induction Stovetops - http://breastcancerconqueror.com/another-dangerous-cooking-a... Health Issues with…
I have nothing against induction as a stove mechanism, just against the touch panels of recent ones.
Re: Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
#196People here are really missing the point with these things asking, "why should I care?"
It should be clear to the HN crowd. One day, ambient voice technology is going to be everywhere. In your car. In the supermarket. Everywhere. The Amazon Echo is an early example of it. That it's connected to the largest goods distribution network has the potential to enhance modern living in an obvious way.
It's so typical with new technology to see a bunch of naysayers and ho-hum attitudes until one day it hits mainstream and everyone is like, "oh yeah, I knew it all along"
Re: Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
#197Clearly, people love these things. I have a few friends who own it and say it's an amazing product; and commenters on HN have expressed their enthusiasm for it as well. There is a question that's been bothering me for years now, to which I still don't have an answer, which is: does modern technology suck just for me, or am I just less tolerant of defects than most people are? I am currently typing this from a 2016 ma…
Just turned on the PS4 to play Final Fantasy XV, and was forced to update. The wireless signal was strong enough to actually complete it this time, but I ran into this bug:
https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXV/comments/5jh1em/103_patch_blac...
While waiting for the update, I wanted to comment on HackerNews, so I clicked on the 1Password icon in Google Chrome, and attempted to login. It crashed, and a bug report was sent to their team. I think I've come to expect that most software is poorly written. What further compounds that fact is a lot of it is not open-source. Tons of bugs are out there, with only a handful of people to actually fix them (when they have the time of course).
Also, I try to avoid consumer grade equipment when possible. I'll be switching to the Ubiquiti products soon enough, as I've heard nothing but positive remarks. The same issues exist in other fields as well. For example, a friend of mine does painting for a living. Consumer grade equipment like rollers and hand brushes can't even come close to expensive machinery such as a spray machine. Or a mechanic using a hydraulic lift on a vehicle versus common jack stands.
Re: Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
#198People here are really missing the point with these things asking, "why should I care?" It should be clear to the HN crowd. One day, ambient voice technology is going to be everywhere. In your car. In the supermarket. Everywhere. The Amazon Echo is an early example of it. That it's connected to the largest goods distribution network has the potential to enhance modern living in an obvious way. It's so typical with ne…
I've had this stuff in my cars, phones and now laptop (siri and cortana) for years and I've never found it to be a smooth execution to the point that I just don't use it. My BMW has a horrible manual system for entering addresses into its navi (spin wheel to letters), you'd think the voice system would be an easy resolution but it's even clunkier.
I bought 2 dots last night, one to plug into my Sonos and one to use as an alarm clock. Let's see if I use them at all beyond that.
edit: I canceled the dots and bought a Google Home and a dot to compare. Mostly because I use Google Music.
Re: Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I have never been on or even heard of a wifi network that always works. Years ago I had this problem and bought an Apple router. My wifi has always 'just worked' ever since. There was an entire thread of people on here on HN saying the same thing when Apple decided to stop making them. Wifi, like cell, is very anecdotal because of things out of your control.
I've had Apple routers as well. While above average, and not requiring restarts, it wasn't better than other premium (consumer grade) routers I've had. Of course, anecdata, but just for clarification: Are you saying you never have any wifi issues? Even every other month? I think the OP question touched on problems existing, but small enough for many to "accept them" as status quo, and him/her questioning if he/she wa…
We have a decent wifi router and it's been running for over a year now with no issues.
Our internet has gone down (Uverse fiber), but that's outside of our home and there's little we can do about it.
My phone - a Nexus 5X - is probably the flakiest bit of tech that I have. I reboot it every 10 days or so. The next worst is the AT&T DVRs. They are terribly designed, painful to use, and have bugs.
Most of the tech in my house (Canon printer, QNAP raid box, Hikvision cameras, PS4, Roku, Wii-U, Onkyo receiver, Samsung and Toshiba televisions, iPads, iPhones, Samsung Tablet, Thinkpad, MacBook, gaming PC, Kindles, etc...) have basically no recurring problems. We've had brown outs where the power goes down but not off that made me have to go reboot everything, but other than that, no real problems. Our VitaMix blender does blow one breaker, but that's not really a tech issue.
Re: Amazon Sells Out of Echo Speakers in Midst of Holiday Rush
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't record everything said in your house. It only listens to the wake word, and then records. Source: I worked on some of the low level audio functionality.
These comments about the NSA listening to you through these get annoying enough to me, I hate to think how annoying they must be to you when you built the damn thing.
Is there any reason an Echo couldn't be updated to add 24/7 listening? Just because someone built a part of it doesn't mean they know how it works now