Amazon Alexa & others

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
LaurenRose
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2022 12:33 pm

Amazon Alexa & others

Post by LaurenRose »

I may be the last person alive who doesn't own one of these devices. I've been nomadding and saw no reason to haul one around, but am stationary now for while and am familiar with the one my elderly mom uses.

Basically, it seems the main function of it for her is to allow her not to have to read a device to get information. She's legally blind now so it functions well for her to retrieve phone numbers, weather, time of day, etc.

But I am wondering about the benefits for those who are sighted - to not have to stop what one is doing to look up something?

to listen to music?

Now that you've had one, could you live without it? What would you miss? Thanks
dukeblue219
Posts: 4071
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:40 am

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by dukeblue219 »

I could live without it. It's not critical.

Most of the time we ask Alexa to play music, read the weather forecast, or as a kitchen timer. It's actually very convenient while cooking to be able to set multiple timers with individual names while still holding a casserole in your hands.
User avatar
heartwood
Posts: 2683
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2013 12:40 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by heartwood »

We actually use google home and google home minis, but similar to echo w alexa. Between our home and our condo we have a dozen.

We listen to music, set timers, reminders, call a lost phone, and many more. We use it to turn lights on/off, either one or a room.

We can also control our sonos sysytem which has better sound quality, but use the home device since its more functional.

I suggest trying it, the cheapest echo is $39.99 when released on May 31.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZXJDSL5/re ... 9818047011

EDIT:

BTW and perhaps stating the obvious, you do need wifi to use echo or home.
rich126
Posts: 4453
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:56 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by rich126 »

A lot of these and other devices really depends on the user and what you want. For example, I got my wife an Apple watch years ago and she isn't a tech person but loves having it. I finally got myself one last year but honestly, despite always being a tech/gadget person, I'm not sure I would ever get another one since I don't see any important things it does for me. Sure tracking my walks, using timers/calculators, checking messages can be nice but I can do all that with my phone on a bigger screen and easier to type. And things like playing radio stations it can't do, at least on my model.

Also I'm not into using voice commands. Not sure why but I'd rather scroll and select or type in my searches.

Really depends on what you want to do with it. If you don't know of any, I'm not sure getting one will be a good idea.
----------------------------- | If you think something is important and it doesn't involve the health of someone, think again. Life goes too fast, enjoy it and be nice.
Carson
Posts: 854
Joined: Fri May 09, 2014 3:26 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Carson »

I like its ability to add things to a list, especially adding to my grocery list when cooking. Then when I'm in the store, I can pull the list up on my phone.

I also like routines - we have it turn on some lights at a certain time. It turns my kids' bedroom light off at a certain time and tells them 'good night'. Not that I've delegated all parenting to Alexa, but it lets them read and turns out the lights, otherwise they'd read until midnight!

Alexa will also read your kindle books to you. It's not the same as a purposely recorded audiobook, but pretty good. I use that feature of the app when I'm out walking and can't put my own book down!
runner3081
Posts: 5978
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 3:22 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by runner3081 »

They are worthless, wait until they integrate AI.
User avatar
samsoes
Posts: 2794
Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:12 am
Location: Northeast Rat Race

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by samsoes »

There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
Last edited by samsoes on Sat May 27, 2023 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Happiness Is Not My Companion" - Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren. | (Avatar is the statue of Gen. Warren atop Little Round Top @ Gettysburg National Military Park.)
minesweep
Posts: 1667
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:17 pm
Location: 27,000 light years from the Galactic Center of the Milky Way Galaxy (the suburbs)

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by minesweep »

samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am This will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
I received an Amazon Alexa as a gift several months ago. It's still in the box. I'm feeling the same way as you.
Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy - John Bogle | Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others, it's cheaper! - John Bogle
hoofaman
Posts: 958
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2020 3:39 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by hoofaman »

For people who are able to use a computer, I am not sure what the benefits or usecases of alexa are, at least for me voice to alexa is much slower than typing

We've had an echo for 10 years or so, when our kids were younger and didn't know how to use a computer, they would ask it questions a lot. For an elder who didn't know how to use a computer, or had mobility challenges, I could see some potential benefits and use cases there

If possible try to set it up without a credit card, not sure if that is possible or not. Even with purchases disabled, if you ask alexa to play music it will sometimes ask if you want to sign up for Amazon Music and then a kid will typically just say yes or not understand the question. Anyway, we have had Alexa try that a few times but I see the email and cancel right away during trial period. I couldn't find a way to disable the alexa signup
Badinvestor
Posts: 801
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:10 am

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Badinvestor »

samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
I assume then that you don't have a smartphone? Or you just have one that you keep normally turned off, trusting that when the smartphone claims to be off, it's really off?

