Update: Do you use Alexa Poll

[imoldernu]

Yes there are several threads on the subject, but just the question.

Do you use Alexa in any of the hardware forms. Tap, Echo, Dot etc.
Not siri or ok google.

Other comments welcome. ie, Alexa skills, home controls, voice,face to face calls etc.

Just received a Dot as a gift... If I'm missing from ER in the future, it's because DW has done me in...Can only use in the garage.

 

[Philliefan33]

Can't see the poll on my mobile device, but yes. I use an Echo and an Echo Dot at one house, and an Echo at the other house.

 

[Ready]

We just bought our first Echo during the half price sale a few weeks ago. I really like it. We have another one that we ordered for half price as well but was back ordered and won't arrive until next week.

We use it to turn the lights on/off and to set the thermostat. And the music streaming has been very nice. I wish the sound quality was a little better but I hear that Amazon is building a higher end device with better sound quality to compete with the upcoming Apple HomePod.

 

[rodi]

Nope.

My younger son wants an echo... I don't like the idea of a device that is always listening in my house.

 

[Ready]

Nope.

My younger son wants an echo... I don't like the idea of a device that is always listening in my house.

It's really only listening for the word Alexa. Otherwise it can't hear anything you are saying because it's in sleep mode until it hears Alexa. You can see when it's listening because a blue light comes on.

 

[FlaGator]

Received a Dot as a gift and had fun with it for a few weeks.

Realized, though, that every conversation within earshot was being processed by Amazon waiting for an Alexa command.

There is enough of my life in the public sphere without giving anyone more information. Haven't bothered to research what Amazon does with the voice data or how long they keep it. Not offering up any more to them for a few amusing conveniences.

 

[FlaGator]

It's really only listening for the word Alexa. Otherwise it can't hear anything you are saying because it's in sleep mode until it hears Alexa. You can see when it's listening because a blue light comes on.

Don't claim to know the technology, but how can it be "sleeping" until it hears "Alexa", if it is not listening all the time?

 

[Major Tom]

I just spent 2 1/2 weeks cat sitting for a guy who has an Echo. It was new to me, so I spent plenty of time talking to it and finding out what it could do. It was fun, but after a few days, the novelty wore off, and I was reduced to occasionally asking it what the temperature was, or asking it to play a radio station for me. It was funny when something on TV would trigger it, and along with the TV soundtrack, I'd hear Alexa saying, "I'm sorry, I don't have an opinion on that" (or whatever she says).

It was fun playing with it but at this point, I feel no need to own one.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I dont use it, or any other device. But i guess when you see I use a 10 cent a minute prepaid cell phone you knew that. High tech things are my thing.

 

[W2R]

I can't imagine actually paying good money for something like Alexa. I'd pay NOT to have it.

But everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, and if Alexa is fun for you, then more power to you. It's just not something I would ever want in my house. I love my privacy and I prefer doing internet searches or making phone calls or whatever, on my own.

 

[aja8888]

We have a Dot and it sits quietly in the corner of the kitchen cataloging all the Honeydews DW barks at me. I expect that one of these days, it will start barking at me to finish what I have put off.

I don't ask the Dot anything as I know it's 100 F outside just by opening the door. I can also figure out when it is raining out without much help.

 

[Dawg52]

I use it a little on my Fire remote control. Playing music, looking up stuff....

 

[aaronc879]

Not only do I not use "Alexa", I had to look up what it was.

 

[bw5972]

I have 2 Dots, one up and one downstairs. I am able to:

Control living room TV (on/off, volume up/down, change channel)
Adjust thermostats (up or downstairs)
Turn on/off fans in MBR or living room via wifi outlet switches.
Play music via audio out right to a Bose Wave radio.
Turn on/off/dim lights in MBR, DR, LR, Kitchen

 

[bw5972]

Received a Dot as a gift and had fun with it for a few weeks.

Realized, though, that every conversation within earshot was being processed by Amazon waiting for an Alexa command.

