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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

#111

Post by tonyedgecombe »

adventured wrote: post #49
throwaway30yo wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is the creepiest thing ive ever read on HN. I am 25 so maybe I am just getting jaded but that seems incredibly intrusive.

It's about increasing productivity, which saves time (hassle, etc). Time is among our scarcest of resources. Imagine not having to chop wood for your fireplace. Wouldn't that be amazing, to save such time? The natural gas and or electricity company is going to learn something about your lifestyle. Imagine if you could tap your smartphone and easily get a taxi. That seems like it could be extremely useful. But then th…

Eventually you realise that journey of increasing productivity (consumption really) isn't very enlightening.

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

#112

Post by stewbrew »

dilap wrote: post #68
melling wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Hey Google” is the same number of syllables as Alexa.

The number of syllables isn't the problem, it's that prefixing every request with "OK," feels extremely unnatural -- almost like you're treating the Google assistant in a sardonic or sarcastic manner. (Also, "OK" is a very unnatural prefix! Notice how you accidentally replaced it with "hey". I watched a 7 year repeatedly do this a couple of days ago with Google Home, concluding it was broken. Compare w/ Alexa, which…

There are quite a few people out there who don't speak English. Okay is a common word in many languages since WWII I guess. In many languages there isn't a aspirated H.

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

#113

Post by dawnerd »

smileysteve wrote: post #24
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…

I got a google home solely because it came w/ a hue package and tried to show it to my family. The Home couldn't hear me over itself (music) across the kitchen... My alexa can hear what I'm saying down the corridor with the shower on and much louder. It was embarassing

Interesting, I've not really had a problem with it picking up my commands from across the room when music is on, even when its playing on my nvidia shield.

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

#114

Post by tonyedgecombe »

eropple wrote: post #25
rubatuga wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Alternatively, maybe they do make a significant difference in those people's lives. I mean, seriously--who do you think you are to be the arbiter of that for them?

Perhaps rubatuga is an observer rather than arbiter?

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

#115

Post by craftyguy »

andy_ppp wrote: post #103

Can we be absolutely certain that everything before “Ok, Google” or “Alexa” isn’t being recorded, by the companies or by back doors created by the security services? Seems too much like a telescreen for my liking. The problem is I would love one I could trust!

>Can we be absolutely certain that everything before “Ok, Google” or “Alexa” isn’t being recorded, by the companies or by back doors created by the security services?

It's all proprietary, so the answer is: no.

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

#116

Post by dawnerd »

hota_mazi wrote: post #89

Hard to tell how significant that news is since Amazon doesn't list any Google Home product. And with Google Home Mini priced at $29, it's easy to speculate that it sold quite a few as well.

Yeah, my reaction to the headline was, well of course it was. Amazon was forcing it down your throat on just about every page.

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

#117

Post by slg »

Washuu wrote: post #87
notyourwork wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Alexa, what's the weather?" This isn't too difficult. I know Google is well off in this space but Alexa is pretty damn good too.

"Alexa, what's the weather?" It proceeds to tell me the weather for a state over. "Alexa, set my location to XXXXX." It can't do that. Actually getting correct location details requires downloading a separate smart phone application and digging through its menus to figure out how to set the location for each individual Alexa device.

One of the biggest problems with voice assistants is that discoverability for their full feature set is awful. If you want to get the most of it, you are going to have spend some time digging through menus and learning what the device can do. I don't know why downloading an app would be a deal breaker for anyone, but all the settings and skills are also available on the web at alexa.amazon.com.

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

#118

Post by ijidak »

dawnerd wrote: post #109
jmgao wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK, 'Hey Google' as a hotword was supported on the Google Home from the beginning.

It's what I started with and didn't even realize okay google was also valid. I wish they'd just let us designate our own, or at least give more choices.

This is what I've wondered. Why not let us designate our own??? Or provide a number of choices. It seems only natural that one day users will be able to name their assistant.

We'll look back at fixed naming and wonder who ever thought that made sense.

If I want my assistant to be named Jarvis, it puzzles me why I can't do that. It would also simplify the case where multiple devices are in the room (e.g. not having to yell towards the specific target device and hope the others ones don't hear.)

Something so simple will deeply personalize the experience for many users.

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

#119

Post by nickelbox »

darklajid wrote: post #94
figgis wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I resent the fact that Amazon has done everything in their power as a company to make it so I cannot stream amazon prime to my chromecast. That alone has tarnished my opinion of the company.

I hate that Google has done nothing to enable me to stream things to my Chromecast. Unless I use Chrome. Which I don't. Or Android. Which is annoying if I look at something on my laptop.

I agree it would be nice to be able to cast without Chrome on a laptop (looks like VLC had experimental cast support but removed it), but it's literally in the name...

As for Android, I was fairly certain iOS at least can cast as my Apple fanboy roommate was having fun messing with the volume and pausing playback.

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

#120

Post by nickelbox »

throwaway30yo wrote: post #28
mulletbum wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got new tires, but didn't buy a car, so they are worthless. That is basically what you are saying here. We both agree, it will tell you the weather, your commute, and play some music. Those are the things you grew tired of, but many people have their entire homes wired to these devices (me included). I don't use them daily, I use them hourly at home. It runs my sprinklers, lawn mowers, vacuums, lights, alarms, time…

That is the creepiest thing ive ever read on HN. I am 25 so maybe I am just getting jaded but that seems incredibly intrusive.

OT: 25 is now old enough to be jaded?
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