Amazon Echo Look • Hacker News Board

petra wrote: post #87

There's a lot of negativity here. And maybe all of you are right. But it would be interesting to think of the most positive , imaginary scenario: 1. Amazon builds the service such that brands loose their power. All the negative psych/social phenomena of brand culture are gone, and with it, btw , all the ads. 2. High security + physical on and off switch make for an improved privacy situation , especially if you consi…

> 1. Amazon builds the service such that brands loose their power. All the negative psych/social phenomena of brand culture are gone, and with it, btw , all the ads.

This is extremely naive. Amazon's goal is to sell you more stuff, including clothes. In the long run this device will regularly tell you that you need new clothes because your outfits are no longer fashionable. Even if that's not a feature now and even if this version was created with the best intentions someone in marketing will see the power of this thing to sell people more stuff. It's their job.

Edit:

> Now, if Amazon could do all of this, it would be really great for their business, so why wouldn't they try ?

How would what you listed be great for their business? Selling more stuff is great for their business and the best way to get there is to tell you that the stuff you already have is not good enough.

Re: Amazon Echo Look

#125

Post by omgwhat » Wed, Apr 26, 2017, 4:09 PM UTC

Amazon.com Always friendly, always watching.™

Re: Amazon Echo Look

#126

Post by Johnny555 » Wed, Apr 26, 2017, 4:09 PM UTC

i_cant_speel wrote: post #117

Johnny555 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it any riskier than a cell phone or laptop computer with a camera?

It's not usually recording you while you are changing.

How do you know?

Amazon says their camera only records you when you ask it to, if you don't trust them, then how do you trust that your cellphone or laptop isn't recording you illicitly?

Re: Amazon Echo Look

#127

Post by eclipxe » Wed, Apr 26, 2017, 4:11 PM UTC

Reading the comments here, all I can hear is:

"No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame."

My wife's reaction:

"That looks pretty neat. I wonder how well the styling advice part works, but the camera is cool. Fashion bloggers would probably really like it. There are so many people that do a “outfit of the day” type thing"

Re: Amazon Echo Look

#128

Post by ChrisLTD » Wed, Apr 26, 2017, 4:12 PM UTC

This seems like it would be a good companion Alexa product at around $100. I'm afraid the use-case is too specific for $200.

Re: Amazon Echo Look

#129

Post by sp332 » Wed, Apr 26, 2017, 4:13 PM UTC

toddmorey wrote: post #35

The HN reaction to this device is what I expected: we're somewhere between suspicious and terrified. I'll be really fascinated to know how the wider market reacts. I was one of those who believed consumers would look at the always-on living room microphone with suspicion. But I think the lesson was pretty clear that people will trade privacy for convenience. (Likely an overabundance of trust or a lack of understandin…

Taking a photo of yourself is probably not a privacy intrusion like having someone else take a photo of you might be.

Re: Amazon Echo Look

#130

Post by cptskippy » Wed, Apr 26, 2017, 4:14 PM UTC

yohann305 wrote: post #38

It seems so obvious why hasn't Google Now done it already? Is it because of security concerns that a home device can "spy" on you at all times in your own home? By the way, there's a new marketing approach that's been trending lately: Instead of saying "this is a Alexa with a camera", they say what it's for: "look your best". Eventhough we all know adding a camera can do a lot more than just checking if you look good…

Google owns Nest and their cameras.

Beyond the basic motion detection where you can define areas of interest in the Nest camera's field of view and it will notify you when it detects movement. They've started using machine learning with them so it can distinguish people and notify you when it sees a person. It is also pretty good at not notifying you of false positives. I have one watching my front yard and early on it would notify you of motion from cloud shadows or wind shaking trees but it seems to have learned to ignore them now.

I look forward to them being able to identify UPS, FexEx and USPS delivery vehicles dropping off packages.