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Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

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Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#271

Post by browningstreet »

I use mine to start music. I have different commands for music when I work, when I cook, when I’m getting ready for a run. About 4-5 commands in total.

Sometimes I have to change the “whole house” Command because it doesn’t like where the word ‘group’ was. Sometimes it wants it first, other times.. after.

I use commands like “music time”. I have for years. And sometimes it won’t understand my command request. I have to say it 5 times and then it works. I’ve looked for words it’s likely to understand better than others. I also have “sleep time”. Usually, when I’ve said it enough times for Alexa to understand, I’m no longer calm enough for sleep.

I also can’t believe you can ask it to start an album and go to the second song. Seems like a basic request.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#272

Post by willsmith72 »

pj_mukh wrote: post #265
paxys wrote: post #86

The core issue is that Amazon envisioned Alexa as a product that would help it increase sales. Smart home features were always an afterthought. How convenient would it be if people could shout "Alexa order me Tide Pods" from wherever they were in their home and the order got magically processed? That demo definitely got applause from a boardroom full of execs. The problem is that consumers don't behave like that. Thi…

What I want is a truly personal assistant (which LLM's should be capable of). Alexa can barely get me answers to google-able questions. If I could be assured of privacy issues, I'd be happy to give it access to my email, calendar, bank accounts etc. and then let me just use it like a Chief of Staff. I know another company is going to come do this, but it's crazy that that company may not be Alexa/Google.

Why is that so simple? I've had online bank accounts, calendars and emails for many years now, but I still can't do a "text search" across all of them. Isn't the LLM the easy part? How do you link and connect all the different systems you interact with?

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#273

Post by linsomniac »

mschuster91 wrote: post #238
booi wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ridiculous that I have to have a spreadsheet with pricing information and links for household goods just to spot check and make sure I'm getting the actual price per quantity that I want due to the multiple dynamic listings that change every day nightmare. Don't ask how many times I receive more or less than I thought I would or something came in 10 packages of 3 instead of 1 30x package.

Vote for politicians that campaign on consumer protection legislation. Here in Europe, it's been mandatory to show a price related to a reasonable common base point (e.g. liter, kilogram, piece, usage-unit for laundry detergent) adjacent to the actual product's price for many years now. You can go and use 1/10/100 grams/milliliters though for small scale packages where that is reasonably common (e.g. spices), and tha…

Here in the US with Amazon it will usually give you a price per quantity, though that can vary between "each", "oz", etc... The real issue being complained about is that there may be 10 listings in Amazon for "Tide Pods", so if you say to Alexa "Order Tide Pods" you aren't sure what you'll get, what quantity, or what price.

Amazon REALLY needs to do some product normalization.

It is true that if you go into a grocery store, you're literally presented with a whole aisle of detergent, and even if you are as the section for "Tide Pods" there may be quite a few options (larger/smaller, "stain blaster", "fresh", whatever), you very quickly get a pretty good view of what the options are and their differences, plus prices and things like "on sale" cards.

The shopping experience is absolutely inferior with Amazon for things for which there are many alike products.

One could even imagine some sort of mega page for "slim network cables" where you'd select the standard and color and length and be presented with a few options. They try this with things like screws, though I can't believe they have one option for star drive 5/8" wood screws...

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#274

Post by pj_mukh »

willsmith72 wrote: post #272
pj_mukh wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I want is a truly personal assistant (which LLM's should be capable of). Alexa can barely get me answers to google-able questions. If I could be assured of privacy issues, I'd be happy to give it access to my email, calendar, bank accounts etc. and then let me just use it like a Chief of Staff. I know another company is going to come do this, but it's crazy that that company may not be Alexa/Google.

Why is that so simple? I've had online bank accounts, calendars and emails for many years now, but I still can't do a "text search" across all of them. Isn't the LLM the easy part? How do you link and connect all the different systems you interact with?

I mean at its core operating a bank account, an email and a calendar is just running operations on a browser.

LLM's can do that (ex: https://www.skyvern.com or https://www.gumloop.com).

edit: Though more generally, I can see a future where all these operations are essentially different functions in a function calling system.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#275

Post by ysacfanboi »

Please realize, for this to be true, there must be another incentive. I.e., Alexa devices are government-subsidized spyware.

