3 ms·

Echo is great for info that you need kind-of-right-now, but info that isn't detailed enough that you need to read it. My favorite uses are: * Flash Briefing:

by mplewis 10y ago

Echo is great for info that you need kind-of-right-now, but info that isn't detailed enough that you need to read it. My favorite uses are: * Flash Briefing: Weather and NPR news while I make the morning coffee. * Weather: How cold is it? I'm about to leave and I need to know if I need a sweater or a coat. * Set a timer: I'm cooking, and I need a reminder in 10 minutes, but my hands are dirty and my phone is on the table in the other room.

1_2__3 10y ago
So I don't mean to be snarky, but what it's useful for is apparently exactly the same things every other device like this has always been useful for, nothing more. What you said is 100% identical to what someone with a Chumby would have said in 2007. This just kind of fuels. Y skepticism about this kind of product. It's looking for a problem to solve.
- michaelbuckbee 10y ago
  When I look at the technologies I've dismissed and that then went on to become big, there's a similar pattern: I didn't adequately weight the firm as well as the function. You're right. These are the easy examples because they're kind of universal. But what _feels_ very different about this is how well and quickly it works. My wife's 72yr old (and her heavily Tagalog accented English) used Alexa properly on her first attempt. My 5 yr old daughter wanted one for her room because she loves playing it so much. Ease of use and actually freaking working seems like a game changer.
  - Nadya 10y ago
    >Ease of use and actually freaking working seems like a game changer. I was honestly surprised that Alexa could recognize my voice from across an entire room, me standing in the hallway, over the music I had playing at full volume over the built-in speaker with me speaking at a normal level. That was impressive. I hate voice technology because it's always been unreliable and shoddy, meaning I could check things faster myself rather than trying to ask a computer to check it for me. "What time is it?" - "What is the time?" "Time now" "What is the time now?" "Give me the damn time!" Ah forget it. pulls out cellphone The only issues I've had with Alexa is trying to Wikipedia Japanese-related things. Alexa seems convinced I'm speaking Spanish - as any attempt to Wiki something in Japanese gives me a result related to Spain or Mexico. So we're in complete agreement here. "Actually working" is the game changer. Coupled with an affordable price (the Echo Dot was like $40 on sale? Back-in-the day the same device would hardly work and be worth $200~ and had an Xmas sale of maybe $160~)
- tomcam 10y ago
  Skepticism understandable. For me, the always on + super good microphones + hands free (super useful when cooking) won me over surprisingly fast.
- ThomPete 10y ago
  I am on Google Home. Its solving lots of problems. Asking for weather is a real timesaver for our family as my wife is always asking what it is before the kids get to school. I used to find my phone and then open it up, find the app. Now we just ask. Timer for when I am cooking much better than fiddling with timers it keeps track of it all for you too. Playing music on spotify Playing radio. All these things can be done with a phone but it's surprisingly cumbersome compared to voice once you try it out. We literally never use the phone for these anymore. Besides that things like asking for how long walking somewhere takes, or when my flight is or even having fun like making a trivia. My kids love it, my wife thought it was stupid she now uses it all the time.
deleted 10y ago
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tedmiston 10y ago
Any chance of running multiple timers?
- danso 10y ago
  Yes, you can. I'm not sure what the max is, but this morning I added 3. And there's a difference between alarms and timers, e.g. Timer: "Set a timer for 42 minutes" Alarm: "Set an alarm for 6:30 AM" Though the NLP is smart enough to recognize the following as an alarm: "Set a timer until 6:30AM"

by mplewis 10y ago

1_2__3 10y ago

So I don't mean to be snarky, but what it's useful for is apparently exactly the same things every other device like this has always been useful for, nothing more. What you said is 100% identical to what someone with a Chumby would have said in 2007. This just kind of fuels. Y skepticism about this kind of product. It's looking for a problem to solve.

michaelbuckbee 10y ago
When I look at the technologies I've dismissed and that then went on to become big, there's a similar pattern: I didn't adequately weight the firm as well as the function. You're right. These are the easy examples because they're kind of universal. But what _feels_ very different about this is how well and quickly it works. My wife's 72yr old (and her heavily Tagalog accented English) used Alexa properly on her first attempt. My 5 yr old daughter wanted one for her room because she loves playing it so much. Ease of use and actually freaking working seems like a game changer.
- Nadya 10y ago
  >Ease of use and actually freaking working seems like a game changer. I was honestly surprised that Alexa could recognize my voice from across an entire room, me standing in the hallway, over the music I had playing at full volume over the built-in speaker with me speaking at a normal level. That was impressive. I hate voice technology because it's always been unreliable and shoddy, meaning I could check things faster myself rather than trying to ask a computer to check it for me. "What time is it?" - "What is the time?" "Time now" "What is the time now?" "Give me the damn time!" Ah forget it. pulls out cellphone The only issues I've had with Alexa is trying to Wikipedia Japanese-related things. Alexa seems convinced I'm speaking Spanish - as any attempt to Wiki something in Japanese gives me a result related to Spain or Mexico. So we're in complete agreement here. "Actually working" is the game changer. Coupled with an affordable price (the Echo Dot was like $40 on sale? Back-in-the day the same device would hardly work and be worth $200~ and had an Xmas sale of maybe $160~)
tomcam 10y ago
Skepticism understandable. For me, the always on + super good microphones + hands free (super useful when cooking) won me over surprisingly fast.
ThomPete 10y ago
I am on Google Home. Its solving lots of problems. Asking for weather is a real timesaver for our family as my wife is always asking what it is before the kids get to school. I used to find my phone and then open it up, find the app. Now we just ask. Timer for when I am cooking much better than fiddling with timers it keeps track of it all for you too. Playing music on spotify Playing radio. All these things can be done with a phone but it's surprisingly cumbersome compared to voice once you try it out. We literally never use the phone for these anymore. Besides that things like asking for how long walking somewhere takes, or when my flight is or even having fun like making a trivia. My kids love it, my wife thought it was stupid she now uses it all the time.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

tedmiston 10y ago

Any chance of running multiple timers?

danso 10y ago
Yes, you can. I'm not sure what the max is, but this morning I added 3. And there's a difference between alarms and timers, e.g. Timer: "Set a timer for 42 minutes" Alarm: "Set an alarm for 6:30 AM" Though the NLP is smart enough to recognize the following as an alarm: "Set a timer until 6:30AM"