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All that build up and it ends up basically an ad for Amazon Echo? Disappointing. Amazon Echo is of very borderline usefulness at best. On its own it does almost
by ebbv 10y ago
All that build up and it ends up basically an ad for Amazon Echo? Disappointing. Amazon Echo is of very borderline usefulness at best. On its own it does almost nothing that the digital assistant on your phone can't already do, and a lot that it can't just because your phone is so already entrenched in your life.
- noobermin 10y agoI was very upset about that too. I feel lied to. Moreover, are there hard numbers about how "successful" the Echo really is? EDIT: how did IOT end up there?
- lostlogin 10y agoHard numbers from Amazon? I'm sure an unlabeled graph has been released at some point showing some kind of hockey stick growth.
- dangrossman 10y agoI can say "Alexa, dim the lights to 50%" and it happens. I can say "OK Google, dim the lights to 50%" and nothing happens. Both ecosystems have access to my lights (I can control them with various apps), but only one has put effort into first-party integrations with IOT platforms.
- ebbv 10y agoOk so your specific lighting system integrates better with Echo than with OK Google. That says something about those combinations, it doesn't say much about Echo itself. Like I said in the comment you responded to; on its own the Echo is pretty borderline whether it's useful at all, and it can't do many things your phone assistant can. My point being; just because your combination works with your Echo and not your phone assistant doesn't mean that Echo is a device most people should buy.
- dangrossman 10y agoI don't think you understand. This isn't the case of "oh that product's better integrated with Amazon than Google". Amazon has put the resources and legwork into establishing a business and development integration with every single major connected device maker in retail stores. All of them, in a way that nobody else has. I think it's wrong to say it "doesn't say much about Echo itself". It shows a focus on becoming the center of the smart home nobody else has. If a device works with Samsung SmartThings, Philips Hue, Belkin Wemo, Insteon, Lutron, Wink, Nest, HomeSeer, Almond, LIFX, GE Link, TCP, iHome, Leviton, Honeywell Lyric or TotalConnect, Ecobee, Haiku, Keen, Garageio, Z-wave or Zigbee (via a hub)... then it also works with Alexa, out of the box, because Amazon has relationships with all of them already. You just say "Alexa, discover my devices" and she finds whatever you happen to own on your network on her own, instantly knows their names (that you gave them if applicable) and capabilities, and can address them through natural language.
- ebbv 10y agoI do get it. You're saying Echo has the best IoT integration of all the assistants. That may be true. But it's also possibly irrelevant depending on what combinations of IoT devices someone wants. If everything I want has HomeLink integration, then Echo's broader integration means nothing to me. > This is something Amazon did; "it doesn't say much about Echo itself" is completely mistaken. You're misunderstanding what I mean by that sentence, which I guess could be clearer. What I meant is; it doesn't say anything about Echo's independent functionality apart from any other devices. Does that help clarify? My point is that ability to integrate with other devices is great but it's only one thing that a digital assistant has to do. Echo is missing other things that assistants on phones can do not only because the phone has capabilities Echo does not hardware wise but also because our phones are so integrated into our daily lives. Anyway this discussion has really gone off the rails. My original point was this article is clearly just an Echo ad and it's a bad one at that.
- zer0gravity 10y agoYeah... yet another post to promote Amazon Echo dressed up as something else..