The Register, c. 11/12/20: “Surely the humans who choose ‘webcam-on’ at the beginning of their meetings have not seen the movie Snowden otherwise they’d know they don’t have to bother. I take the assumption that my webcam is always switched on; the little LED just lights up during video calls to make me happy, otherwise it’s probably looking at me all the time. That is, it would be if I hadn’t unplugged it.”
User avatar
samsoes
Posts: 2794
Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:12 am
Location: Northeast Rat Race

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by samsoes »

frose2 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:18 pm
samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
I assume then that you don't have a smartphone? Or you just have one that you keep normally turned off, trusting that when the smartphone claims to be off, it's really off?

The Register, c. 11/12/20: “Surely the humans who choose ‘webcam-on’ at the beginning of their meetings have not seen the movie Snowden otherwise they’d know they don’t have to bother. I take the assumption that my webcam is always switched on; the little LED just lights up during video calls to make me happy, otherwise it’s probably looking at me all the time. That is, it would be if I hadn’t unplugged it.”
Looks like I may need to upgrade my tinfoil hat.
"Happiness Is Not My Companion" - Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren. | (Avatar is the statue of Gen. Warren atop Little Round Top @ Gettysburg National Military Park.)
Bayliss
Posts: 53
Joined: Sun Oct 18, 2020 2:02 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Bayliss »

I laugh with my mother about this. I find them useless. Even if I'm lying in a ravine somewhere, I would probably die because I'd be like:

Hey Siri, Dial 911!

Sh*t, Sh*t Sh*t I don't have Apple.

Hey Alexa, Dial 911!

Sh*t. I don't have Amazon

Hey Google, Dial 911!

Sorry.... we did not understand your request.


I personally find it pointless. I would rather just search up something myself. It's all on my phone or computer anyway.
Broken Man 1999
Posts: 8620
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:31 am
Location: West coast of Florida, near Champa Bay !

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

I use Alexa to "drop-in" DW's craft room when she is blasting her music, Alexa acts as an intercom.

I also use Alexa to make calls to the various people I have added from my phone contact list. Hands-free calls are nice.

Reminders for meds, or products I need to order. Appointment reminders. Music played on Echo Studio devices, or Echo devices streaming through my garage receiver.

Broken Man 1999
“If I cannot drink Bourbon and smoke cigars in Heaven then I shall not go." - Mark Twain
User avatar
quantAndHold
Posts: 10141
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:39 pm
Location: West Coast

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by quantAndHold »

Setting multiple, named kitchen timers with my hands up to the elbows in a meatloaf.

Also, grocery lists.

And reading and sending texts when I’m driving, without having to take my eyes off the road or hands off the wheel.
Doctor Rhythm
Posts: 3035
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 2:55 am

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Doctor Rhythm »

I regularly use Siri on my iPhone when driving to asks for navigation, play music, and to manage texts. Other than that, have only used Siri or Alexa for situations like if I needed to know the population of Shanghai but my hands are covered with barbecue sauce. Have never asked Alexa to buy stuff on Amazon, such as more barbecue sauce.
ItzaHoot
Posts: 142
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2020 12:05 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by ItzaHoot »

We have Alexa devices throughout the house. Just had to set them up with different wakeup words. Very limited list so some answer to "Alexa", some "Echo" and some (the ones my wife set up) to "Computer" since we're Star Trek fans and she wanted to be able to say "Alexa, tea, Earl Grey, Hot" like captain Picard. You get a variety of responses, typically telling you there are replicator problems when you do. I've threatened to hook up the coffee pot to a switch and set it up the night before. Then establish a routine to turn the coffee on but she won't let me. She also said I can't set one up to respond with the male voice by saying "Ziggy".

As far as privacy is concerned, we covered the cameras on out devices (including phones, computer, and tablets) and only uncover them for photos or video calls. Also told the devices to not allow drop-in's.

As far as uses are concerned,
- multiple switched plugs to turn lights and fan on and off throughout the house. Saves tripping in the dark or getting up to turn a light off.
- regular checks for definitions, spelling, information, weather, etc.
- We maintain and share a "Grocery" list that we often update by voice. Very handy when either of us are shopping and use the Alexa app on phone
- Music, both Amazon music and Apple music
- previewing Amazon Prime video offerings while working on the "Confuser"
- Setting timers and notifications while cooking or doing chores or for appointments
User avatar
Elric
Posts: 727
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:23 pm
Location: Virginia
Contact:

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Elric »

ItzaHoot wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 4:45 pm We have Alexa devices throughout the house...