There is enough of my life in the public sphere without giving anyone more information. Haven't bothered to research what Amazon does with the voice data or how long they keep it. Not offering up any more to them for a few amusing conveniences.

Not so much listening as monitoring sound wave patterns for match to pattern of the wake up word. This is processed locally so nothing goes back to Amazon if and until frequency pattern match (wake up).

Prior to this local wake up trigger, there is no "hearing" your conversations or even attempts to interprete human words or speech.

 

[Mdlerth]

I have 2 Dots, one up and one downstairs. I am able to:

Control living room TV (on/off, volume up/down, change channel)
Adjust thermostats (up or downstairs)
Turn on/off fans in MBR or living room via wifi outlet switches.
Play music via audio out right to a Bose Wave radio.
Turn on/off/dim lights in MBR, DR, LR, Kitchen

I have no Dots, Alexas or Echos and I can still do these things. I can walk into a given room and turn devices on and off using a "switch".

Of course, none of these things need doing at all when I'm not in the room.

None of these devices will be "smart" until it can do things I can't, like understanding the tax code.

 

[FlaGator]

Not so much listening as monitoring sound wave patterns for match to pattern of the wake up word. This is processed locally so nothing goes back to Amazon if and until frequency pattern match (wake up).

Prior to this local wake up trigger, there is no "hearing" your conversations or even attempts to interprete human words or speech.

good to know, appreciate the explanation

 

[pb4uski]

We bought an Echo Dot on Prime Day so we have only had it a couple weeks. I like it so far. I use it to add items to my calendar, add items to my to do list and my shopping list, get the weather forecast for here or where we are going to be, listen to Marketplace, listen to music, sometimes to control our Dish TV, etc. I find it very useful.

Not yet into controling lights, fan, etc with it but that time may come.

 

[JoeWras]

We were an early adopter. Use it in the kitchen. Our most used features are:
- Hand's free music
- Grocery lists
- Timers

All three are incredibly useful when you have your hands full while prepping meals. DW likes to find "easter eggs." We don't use any advanced features (if this then that, etc)

 

[RonBoyd]

I have no Dots, Alexas or Echos and I can still do these things. I can walk into a given room and turn devices on and off using a "switch".
QUOTE]

I am guessing that you threw away the remote for the TV because getting up and crossing the room to manually turn a knob/pressing buttons is so satisfying.

 

[MarieIG]

No, I am a bit technologically challenged.

 

[Meadbh]

I am wary of using a device which collects minutiae of information about me. Obviously I use the internet, bank electronically, etc. But I want to preserve my privacy as much as reasonably possible.

 

[braumeister]

Too much like the telescreens in 1984. Gives me the shivers just thinking about having one in the house.

 

[Badger]

I don't know what any of these things are but that wasn't one of the selections on the poll. Don't know if I want or need one. But then I like to cook my own food from fresh too.

Cheers!

 

[imoldernu]

A caution:

"Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." - Alexander Pope

My son presented me with my new Echo Dot... along with a summary of his experiences and knowledge learned over the past three months.

I am now convinced that this is not a passing fancy, but perhaps the front edge of an evolving technology that will go far, far beyond turning lights on and off. With more than 15,000 Alexa "Skills" now available, we can only guess at the future possibilities.

Imagine... infinite, immediate language translation. Imagine, a sea change in education... Instead of group learning, geared to the lowest common denominator, to personalized individual learning, paced by ability and positive reinforcement. Imagine immediate person to person communication both at work and at play. Imagine the many thousands of "help" courses, from dieting to exercise, to training of all kinds, geared to a central process for proven results... immediately available to everyone.

Let me suggest this article which is limited to using Alexa for free voice/video communication between app users. While a cursory reading seems not far removed from what we can do today, my sons stay connected using Alexa, and one son, who is involved in a IT in a commercial food business, is beginning to use the current technology to connect and work with his employees.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/11/how-to-make-calls-with-amazons-alexa-for-free.html

Will be interesting to follow this technology, in whatever form, over the next ten years.