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Amazon Echo Show

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Re: Amazon Echo Show

#111

Post by Klathmon »

mhermher wrote: post #83
Klathmon wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

most TVs are then still using almost full power, some still aren't "black" when a black screen is up (it provides light at night, enough to see with in my case!), and still puts off heat. It's a hack that might work for something personal, but I wouldn't be comfortable selling a product that did this.

Fair points. I'm really kind of tied to the idea that someone is going to do this as a set-top box format. What you mention is a major issue though. Maybe it can use the video output only if the TV is already on, and just failsafe to audio in those cases, like a regular echo.

That's the only way I can see it working, and I'd be interested in something like that, but I am dreading the technical support system needed to handle all the issues like CEC not working, IR codes (if you go that direction), shitty TV firmwares, passthroughs, various amounts of audio delay (if you plan to switch between on-device audio and TV's audio), and all kinds of other stuff.

But I would be interested in a device that could pull it off. Doubly so if they were cheap enough to get one for each TV.

Re: Amazon Echo Show

#112

Post by tyingq »

Nullabillity wrote: post #64
iplaw wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There isn't a need; it's more of a want. I have a few Echos and use them to control my whole home audio system. "Alexa, play Kendrick Lamar on Spotify." Just like that, I have music throughout the house and in the front and back yards. You can also get more specific with commands in order to limit where the music plays, what music service is polled, etc. It is much easier than pulling out a device, navigating to the…

Presumably you only listen to chart-topping american pop and music made by people with common english names? Because so far I've never had any luck whatsoever with anything else.

You can upload your own mp3s to Amazon Music and play them from the Echo. No cost until you go past 250 songs. http://www.voicedesigned.com/content/how-play-your-mp3s-echo...

Re: Amazon Echo Show

#113

Post by smacktoward »

problems wrote: post #91
rkangel wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because this way the screen can turn on and off dynamically. Also, it doesn't tie you to having to have a TV in a location you want one.

HDMI-CEC allows similar on most modern TVs. As for not being tied to where you have a TV, for $200 you can buy a 40"+ 1080p TV, for $100 you can have a really nice IPS 22" 1080p monitor. Probably better than this tiny thing.

The moment you tell people "for this to work you have to go buy something else separately," you lose a huge chunk of potential sales. People don't want to do the work of figuring out what specific model of something else they need, where they have to go to get it, etc. Even if you put the something else on the shelf right next to your thing, the added cognitive load will turn lots of people off.

Build the other thing in to your thing, and all those problems go away.

Re: Amazon Echo Show

#114

Post by Godel_unicode »

mustacheemperor wrote: post #41
colemannugent wrote: post #19

I feel like this entire product could be a Chromecast-esque dongle that connects to a TV. Having a personal dashboard would actually be quite useful, but this seems like they want to sell appliances not experiences. Maybe they've gone with this form factor because of the 2x 2" speakers? But why would I want that when it could be plugged directly into my home audio setup? Or maybe it's so they can include a touchscree…

It'd be awesome if I could connect my Chromecast to the Google Home and have the Home use my TV as the display for content like this.

Have you looked at the Nvidia shield TV? It seems to do more or less what you're asking for.

Re: Amazon Echo Show

#115

Post by mikeash »

tsunamifury wrote: post #99
mikeash wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we ever going to see unity between these services, or are we doomed to have little walled-off fiefdoms forever? A phone number works anywhere in the world, to anywhere in the world, with anyone who has a phone. All e-mail providers work with each other. I don't care who you're with, and I wouldn't even have to know except it's usually part of the address. SMS works no matter which provider we both have. It feels…

This isn't that complicated or sad. You can still call anyone in the world and still text anyone in the world. Its that the remaining spaces to compete in are feature based, and features don't move forward quickly on open standards. There are plenty of working open standards to do the basics, its if you want to do anything beyond the basics that you end up in a walled garden.

Video calling and instant messaging have both been around for ages at this point, and remain stubbornly walled off. Both should qualify as "basics" by now.

Sure, you can still SMS worldwide, as long as they have a cell phone. But non-phone devices are becoming very common. What if you want to send or receive messages on your tablet or computer. (This works OK in the Apple world, but only because they hack it by routing SMS through your phone.)

Video calls don't even have that.

E-mail, for example, was different. I started using online services when you had AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy, etc. all in their own little worlds. That didn't last very long before they all bridged their internal e-mail systems to the internet and everyone could talk to each other.

Re: Amazon Echo Show

#116

Post by lowtolerance »

ganfortran wrote: post #20
dkrich wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I saw this, I actually had the opposite reaction. I remember when I first saw an iPod Nano with the color screen and the scroll wheel that magically scrolled up and down by just moving your finger around it without actually turning a wheel. It seemed like magic. Same thing when I first saw the iPhone/iPod Touch. Apple's products were very carefully designed and only released when they were perfect, and very rare…

But Amazon's products are cheap. Echo first gets out, it is merely 99 dollars, and at the time, a vanilla bluetooth speaker worth that much. It is about accessibility.

Amazon Echo was $199 when it was first introduced, which was still fairly competitively priced against premium bluetooth speakers.

Re: Amazon Echo Show

#117

Post by [deleted] »

ganfortran wrote: post #20
dkrich wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I saw this, I actually had the opposite reaction. I remember when I first saw an iPod Nano with the color screen and the scroll wheel that magically scrolled up and down by just moving your finger around it without actually turning a wheel. It seemed like magic. Same thing when I first saw the iPhone/iPod Touch. Apple's products were very carefully designed and only released when they were perfect, and very rare…

But Amazon's products are cheap. Echo first gets out, it is merely 99 dollars, and at the time, a vanilla bluetooth speaker worth that much. It is about accessibility.

[deleted]

Re: Amazon Echo Show

#118

Post by sailfast »

FLGMwt wrote: post #3

Any echo owners feel like they would get additional value out of this? 90% of my interaction with my standard echo has been "what's the weather". Even when I want visual controls for music, I'd rather pull out my phone than walk over to a screen.

I use the Echo Dot a lot in the kitchen, and I could see having recipes and other video-based stuff up being very useful. Kitchen is also a hub for activity and kids and could be useful for video chatting or a second-screen to stream [insert must-watch event here] while cooking / socializing.

Getting the screen and speakers subsidized by the lock-in is a pretty intriguing model. Not sure I could get the hardware at that price point elsewhere. Will be interesting to see if there's a modding community that develops.

Re: Amazon Echo Show

#119

Post by ghostly_s »

eclipxe wrote: post #82
verytrivial wrote: post #63

I must be one of those old farts who prefers privacy over convenience. I do not want what amounts to an always-on black-box surveillance device in my home and I simply do not understand why other people think it is okay. I honestly don't. Down with this sort of thing!

Do you own a cellphone with a camera and microphone?

Yes, but only one from a vendor with a well-demonstrated commitment to privacy and with no 'always listening' features enabled. Believe it or not this is not some sort of extremist stance!

Re: Amazon Echo Show

#120

Post by aljones »

digi_owl wrote: post #62
pryelluw wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I figure Apple is letting them figure out the basics and then they will introduce Siri-in-a-box kind of thing. No sense in being first to market if your execution is flawed.

Bascially this. Since the return of Jobs, Apple has not been first about anything (and one may argue about them not being so back in the day as well). But Jobs always had a flare for marketing.

Can you have loyal customers with just marketing? Certainly you can get them to buy a product, but marketing doesn't create satisfied customers post purchase. Being first is similar. You can certainly get some nice industry buzz (marketing) by being first. People will buy the product, but will they be satisfied? Only if it is well designed.
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