As far as uses are concerned,
- multiple switched plugs to turn lights and fan on and off throughout the house. Saves tripping in the dark or getting up to turn a light off.
- regular checks for definitions, spelling, information, weather, etc.
- We maintain and share a "Grocery" list that we often update by voice. Very handy when either of us are shopping and use the Alexa app on phone
- Music, both Amazon music and Apple music
- previewing Amazon Prime video offerings while working on the "Confuser"
- Setting timers and notifications while cooking or doing chores or for appointments
Very similar. However we allow drop in, as another use is as a home intercom (very useful for between the upstairs and the finished basement).
I don't do Apple or Amazon music, but use an Alexa skill to play my home music library from my NAS, and for internet radio (primarily WXPN, WYEP, Radio Paradise, and the Retro Cocktail Hour).
We don't use it to preview Amazon Prime video. We do use it as our alarm clock.

We can live without them, but often if we'll be somewhere for a week or more, we'll bring one with us.

They don't transform you life, but they are quite useful. I'm listening to The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn on WXPN via our basement Echo as I type this.
"No man is free who must work for a living." (Illya Kuryakin)
ZMonet
Posts: 256
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2019 1:43 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by ZMonet »

90% of my use case is asking it to play a radio station: "Alexa, play Bloomberg radio on Sirius XM" (you need to link your SiriusXM account) or "Alexa, play NPR Radio" or "Play the latest X podcast"

Timers are also good for cooking. Also, when I'm making dinner, with my hands full, I often use, "Alexa, ask Life360 where my family is."
N.Y.Cab
Posts: 412
Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2018 7:46 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by N.Y.Cab »

I use Echo mostly as a bluetooth speaker with an iPad. It's good enough for casual background music but no match to a surround sound system with 5.1 speakers.
User avatar
cheese_breath
Posts: 11769
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:08 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by cheese_breath »

I got one to keep an eye on DW in the nursing home when I was locked out during the Covid crisis. Now about the only thing I use it for is the get the weather forecast or ask simple questions that Google could easily handle.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
User avatar
rob
Posts: 5236
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:49 pm
Location: Here

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by rob »

N.Y.Cab wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 5:43 pm I use Echo mostly as a bluetooth speaker with an iPad. It's good enough for casual background music but no match to a surround sound system with 5.1 speakers.
I have them output to a real sound system almost everywhere... BUT recently your not allowed to play a specific artist - they are trying to be Spotify and will add "similar" that soon turns into unrecognizable. If you setup playlists you can stop this but that takes away of a lot functionality that used to exist. (I assume they get kickbacks on what they throw into the list).

Main use otherwise is as an intercom and misc stuff like weather, what is x when someone cannot remember x song or y factoid.

I am bothered by the lack of privacy but ya know... it's just another on the list now. I did disable them from using my wifi for other revenue paths for Amazon (buried in settings and ON BY DEFAULT which is obnoxious).
| Rob | Its a dangerous business going out your front door. - J.R.R.Tolkien
User avatar
unclescrooge
Posts: 6264
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:00 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by unclescrooge »

frose2 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:18 pm
samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
I assume then that you don't have a smartphone? Or you just have one that you keep normally turned off, trusting that when the smartphone claims to be off, it's really off?
Another possibility is he walks around with his smartphone in a faraday cage, only pulling it out periodically, once the spies have left. 😁
User avatar
tuningfork
Posts: 884
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 8:30 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by tuningfork »

I have a Lenovo alarm clock at bedside, basically a dedicated Google Home device. "Hey Google, wake me up at 7 tomorrow morning" is a lot easier than fiddling with alarm clock controls. Sometimes I ask it for the weather. Of course, a phone would work for this too, but the alarm clock form factor works better than a phone or tablet and is always by the bed, while the phone might be in another room.

I also have a Google Nest Hub in the kitchen. It's used primarily for timers, which are so much easier to set by voice when your hands are full. It's also convenient to ask it to translate cooking measurements (how many ounces is 150 milliliters). Also use it to play music. It can play music on its little tinny speaker, or it can cast music to better sounding speakers if you have compatible equipment. Asking to play music by voice is a convenience.

Surprisingly, even with a screen it's not so useful to look up recipes. Sure, it can do it, but sometimes you just need a bigger screen or a sheet of paper. But for simple things like "how long to roast potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees" it's nice.

I can imagine it's useful to control smart home devices like lights, but we don't currently have any of those. I've also heard the stories of it sometimes turning off the wrong lights, or turning off the TV when asked to turn off the lights, so maybe it's useful???

