7 ms·

Echo devices are Amazon Prime Day’s best sellers

25 points by janober 9y ago

muninn_ 9y ago
Of course. Amazon subsidizes them to be extremely cheap and people get excited about a new thing. Personally, I have no use for one. "Alexa turn off the lights", or just get up or use your phone? That's what I do at least.
- moonka 9y ago
  Yea, those were the only things that seemed to have a decent discount as well. The other discounts seemed very lackluster.
- JacobJans 9y ago
  I was given one as a gift, and decided to try it for a while. The biggest benefit is being able to ask to hear any song, and being able to hear it. The Echo has brought music back into our lives, in a big way, which was a surprise. I also use it for listening to news and/or podcasts while cooking.
  - grapeshot 9y ago
    The Echo won't play you "Alexa, Buy This Song" [1] but that's probably for the best. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbigjSBk1qY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbigjSBk1qY
    - tylersmith 9y ago
      It works with "Alexa, play 'Buy This Song' by the PapaGanders" or "Alexa, play 'Buy This Song' on Spotify".
  - zocoi 9y ago
    That. And having a baby, it helps with playing white noise, lullaby... especially when you need 2 hands on the baby.
    - usaphp 9y ago
      I would urge you to learn more about side effects of using white noise for a baby. These high frequency sounds might cause development problems [1] and also your brain is getting used to them and then it's hard to live in an environment without white noise. [1] - http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030417/white-noise-may-delay-infant-development http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030417/white-noise-may-dela...
      - Afton 9y ago
        The experiment was _continuous_ white noise, rather than 'while the baby is sleeping' or 'while the baby is falling asleep'. From the article: """Both Chang and Paula Tallal, PhD -- a researcher who was not involved in Chang's study -- say it is probably not a good idea to intentionally expose babies and infants to nonstop white noise, but they say everyday exposures are probably not harmful for most children."""
        usaphp 9y ago
        he says probably, I would not personally risk doing it if I am not 100% sure it's safe. I mean babies don't really need it , why risk it for something that is hardly providing any benefit for a child.
        Afton 9y ago
        "100% sure it's safe" That's not a thing. Life is risk assessment.
  - mindslight 9y ago
    I was given one as a gift. It got sold on craigslist. Surveillance culture is not for me.
  - pdkl95 9y ago
    It sounds like you needed a music player with a better interface. I seriously doubt that a very convenient (fully? mostly? partially?) hands-free interface requires a microphone uploading what used to be private audio to servers you do not control. > brought music back into our lives, in a big way That's great, but you should be able get a similar benefit without giving up your expectation of privacy. Normalizing sending the audio from formerly private areas - even if you are not currently saying anything other than "Alexa, play ${random_pop_song}" - will eventually move listening devices across the bright line established in Kyllo v. United States[1][2]. The SCOTUS opinion: (emphasis added) >> "Where, as here, the Government uses a device that is not in general public use, to explore details of the home that would previously have been unknowable without physical intrusion, the surveillance is a "search" and is presumptively unreasonable without a warrant." When a technology is* in "general public use", a warrant is no longer required to use that technology in a search. If Echo (or similar) becomes common enough for people to start assuming the average home may contain a microphone that uploads to a 3rd party, the expectation that a home is private. Music is important, but was that particular convenience worth undermining the 4th Amendment? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_States [2] http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/533/27.html http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/533/27.html
    - JacobJans 9y ago
      > Normalizing sending the audio from formerly private areas I call B.S. Why? It has been normal for decades to send audio from "private areas." Phones, for example. Cell phones now mean you send audio from nearly any location with cell service. I expect that Amazon respects my privacy, according to their own statements and terms of service. Activating the sending of information is only done intentionally, with the use of a trigger word that I don't otherwise use. This is no different than pressing a button on a computer, or dialing a phone number on my phone. The expectation of privacy does not change just because I have a device with a microphone, at least from a legal perspective. Obviously, this still requires trusting the service provider, government, etc.
- prawn 9y ago
  I bought light bulbs that I can control with my phone. I never use them because the process is too slow. When the price is right, Alexa-controlled devices (heating, lighting, etc) would get a lot of use.
Sindrome 9y ago
Wish Alexa came out before I spent $500 on a Sonos. Now I don't even use my Sonos . . .
- zippergz 9y ago
  Interesting. I have both, in several of the same rooms, and I find that I use Sonos all the time and almost never use Alexa. But I think I'm the oddball in the world, because I find voice control (I have both Alexa and Siri in my life) to be annoying and clumsy most of the time. I'd rather just tap or type. And the sound quality on Sonos is so much better that aside from voice control, Alexa seems to have no advantage. But again, I know I'm the weird one here - everyone else seems to love voice control.
- rm999 9y ago
  Funny, I have both and I consider them different products with very different use-cases (although I have the Echo Dots, not the full size Echos). Also, in a great development, both are going to integrate with each other much better soon; there's a private beta in place right now: http://www.aftvnews.com/sonos-begins-beta-testing-amazon-alexa-control-integration/ http://www.aftvnews.com/sonos-begins-beta-testing-amazon-ale...
