Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#71

Post by brentm » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:35 PM UTC

vertis wrote: post #62

Disclaimer: I haven't played with this since 2016, so may be out of date. Having played with the Alexa and Google home. My take on why there are no hits is that it's very clunky to invoke apps, especially for one-off queries. "Hey, Alexa/Google, Ask to do " or some variation on that. Starting an app and then interacting with it works fine for some use cases but not all. It really needs to be a flow of install app for…

And it hasn't really changed since 2016 so that is still mostly spot on.

I think the real problem though is that people aren't good at remembering voice commands, either how to invoke the command or that the command even exists. Without visual cues it's easy to forget everything.

You're not going to have a runaway hit when it's predicated on everyone remembering that special thing to say. It's like trying to have a runaway hit that had to be based on a keyboard shortcut.

All of those services are great for the basics, e.g. How's the weather / set a timer / remind me in N minutes / order toilet paper ... Everything else is a bit tougher in my opinion.

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#72

Post by akhilcacharya » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:35 PM UTC

steeve wrote: post #12

I have several, along with Google Home too. They all suffer from the same issue: it's awkward to use with third party skills. Unless they are the highly integrated ones (Spotify, Logitech Harmony) in which case it's great. It's the same for Siri, the API is so restrictive. The whole "tell XX to YY" isn't convenient. One workaround on Google Home is to use IFTTT, and in that case you can customize the whole phrase and…

>The whole "tell XX to YY" isn't convenient.

You don't have to do that - the system can usually infer what skill you want from your utterance. [0]. And the "open the blinds" thing can be done on Alexa with a custom routine (Alexa specific IFTT).

[0] https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/alexa/post/c870fd31-4f91-...

Disclaimer - interned on the team that built this

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#73

Post by bonestamp2 » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:37 PM UTC

StevePerkins wrote: post #18

My Echo was an interesting novelty at first. But a couple years in now, it is essentially (in order of usefulness): 1. An alarm clock / kitchen timer 2. A thing that tells me the weather report during morning coffee, so I know what to wear 3. A DJ that my kids yell at to play pop music If it died tomorrow, I'd probably just go back to using my phone for these 3 things rather than buy a new one. I can't imagine gettin…

Same, although I'd say a timer and weather machine that I talk to everyday is a runaway hit. There are few other things I own besides my bed, phone, clothes and a couple major appliances that I use every single day.

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#74

Post by jbattle » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:39 PM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #54

kevinmchugh wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can mistrigger on phrases like "take a left on" or "they got a Lexus". My parents have one and get a kick out of the misactivations.

I can't imagine how frustrating it is for folks named Siri. You can at least change Alexa's wake word to a couple other options ("Echo" or "Computer").

One of my coworkers has a friend named Siri. When Apple's siri first came out somehow she kept getting texts from friends "remind me tuesday to call the doctor". She didn't realize what was happening so she kept track of those reminders and texted her friends back until everyone sorted their technology out.

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#75

Post by phil_folrida » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:40 PM UTC

rafiki6 wrote: post #67

I disagree...the killer app is a smart speaker (i.e. Amazon Music + voice control). That in an of itself is pretty useful, especially when you can get a reasonably good one for under a hundred bucks now. Outside of that, Alexa isn't the platform the industry thinks it is but rather the equivalent of the touch screen on a smart phone. It's another form of input. There needs to be much better and more seamless integrat…

You are right, I would say (Music + Voice Control) as you can configure other services (Spotify for instance), there are a lot of negative comments here, I wonder if it is not due to the population of Commenters on Hackernews that would tend to be younger.

If you have a child it is nearly a nanny that helps your child doing his/her homework, plus you can connect several Alexa (from friends) and interact with them, if you have also several Alexa you can communicate in different rooms (speaks/broadcast)

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#76

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:40 PM UTC

saghm wrote: post #58

kevinmchugh wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can mistrigger on phrases like "take a left on" or "they got a Lexus". My parents have one and get a kick out of the misactivations.

My roommate and I have a Google Home Mini in the living room, and to make the accidental activations more noticeable, my roommate set the accessibility "ding" sound for when it (thinks it) heard the trigger phrase. It gets activated a lot by television (maybe once every few hours of TV), and we generally have no idea what phrase accidentally triggered it.

[deleted]

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#77

Post by Judson » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:46 PM UTC

StevePerkins wrote: post #18

My Echo was an interesting novelty at first. But a couple years in now, it is essentially (in order of usefulness): 1. An alarm clock / kitchen timer 2. A thing that tells me the weather report during morning coffee, so I know what to wear 3. A DJ that my kids yell at to play pop music If it died tomorrow, I'd probably just go back to using my phone for these 3 things rather than buy a new one. I can't imagine gettin…

I came to say the same. For my 15mo old son, I prefer asking Alexa to play music on the Echo because I don't have to ignore him (in a way) to go tapping on my phone -- which makes him very curious about what I'm doing.

As a plus, he babbles at the Echo when he wants to listen to music.

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#78

Post by smacktoward » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:48 PM UTC

clavalle wrote: post #56

Alexa is just an input/output device. It is limited, which is OK but that means there will not be a 'runaway hit'. There's just not enough of a surface area for something so comprehensive. It's like saying 'There are 80k mouse enabled apps and no runaway hit'. What it can do is have an app for nearly anything, though, that makes sense for the form factor. It's on its way. The next step of its evolution is to look at…

But the mouse does have a runaway hit: Microsoft Windows.

That being said, it took 22 years to get from Engelbart's original mouse to the first version of Windows that really took off (3.0), so perhaps we're just too early on in this product cycle for the hit to have emerged yet.

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#79

Post by ldrndll » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:50 PM UTC

melling wrote: post #9

king_magic wrote: post #2

Alexa is a glorified lighting management system for me. Given it’s current capabilities, that’s all it’s going to be for the foreseeable future. Oh, I’ll ask it the weather sometimes, but come on - what can Alexa really do that’s all that compelling, that already isn’t a capability of Siri/Google?

Two timers at once. Great in the kitchen. But you’re right... Why can’t Siri do that? A device with multiple microphones is more useful from the couch, especially when I need to yell into the kitchen. I don’t want to feel the need to keep my phone within earshot at all times. I wish Apple had such a $30 device for Siri but it’s unlikely.

As of iOS 12 HomePod can set multiple timers too.

edit Also, I completely agree. I wish there was a HomePod Dot type offering. I've been sprinkling HomePods throughout the home, but it's expensive and also obtrusive in places where you don't want something that bulky.

Re: Amazon’s Alexa Has 80k Apps and No Runaway Hit

#80

Post by apricot13 » Tue, Mar 12, 2019, 2:51 PM UTC

I find it quicker to enter commands on my phone for most things. One skill I thought would be really useful was "Alexa, hows my commute?" but without a way to go in and 'star' specific trains it would tell me about trains leaving in the next few minutes which isn't helpful!

I also cant often remember what I'm supposed to say and I sometimes forget my words as if I've been put on the spot somehow. Overall its not a pleasant user experience.