Ask it to tell a joke? Did that once. Various random internet searches? Phone is much better. Buy things using voice? Not on your life.
jebmke
Posts: 25273
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:44 pm
Location: Delmarva Peninsula

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by jebmke »

unclescrooge wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 8:29 am
frose2 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:18 pm
samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
I assume then that you don't have a smartphone? Or you just have one that you keep normally turned off, trusting that when the smartphone claims to be off, it's really off?
Another possibility is he walks around with his smartphone in a faraday cage, only pulling it out periodically, once the spies have left. 😁
Mine spends most of its time in Airplane mode in my desk or glove compartment. Mainly, this keeps it from running down the battery in case I forget to charge it before I take it with me when I leave the house. Frankly, 50% of the time not only do I forget to charge it but I forget to take it. Now that I use Apple Pay more I need to work on remembering to take it with me -- either that or just leave it in the car. I worry about leaving it in the car because the garage gets pretty hot sometimes.
Stay hydrated; don't sweat the small stuff
Horologium
Posts: 263
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:08 am
Location: Chicagoland

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Horologium »

samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
Same here. I’m not a Luddite, but I do not want a device in my house that is always listening.
Horologium
Posts: 263
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:08 am
Location: Chicagoland

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Horologium »

frose2 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:18 pm
samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
I assume then that you don't have a smartphone?
I don’t have a smartphone either.
User avatar
cheese_breath
Posts: 11769
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:08 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by cheese_breath »

Horologium wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 10:00 pm
frose2 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:18 pm
samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
I assume then that you don't have a smartphone?
I don’t have a smartphone either.
Or a voice activated TV?
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
clip651
Posts: 1582
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:02 am

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by clip651 »

cheese_breath wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 10:50 pm
Horologium wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 10:00 pm
frose2 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:18 pm
samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
I assume then that you don't have a smartphone?
I don’t have a smartphone either.
Or a voice activated TV?
I have a smartphone but have Siri turned off. Microphone turned off except for any specific app where I've decided I want to use it (none yet beyond phone calls and FaceTime). Turned off cortana on my laptop, and laptop has a setting where it has to notify me before the microphone is active (so I use the microphone for zoom calls, but not for other things). I don't have a voice activated TV (nor a voice activated remote from the cable company). There are settings for these things that listen to disable them if you look for them.

I will continue to avoid buying/installing/activating devices/software that are listening to me all the time as long as I can. Visitors I can't control, though. Some of them have Alexa or Siri or whatever on their phone or watch when they visit. Always creeps me out a bit when one of those voices from a visitor's device says "sorry, I didn't catch that" when we weren't talking to it. Or when I happens when I'm visiting someone else. Ugh.

And, it's not like I'm sitting around in my house saying stuff that I'm actually worried about someone else discovering or using against me somehow. I just find it creepy and unnecessary to have my devices listening to me. I'd rather manually tell my devices what I want via touch screen, mouse, keyboard, etc.
aaaxl
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:17 am

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by aaaxl »

Horologium wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:58 pm I’m not a Luddite, but I do not want a device in my house that is always listening.
I actually have some first-hand knowledge about this. Alexa is not always listening, at least not in the way you think. Here's how it actually works:

(1) The device is always listening only for the wakeword "Alexa". And, that audio is not stored anywhere. (2) Once it detects the wakeword, the subsequent audio is then sent up to Amazon in order to process your command. The blue light turns to tell you this, and then turns off when it stops sending audio.

So to reiterate: If you talk all day, and then say "Alexa what's the weather like," and then talk some more, the only audio that will be sent or stored anywhere is "Alexa what's the weather like".

I sure that people will have objections to this line of reasoning and I'm happy to follow up. But I honestly think that none of us have any reason to worry here.
Horologium
Posts: 263
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:08 am
Location: Chicagoland

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Horologium »

cheese_breath wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 10:50 pm
Horologium wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 10:00 pm
frose2 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 12:18 pm
samsoes wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:31 am There will never, ever be a device in my home with a microphone that is always connected to the internet, always on, and always listening. Never.
I assume then that you don't have a smartphone?
I don’t have a smartphone either.
Or a voice activated TV?
Nope. I have a TV but don’t watch it. Once in a while, I’ll get a movie from the library to watch. But, I’d rather read a book. (Just to “prove” I’m not a complete whacko, I read a lot of books on my Kindle. :D
Horologium
Posts: 263
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:08 am
Location: Chicagoland

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Horologium »

aaaxl wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 4:51 am
(1) The device is always listening only for the wakeword "Alexa".
I’m not looking to start an argument, but I don’t buy this for a second.