  - hbosch 9y ago
    Ah, is this the reason behind Sonos' conspicuous exclusion from the list of AirPlay 2 partners at WWDC? It was a hellstorm on Twitter after the fact, with plenty of Sonos faithful begging the brand for an answer... It seems (seemed?) like Apple and Sonos happily shared some consumer overlap until then. I find this news quite intriguing in that light.
notyourwork 9y ago
I wonder how Google Home installs compares to that of Amazon alexa hardware?
AlexB138 9y ago
I'm not surprised. There are very few mass appeal deals in Prime Day, and the Echo devices are heavily subsidized. I think it's more a statement of how lackluster Prime Day continues to be than it is a success of Echo.
- skynetv2 9y ago
  agreed. I couldn't find one thing I'd like to buy. Just Amazon devices over and over on every page.
  - drewrv 9y ago
    I set out to buy a new monitor but their UI didn't make it easy and I gave up.
    - workerIbe 9y ago
      I was too, they are under gaming tech or something. I found 3 but 2 were super wide aspect and the other wasn't a deal I couldn't beat any other day.
    - saghm 9y ago
      I tried the same thing, and it took me almost half an hour to realize that there was a "prime day" category in the search bar available for usage (although I also blame the UI for not making that more obvious). Of course, once I searched, there wasn't anything I was interested in anyways.
- 0x4f3759df 9y ago
  Instant Pot is on sale, too bad I bought one a few weeks ago.
  - aaronbrethorst 9y ago
    I just ordered one. A good friend of mine sent along her favorite Instant Pot risotto recipe upon hearing I'd bought one today. I cannot wait to try it: https://thisoldgal.com/pressure-cooker-best-wild-mushroom-risotto/ https://thisoldgal.com/pressure-cooker-best-wild-mushroom-ri...
hkmurakami 9y ago
I bought a Camelbak portable coffee mug that's scheduled to be delivered between early to mid August. Not exactly what "Prime" advertises itself to be in most cases, when it comes with a 3 week shipping lead time (in in no hurry so I didn't mind the delay)
kome 9y ago
I am puzzled... are they useful?
- tanilama 9y ago
  Good to set reminders and play, occasionally, some music. After all Echo is a good bluetooth speaker at the basic level. I would be curious as well how other people would put echo into use though.
  - prawn 9y ago
    In our house: playing music on Spotify and setting alarms when cooking.
    - cptskippy 9y ago
      It does unit conversions which is great when splitting or multiplying a recipe.
- j_s 9y ago
  Hands-free is often useful while wrestling toddlers. PS. Favorite kids CD: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Laurie-Berkner-Band/dp/B003KNDMFY https://www.amazon.com/Best-Laurie-Berkner-Band/dp/B003KNDMF... - cheaper to buy the CD for the car while unlocking the Echo-playable cloud MP3 edition - favorite tracks have been dubbed "Bumblebee" (1) and "Rawr" (4) - recorded a video on the iPad of myself loudly saying "Alexa, play We are the Dinosaurs" which my kid loves to re-use
- workerIbe 9y ago
  I don't know if I'd call it usefull but get 4 or 5 people playing DJ while drinking and it can be amusing for a while.
  - j_s 9y ago
    Or Twitch streamers trolling their listeners!
- 9y ago
unclebucknasty 9y ago
Ah, Echo: awesome "AI" for consuming Amazon services, including buying stuff from Amazon. Not so great for much else. The real trick is that they manage to get people to pay them anything for these little trojan horses.
- maskedinvader 9y ago
  well to be fair, they did beat everyone else to the market, when it comes to a decent speaker . you get what you pay for, and what you are paying for is with your loyalty to the amazon marketplace, the speakers on the echo / tap alone might warrant the prime day prices #sidenote
  - unclebucknasty 9y ago
    Hey, I can't knock them for succeeding. I just don't think most are in it for the speaker (nor is it marketed as such). So, I'm just pointing to the fact that, ultimately, Amazon seeks (and likely will get) more value out of the Echo than does the customer (or at least much more than the initial cost). Yet, they are able to get the customer to pay for the privilege. Cool trick if you can pull it off.
- stevecalifornia 9y ago
  IMO that's not the case at all. Our family uses it 90% to listen to music on Spotify and 10% to get morning news. We don't consume any Amazon services with it. Pretty soon the entire house will be automated with it: lights, thermostat, sprinklers, fireplace and fans. "Alexa, turn on all the lights." It's a new interface device. We can finally, easily, use our voice to accomplish tasks-- anywhere in our house. Before, with phones, it was clumsy and required pulling out the phone.
  - unclebucknasty 9y ago
    >We don't consume any Amazon services with it Give it time! Seriously, in addition to the ease with which you can also use your voice to buy on Amazon, Amazon will surely launch other services based on user behavior. In fact, they may even acquire popular services you currently use. And, of course, it's compiling data on you. It's a useful trojan horse, but a trojan horse nonetheless. Of course, if it wasn't useful it wouldn't succeed as a trojan horse. So, not saying it's evil. But, it's amazing that they are able to get people to pay for something from which they will ultimately collect many times the value.
kevin_thibedeau 9y ago
Eagerly awaiting the day-after-prime-day so I can make a purchase I was prevented from making yesterday.
pasbesoin 9y ago
The Motorola G5 4 GB / 64 GB for $180 appealed -- until I saw that it comes with Amazon's ad-ware at the lock screen (and wherever else, I guess...). Thought about searching to find out how hackable the Amazon version is... Then decided I have better things to do.
mpd 9y ago
The deep discount on the Echo actually convinced me to research smart speakers, and then buy a Google Home instead. Chromecast integration was the clincher for me.
- ryan-allen 9y ago
  Home is my first choice as it's the only voice recognition that doesn't drive me crazy.

