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Amazon Echo

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Re: Amazon Echo

#461

Post by 72deluxe »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #160

This could be amazing for blind people and those who have difficulty with physical inputs. That reminds me of a story I heard about the Kindle. Apparently it’s earliest success was with the vision-impaired. Before mass-market e-books, readers were limited to the few books that were available in large-print editions; thanks to the Kindle, nearly everything can be read in large type. My grandfather, whom I believe neve…

I had never thought of that, but it's true. My mum has diabetic retinopathy and used to use a laptop running at a blurry blurry non-native resolution (everything was MASSIVE). She struggled with the dark Vista theme and reading on a non-native resolution.

She bought an iPad4 and hasn't looked back. She dictates her emails and it really has helped her out significantly, including the use of Siri.

Re: Amazon Echo

#462

Post by 72deluxe »

Glyptodon wrote: post #331

I wonder if it includes the option to change the 'Alexa' keyword to 'Computer' so you can pretend you're on Star Trek.

If it is as intelligent as "computer" on Star Trek (which didn't get confused when you finished giving it commands yet would struggle with some commands "SPECIFY PARAMETERS"), then it'll be great!

I just hope its EPS conduits don't keep exploding all the time like on TNG. Or the bio-gel packs don't get infected like Voyager..... OK a bit sad I know

Re: Amazon Echo

#463

Post by anigbrowl »

agentultra wrote: post #438
anigbrowl wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying a desire for privacy is paranoid, but the assumption that the government will engage in passive monitoring and archival of everything that can be captured through the microphone and use it as leverage later, even if it doesn't involve criminal liability, eg 'assist us without nefarious purpose or we will use something we recorded to cause you acute embarrassment with devastating social consequences.' I…

> This is what I mean when I say most people don't feel culpable enough; there isn't anything sufficiently illegal going on in their lives that they perceive a significant government interest in intruding upon them in the first place. I hear this refutation quite often. I find it typically comes from people in a place of privilege that the system largely ignores. I've read far too many accounts from people who are no…

You're making my point for me. The system largely ignores a large majority of the people, who therefore don't care much about this issue to feel deterred from buying the relevant technology. Hence the enormous popularity of smartphones with GPS functionality and so forth: never getting lost >> government tracking everywhere you go, for most people.

Re: Amazon Echo

#464

Post by LLWM »

joezydeco wrote: post #108
Brian-Puccio wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the product is named "iPhone" but you ask it questions by calling it "Siri"? You don't buy a Cortana either, you buy a product named "Windows Phone" (?). What's odd to me is that Alexa is way more common name for humans than Siri is. I wonder what false positives will do for households with a human Alexa.

But why not use "Echo" as the wakeup word, or name the product "Alexa", then? I'm not considering the iPhone/Siri example the same. Siri came much later after iPhone and is not the primary mode of iPhone operation.

Probably because "echo" is too common of a sound as a component of other words.

Re: Amazon Echo

#465

Post by LLWM »

Nexxxeh wrote: post #265
gnufied wrote: post #106

I am an Indian who speaks with slight accent(not real thick, but admittedly there is some) and I am yet to use a voice recognition service that works for me. Frankly I despair at future of Voice recognition based services which target a very narrow demography. You would hope things would improve with time, but nope. Does anyone else who isn't a native English speaker has seen this problem?

I'm a native English speaker. I'm British. I have minimal regional accent (to the point where people find it difficult to pinpoint where in the UK I'm from.) I'm not far off RP and I'm still yet to find a service that gives me high accuracy.

Maybe you should learn to speak in an american accent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMS2VnDveP8

Re: Amazon Echo

#466

Post by mcphage »

memnips wrote: post #426

I'm surprised by the privacy backlash in this thread! I understand why this product is so scary for someone who is concerned about privacy, but how is this that much worse than all the other devices you use? You carry a smart-phone that presumably has GPS, a microphone, and a camera everywhere you go. There's a camera and microphone on your laptop too. Both are cloud connected. If the NSA (or any other super-power) w…

> but how is this that much worse than all the other devices you use?

Because the other devices I have have useful purposes besides listening to my speech for sales and advertising purposes. The Echo exists solely for that. It's all it does.

Re: Amazon Echo

#467

Post by sjs »

jwallaceparker wrote: post #343

Watch the promo video again and pretend it's the first few minutes of a horror movie. A package arrives on the front porch. The family brings it in and opens it. It's Alexa. It's "for everyone," says Father. The next few days are blissful. Alexa integrates herself into the family. She is indispensable. How did they ever get by without her? Father rushes in from the backyard, "Alexa, how tall is Mt. Everest?" Alexa an…

Simpsons did it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treehouse_of_Horror_XII

Re: Amazon Echo

#468

Post by dj-wonk »

bostonpete wrote: post #286
giarc wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the video, the dad says something along the lines of "We just have to say the wake word we choose."

Unfortunately, the EULA specifies that by agreeing to its terms you are choosing to use Alexa as your wake word... ;-)

Cacao will be my wake word.

Re: Amazon Echo

#469

Post by Crito »

LLWM wrote: post #459
Crito wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That in no way changes the fact that it is popular because consumers believe that it is. Consumers might not always be very bright when it comes to privacy and security, but the popularity of snapchat demonstrates that they do care.

That's not why it's popular today. It's popular because it's inconvenient to save messages, not because it's impossible. Nobody is under any illusion to the contrary.

Why do you think they want it to be inconvenient to save messages?

Privacy. They want those messages to be private.

Re: Amazon Echo

#470

Post by milkanic »

jwallaceparker wrote: post #343

Watch the promo video again and pretend it's the first few minutes of a horror movie. A package arrives on the front porch. The family brings it in and opens it. It's Alexa. It's "for everyone," says Father. The next few days are blissful. Alexa integrates herself into the family. She is indispensable. How did they ever get by without her? Father rushes in from the backyard, "Alexa, how tall is Mt. Everest?" Alexa an…

My name is Talky Tina and you'll be sorry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSy8Ko1vSKQ
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