Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 414 posts

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#61

Post by jhall1468 »

rubatuga wrote: post #19
gruglife wrote: post #15

Am I the only one that thinks these are useless? I got one last Xmas and stop using it after a month or so.

They have uses, but some people delude themselves into thinking they make a significant difference in their lives

It does in my case. My entire routine, both morning and night, is set to the Alexa. It's convenient (it reminds me on both my phone and on the device). When I want music, I ask for it. When I'm out of dishwasher pods, I order them. It knows which ones too, because it knows which ones I ordered last time.

So yes, it makes a significant difference in my life, as someone with ADD that struggles with these every day tasks. Maybe the delusional one is the person that thinks their particular perspective is the only one.

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#63

Post by steve_adams_86 »

melling wrote: post #53
dilap wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having to say "OK, Google" instead of just "Google" (or "Alexa") is a deal-breaker. Google's products don't feel like they are designed by humans.

“Hey Google” is the same number of syllables as Alexa.

Isn't it 'Okay Google'? Either way, I do find Alexa rolls off the tongue a little easier. That may be because I have trouble enunciating verbal transitions.

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#64

Post by cthalupa »

m0ngr31 wrote: post #31

Google might be ahead in some conversational things, but functionality wise, Alexa is way better. Probably has something to do with being on the market first, but developing a skill is a much better experience than it is with Google (imo). I think that's a big reason why. I've developed a number of skills for some big companies, and I'm fighting Amazon right now about getting my open source one published ( https://gi…

That's pretty sweet.

I am concerned about the IAM policy you're choosing - Administrator access should basically never be given out or used. I would highly recommend figuring out what your actual dependencies are and restricting the policy to just what's necessary.

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#65

Post by geoffpado »

eh78ssxv2f wrote: post #48
cma wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds sort of like the lack of Youtube on Windows Phone.

Isn't it different though? Publishing YouTube app on Windows Phone requires Google to put extra effort into developing an app for a completely new platform which I assume requires lot of engineering effort. Selling Chromecast on Amazon probably does not cost Amazon any extra engineering effort. So, I do not believe that the two situations are equivalent.

Microsoft put out their own YouTube app, no development needed from Google. Google then blocked that app: https://www.theverge.com/2013/8/15/4624706/google-blocks-win...

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#66

Post by adjkant »

Trav5 wrote: post #42
StevePerkins wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say that the Amazon Echo is generally better at DOING STUFF (e.g. setting alarms and reminders, playing music, adding stuff to your Amazon shopping cart ( of course ), controlling your TV if you have a Fire stick, etc). Supposedly controlling smart home gear, although I haven't dipped my toes in those waters yet. The Google Home is generally better at ANSWERING QUESTIONS and providing information. Random quer…

And Samsung Voice can't do anything well.

I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What voice interface system would you like to criticize again?

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#67

Post by adjkant »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #63
melling wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Hey Google” is the same number of syllables as Alexa.

Isn't it 'Okay Google'? Either way, I do find Alexa rolls off the tongue a little easier. That may be because I have trouble enunciating verbal transitions.

It's both. It comes down to the keyword identification algorithm of course, not the design by Google. Google's decision choice was not picking a random name that can be identified but instead working in their brand name. My bet is that give it a few years and we will have custom activation words within some constraints.

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#68

Post by dilap »

melling wrote: post #53
dilap wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having to say "OK, Google" instead of just "Google" (or "Alexa") is a deal-breaker. Google's products don't feel like they are designed by humans.

“Hey Google” is the same number of syllables as Alexa.

The number of syllables isn't the problem, it's that prefixing every request with "OK," feels extremely unnatural -- almost like you're treating the Google assistant in a sardonic or sarcastic manner.

(Also, "OK" is a very unnatural prefix! Notice how you accidentally replaced it with "hey". I watched a 7 year repeatedly do this a couple of days ago with Google Home, concluding it was broken. Compare w/ Alexa, which kids pick up on instantly.)

Edit: OK, not accidental, apparently "hey" is supposed to work too. Not sure why it wasn't working at my in-laws house! I think "hey" is a better prefix word than "OK" (though still not nearly as nice as no prefix [try always addressing your friends by putting "hey" in front of their name and see how it goes]), so I reduce my criticism by half. :-)

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#69

Post by dilap »

saalweachter wrote: post #59
dilap wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having to say "OK, Google" instead of just "Google" (or "Alexa") is a deal-breaker. Google's products don't feel like they are designed by humans.

Have you ever been in a room with an Alexa unit when people are trying to talk about it? It's like a comedy routine with the device activating spuriously over and over.

I have, and it's pretty funny. We quickly adapted to just saying "A." or "her".

Probably in a few years this whole debate topic will seem quant, as devices will be much at figuring out when we're addressing them than the primitive idea of a wake-word. :-)

Re: The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this holiday season

#70

Post by dilap »

adjkant wrote: post #67
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't it 'Okay Google'? Either way, I do find Alexa rolls off the tongue a little easier. That may be because I have trouble enunciating verbal transitions.

It's both. It comes down to the keyword identification algorithm of course, not the design by Google. Google's decision choice was not picking a random name that can be identified but instead working in their brand name. My bet is that give it a few years and we will have custom activation words within some constraints.

Is it both? The Google Home I was playing with at my in-laws house a couple days ago definitely only seemed to respond to "OK" (people kept forgetting and using "hey", which didn't work).
Post reply on HN