Amazon Echo

[davismills]

I'm afraid this device has future "paper weight" written all over it.

 

[RonBoyd]

I'm afraid this device has future "paper weight" written all over it.

Doesn't everything?

 

[REWahoo]

Doesn't everything?

Not chocolate.

 

[RonBoyd]

 

[RunningBum]

It actually makes a really great clock radio even it you don't use it for anything else

I'm not seeing a clock display on it. I guess it tells you the time out loud, potentially waking up your partner if you want to check time in the middle of the night? No thanks.

 

[SumDay]

We have two Echo's (kitchen and hubby's shop) and one Dot (bedroom) in our house. Couldn't live without them, seriously.

Here are just a few of the things we love:

1. We set timers to flip the steak, or to check the gate after the lawn guy leaves before we let the dog out.
2. I holler at her to add things to my grocery list. I used to think I wrote stuff down, but didn't, so it didn't get included. Now I open my app to see all the things I yelled at her all week.
3. She reminds me to feed the dog
4. I can ask her for classical music to read by, or to play my 70's rock play list, or hear some Garth Brooks, or nature sounds to help me fall asleep (telling her to also shut off in 30 minutes).
5. She can tell me what time stores open (and close)
6. She can rattle off movies playing near us
7. She gives us our weather & forecast. We can ask her the weather for the locales of our children. I need to know if I should fret about blizzards.
8. I have a Flash Briefing created with all my favorite news sources, and I ask for that each morning.
9. She farts on command (who can live without that?)

She's not great with sports, yet, but she's still learning. The more you use her, the smarter she gets.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Tongue in cheek thoughts below.

We have two Echo's (kitchen and hubby's shop) and one Dot (bedroom) in our house. Couldn't live without them, seriously.

Here are just a few of the things we love:

1. We set timers to flip the steak, or to check the gate after the lawn guy leaves before we let the dog out. Doesn't your oven have a timer?
2. I holler at her to add things to my grocery list. I used to think I wrote stuff down, but didn't, so it didn't get included. Now I open my app to see all the things I yelled at her all week. So, your grocery bill has increased.
3. She reminds me to feed the dog My dog is our best reminder
4. I can ask her for classical music to read by, or to play my 70's rock play list, or hear some Garth Brooks, or nature sounds to help me fall asleep (telling her to also shut off in 30 minutes). I do like the notion of telling her to shut up and it actually working without getting me in trouble.
5. She can tell me what time stores open (and close) Again, bills increase
6. She can rattle off movies playing near us Entertainment expenses increase
7. She gives us our weather & forecast. We can ask her the weather for the locales of our children. I need to know if I should fret about blizzards. I look out the window for a weather update
8. I have a Flash Briefing created with all my favorite news sources, and I ask for that each morning. Cause otherwise its hard to get any news..
9. She farts on command (who can live without that?) So can I

She's not great with sports, yet, but she's still learning. The more you use her, the smarter she gets. Same for DW

 

[Philliefan33]

SumDay's post reminds me what I wanted to ask. Who (besides SumDay and me) refers to Alexa as "she" and "her" rather than "it"?

I'm giving my dad an Echo for Christmas. Last time he visited he enjoyed asking my Alexa questions. Once that initial novelty of asking silly questions wears off, he will still enjoy being able to request music.

I guess the value of an Echo depends on your tastes and budget. I spent $140 for mine and I'm happy. We've had a couple of threads recently about little luxuries we allow ourselves, and good food/wine/liquor was an oft-mentioned item. There are probably some of you who spend $140 on a nice dinner at a fancy place. DH and I prefer to go out to eat at places that cost less than $20 total. To each his own.

 

[Happyras]

We got our dot for "free", bundled with an Ecobee 3 thermostat and remote sensor. The local utility rebated another $75 for the "smart" thermo. I liked it just for being able to control the temp by voice and now we find it a daily assistant for weather, news, constant music from my Amazon prime music etc. I have smart home devices as well.

I ran an RCA to 2.5mm plug cable up to my stereo and it plays music better than our Directtv media server set up could. It is soooooo cheeeap for what it does well. It does make you wonder what the catch is, but on Black Friday I simply asked what deals there were and ordered the Boccie Ball set. A little scary since it accessed our prime account and charged the card by just asking it to order I'm afraid a guest could order a new amazon Porche without a problem, and I would see it in the driveway the next day free shipping.

