Alexa

[Sonnie Parker]

Do you use Alexa?

There has been a huge advertising campaign over the years to push Alexa, although I haven't seen the ads like I use to. However, I have seen a lot of products beginning to integrate Alexa as a feature.

I am curious how many of you have bought into it and use it. I has never really interested me enough to try it.

 

[JStewart]

Have one. It has its conveniences. Privacy is a concern. Obviously it does nothing that can't be done another way. For audio/video equipment I don't use it for anything more than to start it up or shut it down from another room. Although not quite ready for prime time IMHO I'd guess voice control and A.I. proliferation is inevitable so another reason for having one is just to be familiar with it for when we're eventually forced to use it.

 

[tripplej]

I have it and use it downstairs where I have no audio setup. It is great for getting the latest news, weather and sports reports at any moment. We also use it to listen to music on demand.. With Prime, they do have a lot of free music to pick from so that is good. We have the taller Amazon Echo and the speakers are acceptable..

I don't think the Amazon Echo is available anymore. They do sell the Amazon Plus now which is the upgraded version of the Amazon Echo.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Have one. It has its conveniences. Privacy is a concern. Obviously it does nothing that can't be done another way.

That is what I concluded. Amazon gave me one but, after due consideration, I just gave it to a friend who wanted it. Perhaps, I will regret that some day but I doubt it.

 

[tripplej]

Just saw news that Alexa will now give you more game stats.

from engadget,

"Voice assistants aren't great for sports buffs. They can provide the latest scores or tell you when your favorite team will play, but they rarely dive headlong into stats. Amazon, however, thinks it can dig a little deeper. It just gave Alexa the ability to recap NBA and NHL games, including the stats for individual players. You can find out how many points LeBron James scored in his last game (as of this article, 26), or have Alexa summarize the latest Maple Leafs match (they won)."

 

[Tonto]

My wife got one as a present. She likes it as she never likes figuring out how to turn on all my gear and search for stuff to watch/listen to. It is kinda handy for that.

 

[tripplej]

Yeah, with voice command, it is very easy to operate.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I'm not really a big fan of the fact that it's always listening... it's an ingenious data collection tool, no doubt about it. I'd love to have a behind the scenes explanation of the analytics Amazon has in place for all the data Alexa gathers.

 

[Tonto]

Storage is not a problem with China, Russia and Wiki Leaks storing it for them!

 

[tripplej]

Always know "Big Brother" is always watching, listening, learning.. lol.

And this brother could be the government, some company, some other entity..

 

[AudiocRaver]

We have a bunch of Alexas of different sizes and vintages around our place, but she and I are not on speaking terms, other than, "Alexa..... STOP."

 

[Tonto]

You think they could make that software for my wife?

 

[AudiocRaver]

Ooo, ooo, bet there's a market for that...

 

[mechman]

We have an Echo Dot that was given to us for free. I don't think I'd ever pay money for one of these things as I don't use it all that often.

 

[phillihp23]

I have 6 Alexa Dot 2. I use one in my home theater to start up and shut down. It controls the lights also with scene setup.

I also use them to control all the lights in my house by voice. (Lutron light switches throughout the house). No more getting out of bed to turn the lights off or on or the hallway lights you left on.

Turn on the sprinklers by voice. (Rachio sprinkler controller)

Open or shut the garage. (Gogogate 2 garage controller)

If you have a fancy thermostat you can also turn up or down the heat.

 

[mechman]

Hmmmmm I may need to revisit this Alexa thing. I have a fancy thermostat, a Rachio controller and I’d like to control my theater lights without getting up off my duff.

 

[GFOviedo]

I gave my daughter a Google Speaker. She uses it a lot to listen to music and ask random questions about anything. I just need to get a family membership for Spotify since she's always using my account lol.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

If I were to purchase any product in this field, it would be the Apple HomePod.

Partly because I'm already a fan of the Apple ecosystem. I'm not a coder, or a hacker. I don't need open-source this and that. I like my to work when I take it out of the box, and I don't want to have to constantly be checking driver/OS version/software version compatibility. Apple allows that. 99% of the software I use both personally and professionally is developed by Apple, and the stuff just works.

The other part is the big brother/privacy issues. I trust Apple further with my privacy than I do Amazon or Google. Apple sells hardware/software. Google sells information. Amazon sells everything.

 

[Jeff S]

I have an Echo and a Dot. Let's face it, I lived the past 40+ (cough cough) years without a voice assistant so it is certainly not necessary. That being said, I really like mine. I control lighting, a Fire TV, and we have the buttons that work with various games which can be fun with a small group of friends. I ask it questions like "Alexa, what other movies has (name of actor) been in?" Overall it is fun and a convenience. I guess my concern with privacy is not such an issue as, if someone is listening to my conversations, I doubt they are staying awake for very long. Plus, I use my smartphone far more than this, so privacy is already a concern.
Summary: an inexpensive device to make me lazier, but I love it!

 

[JStewart]

I trust Apple further with my privacy than I do Amazon or Google. Apple sells hardware/software. Google sells information. Amazon sells everything.

Good point.

 

[dmiller68]

I now have 4 of them. Was on the fence but bought the first one to play Christmas music downstairs. Then started playing with them more. I have 1 Echo and 3 Echo Spots. I have the Home Theater one hooked up to control my harmony. So it work pretty well to turn on, change device modes, turn off theater.

As far as privacy you are already done there if you use anything on the internet. Been in the IT world a long time in lots of industries, lots of places have and sell your data or even keep it for marketing purposes.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

As far as privacy you are already done there if you use anything on the internet. Been in the IT world a long time in lots of industries, lots of places have and sell your data or even keep it for marketing purposes.

The internet doesn't listen to every conversation I have in a room with internet access.

 

[dmiller68]

The internet doesn't listen to every conversation I have in a room with internet access.

Valid, but having talked to the engineers the "talk" gets thrown away every few secs. The shear amount of data is just not possible to keep. So if your worried they may want listen to that why they have it I'm afraid they don't... They have sold millions of them already.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Valid, but having talked to the engineers the "talk" gets thrown away every few secs. The shear amount of data is just not possible to keep. So if your worried they may want listen to that why they have it I'm afraid they don't... They have sold millions of them already.

I'm not saying they're keeping every word, but regardless, if I call one of my buddies a dildo in the room by an Alexa, I don't want a bunch of ads for dildos filling up my timeline. I don't use Chrome for the same reason.

I'm sure they're not saving entire conversations, but I'm sure they're documenting every 3rd word. "I need to mow the lawn this weekend." Sentence thrown out, lawn tool/fertilizer/seed/services ads fed.

No thanks.

 

[Jeff S]

I'm not saying they're keeping every word, but regardless, if I call one of my buddies a dildo in the room by an Alexa, I don't want a bunch of ads for dildos filling up my timeline. I don't use Chrome for the same reason.

I'm sure they're not saving entire conversations, but I'm sure they're documenting every 3rd word. "I need to mow the lawn this weekend." Sentence thrown out, lawn tool/fertilizer/seed/services ads fed.

No thanks.

I think you both bring up valid concerns and issues. The bottom line in this day and age is to do what makes you most comfortable. I don't particularly worry about Alexa listening to my wife and I, but I also don't have children in the home or other such things to worry about. I really waffled on getting my Echo for a while and finally jumped in. I also know that if security becomes a concern, I can unplug them in a second. Just have to do what each of us finds in our comfort zone.