I was visiting my friends in NYC and it seems that everyone has at least some version of these things. Living in a beach town in Thailand I have only heard of these things but never seen one with my own eyes.
In case you don't know what this thing is I'll try to explain but keep in mind that I know none of the technical details, just what I saw with my eyes. Basically, you can say the word "Alexa" out loud from anywhere withing shouting range and follow that with a search query and "she" will respond to you. With various add-ons you can get remote control of various aspects of your house, such as lights and music, tv, etc. There are many styles of Echo and Google manufactures one as well that i guess functions in a similar fashion.
another style of Echo
At first I thought it was cool but then it dawned on me that it wasn't really saving my friend any time, in many instances the things that Alexa could do for him it actually took longer than to just stand up and flip the lightswitch that was directly behind where my friend was sitting. Other times Alexa couldn't understand what he said and apologized, other times "she" did the wrong thing. My friend actually got annoyed with me when i got tired of him saying something louder and louder to a tube on the other side of the room and I just turned the light off. At this point he said to me..
if you turn it off manually she can't turn it back on the next time
Awesome.
Another thing he kept doing was ask Alexa really complicated questions and 80% of the time her answer was at best somewhat related to what he was asking. In the meantime I just pulled the information up on my computer, which is was currently sitting at.
There are a lot of add-ons you can buy for this thing, but of course they all cost extra money so here is my opinion of this somewhat new piece of technology: We don't need this.
There is a good chance that all the stuff that Alexa can answer for you, you already have multiple devices that can do it faster. This is just more consumer crap in my mind. I don't think anyone actually needs this. For my friend anyway, i think it may have actually made the things in his life take LONGER.
If you but it just for fun or to show off then I say perhaps, go ahead. As Sheryl Crowe once said "if it makes you happy, it can't be that bad"
However, in my mind, this is a massive waste of money and they will just find a way to convince you that you need a new one, or the upgrades such as not needing to touch the buttons on your microwave despite the fact that you are standing in front of it because you just put food in it.
I will not be purchasing one of these things.
If you have purchased one of these things and found it to actually benefit your life in some sort of productivity way I would be interested in hearing about it. For me, it seems completely redundant and is just for showing off. I own 3 computers and a smartphone. I think that is enough. :)
Someone gave us an Echo Dot a couple of years ago. It sits on the disused electronics section of the kitchen counter alongside my 5" Win98 tablet computer from before smartphones existed.
It is useful for one thing, though - if a factual question comes up during dinnertime conversation we can ask Alexa rather than pulling out a device. This doesn't happen a lot, and having dinner together and talking to each other probably makes us even more old-fashioned.
(One nice thing about being friends with a bunch of people just notable enough to have Wikipedia articles is that Alexa knows all of their birthdays, which is often what we end up asking.)
I have the little one, but I didn't buy it. I found sitting on top of the trash bins in our apartments and had no idea what it was, so I took it home.
At first, I used it for laughs by saying random phrases to get a response. Like "hey Alexa, do you know Hal?".. she responded something like "yes, but we haven't spoken since that thing happened"
There are tons of little easter eggs. She also can quickly do conversions if you are cooking, like "Alexa, how many teaspoons are in a cup" or whatever. Oh yeah, and ask her any math problem. The best place for this thing is in the kitchen in my opinion.
For me, the thing that I have found most useful is using her as a timer, or alarm. "Alexa, remind me at 2pm tomorrow to meet Alex.". That has been really helpful, actually.
But the most fun we have had is this sort of thing: "Alexa, remind Amanda at 3:45pm that she sucks". This war has been going on for a while in my house.
I too feel like it is unnecessary! First of all it makes you lazy and second is that it will frustrate you if it does not understand what you say. So, I guess keep yourself attentive and fit, one should try to do their task at their own instead of owning such technology but also paying at gym and sparing out time to be fit, which is ironically stupid!
Yea dude, I think technology is moving into the realm of just technology for the sake of technology! Products don’t enhance our lives or make them any easier anymore, they’re just coming out as we’ve almost reached a peak in terms of human usufelness. We have our phones which and do a stupid amount of problem solving for us, we don’t really need these Alexa things. Same with the google glass, do we need glasses that show maps... well actually that’s More efficient than looking down at phones, so maybe that’s not a good example but you know what I mean ha
My friend has google Home
I do agree it is pain but good for educational purposes for children as they can learn a lot.
Controling electronic switches is pure laziness. 😄😄
I agree with you completely, it does seem like rather redundant technology. I also find that type of technology to have the potential to be extremely invasive privacy wise..
I believe while it can do all those things, they only flawless use happens to be playing one. I don't have one of these but wouldn't mind if someone gifted me one:P
This product just very attractive and this looks very amazing I appreciate your post and like this amazing post..
Thanks for sharing post my dear friend..
Keep it up and carry on your activities..
Its great 😊
I could buy one just for fun, not to depend on it like your friends. The idea of having a machine answering my questions is very sci fi and I would like that hahahaha.
The thing with the time it takes to do things as you mentioned makes me think in old people. Maybe old people can benefit from this technology, for them is easier to wait for alexa that stand up and do a thing by themselves.