 

[SumDay]

Muir, lol. One more thing, she can find my phone, even if it's off, as long as it's in earshot.

 

[W2R]

I don't have an Echo and have never used one, so take this with a huge pinch of salt. It strikes me as something of a convenience that is solving a "problem" which didn't really exist in the first place.

I can't think of any reason why I'd want the Echo, either.

My light switches are convenient and I can turn them on with less effort than yelling out, plus I have plenty of motion detector lights in the house already.

I prefer silence to music most of the time (and access youtube and mp3's on my laptop computer which is more than enough for those rare times when I want to listen to something).

Weather here and all over the world is easily available on my laptop computer, too.

I am perfectly capable of remembering a shopping list or cooking times. I could even voice record such things on my iPhone if/when I get old enough to need that.

I know it's supposed to make me feel all 21st century and ultra-cool, but as far as I'm concerned it would be yet another totally useless gadget that will end up in the trash. I'd rather spend the money on nearly anything else. I guess this proves that I am getting frightfully old.

 

[dixonge]

I can't think of any reason why I'd want the Echo, either.

My light switches are convenient and I can turn them on with less effort than yelling out, plus I have plenty of motion detector lights in the house already.

I prefer silence to music most of the time (and access youtube and mp3's on my laptop computer which is more than enough for those rare times when I want to listen to something).

Weather here and all over the world is easily available on my laptop computer, too.

I am perfectly capable of remembering a shopping list or cooking times. I could even voice record such things on my iPhone if/when I get old enough to need that.

I know it's supposed to make me feel all 21st century and ultra-cool, but as far as I'm concerned it would be yet another totally useless gadget that will end up in the trash. I'd rather spend the money on nearly anything else. I guess this proves that I am getting frightfully old.

Weather, recipe conversions when hands are full or messy, music, time, traffic, song info, Wikipedia type info. Use it all day long. We are approaching 60 so not exactly spring chickens. Anticipate this carrying over to retirement. But, like most things many don't need it.

 

[W2R]

Weather, recipe conversions when hands are full or messy, music, time, traffic, song info, Wikipedia type info. Use it all day long. We are approaching 60 so not exactly spring chickens. Anticipate this carrying over to retirement. But, like most things many don't need it.

None of those are anything that I would ever need. I think I already mentioned all of those you listed except recipe conversions, traffic, and Wikipedia.

At 68, I go out of my way to do math calculations such as recipe conversions or tip calculations in my head, even when not necessary, to keep my brain active. As I mentioned, I guess if I did not have any other devices some of that would be helpful. But I do. Also it would be helpful if I was handicapped and couldn't operate a laptop computer, tablet, or iPhone, but I'm not. So it sounds like a royal PITA to me to have to yell out every time I want some info from the internet. I'd feel like a crazy old lady or a 21st century version of Edith Bunker - - but YMMV and for most it probably does.

 

[dixonge]

None of those are anything that I would ever need. I think I already mentioned all of those you listed except recipe conversions, traffic, and Wikipedia.

At 68, I go out of my way to do math calculations such as recipe conversions or tip calculations, even when not necessary, to keep my brain active. As I mentioned, I guess if I did not have any other devices some of that would be helpful. But I do. Also it would be helpful if I was handicapped and couldn't operate a laptop computer, tablet, or iPhone, but I'm not. So it sounds like a royal PITA to me to have to yell out every time I want some info from the internet. I'd feel like a crazy old lady or a 21st century version of Edith Bunker - - but YMMV and for most it probably does.

I find it much faster than using all of my devices. I prefer it to turning on phone, opening app, typing slowly with one finger. Ugh. Maddening! lol or laptop. Even with 90wpm typing I don't want laptop on all the time. Or the TV, tablet, etc. Also handy while crocheting, etc.

 

[Major Tom]

So it sounds like a royal PITA to me to have to yell out every time I want some info from the internet.

That's pretty much how I feel about it too! I have a desktop computer which is switched on most of the day. Anytime I want anything, it can all be accessed very quickly via the keyboard.

I think it's a matter of which interface you prefer. I like to save my vocalizations for more important things like speaking to my cats (and would much rather have information fed to me on a screen than via speech). It's all a matter of personal preferences.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

Love your tag lines. In the same vein...

In the most carefully constructed experiment under the most carefully controlled conditions, the organism will do whatever it damn well pleases.