If the device is always listening, it’s always listening.
aaaxl
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:17 am

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by aaaxl »

Horologium wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 10:28 am
aaaxl wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 4:51 am
(1) The device is always listening only for the wakeword "Alexa".
I’m not looking to start an argument, but I don’t buy this for a second.

If the device is always listening, it’s always listening.
I am also not looking to start an argument! :happy However I actually know the implementation, and this is simply not correct.
Running Bum
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2013 1:00 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Running Bum »

Bayliss wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 4:00 pm I laugh with my mother about this. I find them useless. Even if I'm lying in a ravine somewhere, I would probably die because I'd be like:

Hey Siri, Dial 911!

Sh*t, Sh*t Sh*t I don't have Apple.

Hey Alexa, Dial 911!

Sh*t. I don't have Amazon

Hey Google, Dial 911!

Sorry.... we did not understand your request.


I personally find it pointless. I would rather just search up something myself. It's all on my phone or computer anyway.
If you are home...

Alexa, Dial 911!

Dialing 511. By the way, I have suggestions for your shopping. Would you like to hear them?

----

I do have Echo Dots in my house. Heartwood listed most of my reasons already in an earlier post. Lights are my biggest use. Very handy if you have a switch in a bad place, or have your hands full. I also have an "Emergency Lights" skill that turns on all my smart lights full power, in case I think I hear an intruder or have some other emergency and full light is best. I'll also ask it things I am curious about and don't want to open up my laptop, because sometimes I get there and forgot what I was going to ask!

In my lifetime I would love to see smart windows in my house, that would open and close on my command or automation with weather temp and rain, and perhaps sense a person or animal approaching the window and close automatically. Also frost over for privacy, go reflective to block direct summer sunlight, and show whatever scene you want if you don't have a good view, or just want something different.
User avatar
quantAndHold
Posts: 10141
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:39 pm
Location: West Coast

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by quantAndHold »

aaaxl wrote: Mon May 29, 2023 4:51 am
Horologium wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:58 pm I’m not a Luddite, but I do not want a device in my house that is always listening.
I actually have some first-hand knowledge about this. Alexa is not always listening, at least not in the way you think. Here's how it actually works:

(1) The device is always listening only for the wakeword "Alexa". And, that audio is not stored anywhere. (2) Once it detects the wakeword, the subsequent audio is then sent up to Amazon in order to process your command. The blue light turns to tell you this, and then turns off when it stops sending audio.

So to reiterate: If you talk all day, and then say "Alexa what's the weather like," and then talk some more, the only audio that will be sent or stored anywhere is "Alexa what's the weather like".

I sure that people will have objections to this line of reasoning and I'm happy to follow up. But I honestly think that none of us have any reason to worry here.
And if you want to hear what it stored, you can look it up in the Alexa app.
123
Posts: 10387
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:55 pm

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by 123 »

runner3081 wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:26 am They are worthless, wait until they integrate AI.
When they include AI you won't need to talk to them. They'll already know what to do and when to do it.
The closest helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
Badinvestor
Posts: 801
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:10 am

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by Badinvestor »

This news article may be relevant to issues that have been discussed here:

"Some 30,000 Amazon employees could spy on Alexa users’ voice recordings: FTC"

https://nypost.com/2023/06/01/some-3000 ... users-ftc/
aaaxl
Posts: 23
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2007 7:17 am

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by aaaxl »

Yes. They are accused of using data to improve their speech recognition accuracy. There are no accusations that anyone used the data to do anything bad to customers.

“The company, however, failed to follow through on these promises when it kept some of this information for years and used the data it unlawfully retained to help improve its Alexa algorithm”

Honestly, it’s so easy to make something tiny sound scary in this area.
User avatar
khangaroo
Posts: 255
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:11 am

Re: Amazon Alexa & others

Post by khangaroo »

I love it!! Here are the top things I use it for:

1) Turning on and off the lights. All of our lights are connected to Alexa and every time I stay at a place where I need to manually turn on/off lights I feel like I’m living in the Stone Ages.

2) Spotify play Everywhere function. We have an Alexa in every big room and this is excellent when I’m doing errands/chores that require me moving throughout the house.

3) Grocery list function. So easy and nice to tell Alexa that we are low on coffee and milk and actually not forget to buy more at the store because we use the Alexa app as our shopping list.

I highly recommend it. In terms of privacy, in this age and time there is none. I think the sooner everybody can accept that, the better their lives will be not worrying about Big Brother going through their browser history. I only got +/- 60 years left, I’m here for a good time, not a long time!
Post Reply