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Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

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Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#501

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"Ok, Google" makes everyone hate saying the word "Google". It is now linked to the emotions of frustration and anger forever.

"OK Google"/"hey Google" is one of the reasons I went with Amazon's products instead! (other reasons include that they seem to understand my voice more reliably than Google or Microsoft's systems). I get to call it Computer instead of Alexa too, though if I were stuck with Alexa it would still be preferable to Google (or Amazon for that matter). It's isn't just branding though, if I'm right. The wake word needs to be…

I'd go for "Zen".

And the resulting announcements. "INFORMATION: Four minutes have elapsed." for a timer, etc.

Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering Amazon uses "Alexa" and Apple uses "Siri" and Microsoft uses "Cortana", it is strange that Google opted not to pick an alternative name

So, I can't find the reference googling it now, but apparently Jeff Bezos really wanted Alexa to be called "Amazon" (pretty similar to Ok Google). I think he didn't want to dilute the brand, and have the association front of mind or something, but the people on the alexa project managed to convince him to go with alexa instead (as it's confusing, and arguably a better name). I think that's part of the reason for the…

Very interesting. I can’t help feel the irony given Alexa itself was a brand Bezos acquired* in 1999 to get in on being a Search Engine just when Google was on the rise...

I can hear it now “We finally have a use for that brand we spent all that money on..”

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexa_Internet

Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#503
post #410
post #196

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Agreed. And I have a small child. I _really_ don't want them to be forming "relationships" with brands by asking robot assistants named after corporations to do stuff.

I think you can trigger Google assistant by using "OK Boo Boo". It works on the Google Home and on my Android phone, and is actually easier for toddlers.

If you say it with the right cadence, "cocaine poodle" can trigger it too.

Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#504

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> You really don't think Google doesn't test in other huge markets? I'm not entirely convinced Google test _anything_. Certainly not convinced enough to not play it up in the context of a snarky dis on Google and Googler culture.

If you're going to diss something, you should at least get it right... ;) Don't you recall the infamous fifty-shades-of-blue thing with Google? Google's whole thing is that they quantitatively test everything . Maybe you've been living under a rock the past 20 years? :P

Explain Google Groups then.

Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#505
post #293

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Smart assistants need to be able to bind predefined activity to clapping. The clapper had the UX nailed. "Alexa, ask phillips hue to turn on the living room light" vs clap clap

The insistence on making the spoken interaction feel as "human" and "natural" as possible honestly introduces way more confusion than it needs to and makes the whole thing feel uncomfortable for its parasociability and stiltedness. In Star Trek they were perfectly comfortable saying "Computer! Do the thing" in a more specific, 'computer' intonation. It was all fairly natural language, but there is no attempt to prete…

I just rewatched all of TNG, and that's actually not the case: there are several instances where a crew member (often Geordi?) would speak to the computer in a more "human" conversational way. I recall one episode in particular where Geordi's trying to set the mood in his quarters for an impending date, and he's very conversationally refining the music choice until he gets what he wants.

Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#506
post #12

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My Google Assistant (on Sonos) will somehow always play the wrong version of the song. Ask for War Pigs? Here’s the live version Ask for a Come Sail Away? Here’s a terrible cover Ask for Magic Stick? Here’s an instrumental I swear it just picks the version of the song that pays the least royalties and plays that instead of the right one...

Why would a live version of a song pay less royalties than the studio version? Similarly for the instrumental version. The only one that seems like it would pay less royalties is maybe the cover, if the cover band has a weaker royalty rate with the provider. I think the far more likely explanation is just that these home assistant products suck.

Because the studio version is a top 200 of all time album, and the live version from the 50th anniversary "Still Kickin'" Tour with 30% of the original lineup and 20% of the original vocal range?

Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You really don't think Google doesn't test in other huge markets? I'm not entirely convinced Google test _anything_. Certainly not convinced enough to not play it up in the context of a snarky dis on Google and Googler culture.

If you're going to diss something, you should at least get it right... ;) Don't you recall the infamous fifty-shades-of-blue thing with Google? Google's whole thing is that they quantitatively test everything . Maybe you've been living under a rock the past 20 years? :P

For any company Google's size (including Google), it's rarely ever accurate to say "$COMPANY does $X". Maybe some parts of Google quantitatively tests everything, but it is safe to assume that there's huge variation across the company in testing rigor.

Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#508

My fucking Google Home can't even figure out how to play the auto playlist "My Likes" on YouTube Music. Previously, I could say "Play my Thumbs Up" and it could do so on Google Play Music. It keeps playing a song called "My Likes". Jesus fucking Christ, Google. If I say "Play my My Likes playlist" something random happens. Do these guys even use their product? I'm just glad this album didn't come out before the force…

"AI" (quoting since we aren't there yet) will have to deal with what Melanie Mitchell calls "the long tail problem" before we'll accept it as AI - https://youtu.be/NMUqvhuDZtQ . While she gives instances such as "how is an autonomous vehicle supposed to distinguish between a flock of birds on the road versus a small snowman versus a kid versus a rock versus a small animal.. all of which would warrant different responses, if the system can only respond if it has seen this stuff in training before." (paraphrasing) .. and she brings up the example of Teslas getting confused by salt lines laid prior to snow season. (I'm in India, so I wouldn't know such things were done either.)

With natural language and speech interfaces, we face such long tail problems too .. like the Burger King ad triggering a whopper lookup via "ok google".[1]

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/business/burger-king-tv-a...

Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#509

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Does: Settings > Siri > Language > English (United Kingdom) not fix it for you? And possibly setting Settings > Siri > Siri Voice > British as well? Apple advertises: > Since Siri is designed to recognize accents and dialects of the supported countries or regions, Siri’s accuracy rate will be highest for native speakers. Or is this problem just with American friends' devices?

It does but then you can’t use local maps and points of interest etc.

If that were true then maps will stop working for anyone traveling to another country. I know that's certainly not the case on Android, and I suspect it's not on iOS either.

Re: Artist releases album called “Ok Google Play Music” on Spotify

#510
Is anyone working on touch screen home assistant interfaces? I think some Alexa devices have a mode, but they still seem primarily designed for speech and I think of limited use to mutes. And judging by other comments, seems like a lot of other people want something more discoverable than trying random phrases and hoping for the best.
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