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The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

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Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#11

Post by notyourwork »

StevePerkins wrote: post #6
melling wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone put an Echo Dot in my stocking. I’ve been ranting about these devices for a while and even recently wrote a little blog post: https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/voice-as-a-user-inte... Is it worth getting a Google Mini too? I’m told that it’s actually smarter. I’m going to set up my Echo so I can reorder all the stuff I hate to shop for. We’ve been waiting half a century for “Voice as a User Interface”.…

I would say that the Amazon Echo is generally better at DOING STUFF (e.g. setting alarms and reminders, playing music, adding stuff to your Amazon shopping cart ( of course ), controlling your TV if you have a Fire stick, etc). Supposedly controlling smart home gear, although I haven't dipped my toes in those waters yet. The Google Home is generally better at ANSWERING QUESTIONS and providing information. Random quer…

I agree and its not really a surprise either... Google has been in the search (Q&A) business a long time.

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#12

Post by tinbad »

neves wrote: post #4

Ok, it is cheap. It is also cool. But does the techies here find it really useful? If so, why?

I mainly use it as a home automation "hub", works well if you have multiple systems (I use it w/ Insteon, Hue, Sonos) working together and don't want to run something complicated like Homeseer. My wife uses it mostly to control lights/music, especially when she literally has her hands full with our twins. I also like that I can re-order common stuff like diapers, wipes, etc. without having to find/take out my phone.

Sometimes I wish it had a GUI though so I could interact with it even faster..

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#14

Post by icelancer »

neves wrote: post #4

Ok, it is cheap. It is also cool. But does the techies here find it really useful? If so, why?

It gets OK use I've found from people who are between 28-40 adopting new technology like voice commands.

I have two kids. You should see how they use Alexa. A ton.

Like we adopted technology in ways the generation before us could never imagine, so will the next. Never forget that we have decades of bias cooked into our souls; the mouse and keyboard being the primary instruments of UI and email being the main method of communication.

The next generation has no guarantee of using the same tools we did... and in fact is very likely to be using something entirely different that seems unproductive to us.

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#16

Post by discodave »

fermienrico wrote: post #7

Google is miles ahead in terms of a conversational assistant. There is a lot of friction in using voice activated services. If I have a choice of typing "Weather in XXXXX zip" in the address bar vs. asking an assistant, I choose the former. Therefore, every time I use anything else but Google, I am afraid it won't recognize my command and I immediately feel like throwing that thing out of the window. I need to be 100…

And Amazon is ahead in cash money dollars, market penetration and app/IoT integrations.

Also, don't think for a second that they're lazing about and not trying to figure out how to surpass Google in the areas where they're behind.

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#17

Post by StevePerkins »

neves wrote: post #4

Ok, it is cheap. It is also cool. But does the techies here find it really useful? If so, why?

When I'm grilling steaks, cooking vegetables on the stove, and baking garlic bread in the oven all at the same time... Alexa is the ultimate kitchen timer, letting me set separate reminders for handling all three or more at once. She's great for managing my To Do list and shopping list. She's a nice DJ, or podcast player when I'm getting ready in the mornings.

I have two young kids, and they love peppering the Google Home with a million zany questions that otherwise I'd have to stumble through (e.g. "Is a T-Rex bigger than a Spinosaurus?"). Occasionally random queries will pop into my head too, and it saves me the trouble of pulling up my laptop or tapping a search string out on my phone.

They're both mostly toys, I suppose. But I've spent much larger sums of money on much sillier and less worthwhile toys (it's astounding that Apple hasn't made one of these yet).

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#18

Post by deepGem »

neves wrote: post #4

Ok, it is cheap. It is also cool. But does the techies here find it really useful? If so, why?

I use it to play songs when guests come in and want to party. It's a huge pain to search for songs on Apple music and play them, when 10 guys are yelling their preferences. I also use the timer function quite a bit - for indoor exercises and cooking.

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#19

Post by rubatuga »

gruglife wrote: post #15

Am I the only one that thinks these are useless? I got one last Xmas and stop using it after a month or so.

They have uses, but some people delude themselves into thinking they make a significant difference in their lives
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