What are the advantages for Amazon?

- Mic-popping, Camera-popping, mobile phone backdoor access, network sniffing, device activity monitoring across all wifi/bluetooth connected networks.

- Sidewalk (remember this? Amazon "borrows" your wifi, for free...)

Unplug Alexa devices. Remove the Alexa app from your phone, and factory reset. Otherwise you remain complicit in Amazon surveillance of you and everyone that interacts with you.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#276

Post by ghaff »

mikehollinger wrote: post #228
paxys wrote: post #86

The core issue is that Amazon envisioned Alexa as a product that would help it increase sales. Smart home features were always an afterthought. How convenient would it be if people could shout "Alexa order me Tide Pods" from wherever they were in their home and the order got magically processed? That demo definitely got applause from a boardroom full of execs. The problem is that consumers don't behave like that. Thi…

>If they want to salvage Alexa, they need to forget shopping and start doubling down on the smart home and assistant experience. Agree. Go look at the Alexa Skills for any random category and sort by "best sellers," then sort again by "average review." There isn't an ecosystem. For Lifestyle, the "4th best selling" [1] skill is "North American Roofing," which is for a company in Tampa. There should be more there. Giv…

I have basically zero interest in "smart home" features and I'm not sure what "assistant experience" means at the current level of technology. It certainly isn't an admin with a roughly middle of the pack level of savvy much less the actual exec admin that I would want.

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#277

Post by [deleted] »

paxys wrote: post #86

The core issue is that Amazon envisioned Alexa as a product that would help it increase sales. Smart home features were always an afterthought. How convenient would it be if people could shout "Alexa order me Tide Pods" from wherever they were in their home and the order got magically processed? That demo definitely got applause from a boardroom full of execs. The problem is that consumers don't behave like that. Thi…

[deleted]

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#278

Post by bonestamp2 »

My kids use Alexa for listening to (spotify) music more than anything else. If Alexa could convince my kids that Amazon music is better than Spotify, then I'd pay for amazon music instead of spotify. So far, there hasn't been any serious attempt at getting us to embrace amazon music.

If I was amazon, it would look like this. "Oh hey, you want to play Taylor Swift? Well, it looks like your brother is playing spotify on a different Alexa device. Would you like to play Taylor Swift using Amazon Music?" No ads. No bullshit. For 1 month.

After that month, then it would say "It looks like your Brother is playing music on a different Alexa device. Sign up for Amazon music to play up to 5 different streams on alexa and elsewhere." (something that is possible, but more challenging to do with spotify on alexa devices).

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#279

Post by [deleted] »

aragonite wrote: post #262
gortok wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ordered automated cat feeders and had bought the “honey guaridan [sic]” which is a Chinese knockoff when I thought I was buying “HoneyGuardian” brand automated cat feeders. This is blatant behavior on the part of sellers and Amazon turns a blind-eye to it. I didn’t learn my lesson either. I ordered seat covers, and what came was a misspelled Chinese knockoff brand instead of the name brand I thought I was ordering.…

> I ordered automated cat feeders and had bought the “honey guaridan [sic]” which is a Chinese knockoff when I thought I was buying “HoneyGuardian” brand automated cat feeders. I have to admit that's hilarious, but I'm pretty sure HoneyGuarDIan (correct spelling) too is a Chinese company, based in Shenzhen.[1] Edit: Actually I'm increasingly convinced HoneyGuarDIan and HoneyGuarIDan are the exact same company: take a…

[deleted]

Re: Alexa is in millions of households and Amazon is losing billions

#280

Post by 6ak74rfy »

ysacfanboi wrote: post #275

Please realize, for this to be true, there must be another incentive. I.e., Alexa devices are government-subsidized spyware. What are the advantages for Amazon? - Mic-popping, Camera-popping, mobile phone backdoor access, network sniffing, device activity monitoring across all wifi/bluetooth connected networks. - Sidewalk (remember this? Amazon "borrows" your wifi, for free...) Unplug Alexa devices. Remove the Alexa…

Sure. What do I do with all my devices that don't turn them into e-waste?

I've looked for projects but haven't found anything yet.

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