25 points by janober 9y ago

Of course. Amazon subsidizes them to be extremely cheap and people get excited about a new thing. Personally, I have no use for one. "Alexa turn off the lights", or just get up or use your phone? That's what I do at least.

moonka 9y ago
Yea, those were the only things that seemed to have a decent discount as well. The other discounts seemed very lackluster.
JacobJans 9y ago
I was given one as a gift, and decided to try it for a while. The biggest benefit is being able to ask to hear any song, and being able to hear it. The Echo has brought music back into our lives, in a big way, which was a surprise. I also use it for listening to news and/or podcasts while cooking.
- grapeshot 9y ago
  The Echo won't play you "Alexa, Buy This Song" [1] but that's probably for the best. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbigjSBk1qY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbigjSBk1qY
  - tylersmith 9y ago
    It works with "Alexa, play 'Buy This Song' by the PapaGanders" or "Alexa, play 'Buy This Song' on Spotify".
- zocoi 9y ago
  That. And having a baby, it helps with playing white noise, lullaby... especially when you need 2 hands on the baby.
  - usaphp 9y ago
    I would urge you to learn more about side effects of using white noise for a baby. These high frequency sounds might cause development problems [1] and also your brain is getting used to them and then it's hard to live in an environment without white noise. [1] - http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030417/white-noise-may-delay-infant-development http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030417/white-noise-may-dela...
    - Afton 9y ago
      The experiment was _continuous_ white noise, rather than 'while the baby is sleeping' or 'while the baby is falling asleep'. From the article: """Both Chang and Paula Tallal, PhD -- a researcher who was not involved in Chang's study -- say it is probably not a good idea to intentionally expose babies and infants to nonstop white noise, but they say everyday exposures are probably not harmful for most children."""
      - usaphp 9y ago
        he says probably, I would not personally risk doing it if I am not 100% sure it's safe. I mean babies don't really need it , why risk it for something that is hardly providing any benefit for a child.
        Afton 9y ago
        "100% sure it's safe" That's not a thing. Life is risk assessment.
- mindslight 9y ago
  I was given one as a gift. It got sold on craigslist. Surveillance culture is not for me.
- pdkl95 9y ago
  It sounds like you needed a music player with a better interface. I seriously doubt that a very convenient (fully? mostly? partially?) hands-free interface requires a microphone uploading what used to be private audio to servers you do not control. > brought music back into our lives, in a big way That's great, but you should be able get a similar benefit without giving up your expectation of privacy. Normalizing sending the audio from formerly private areas - even if you are not currently saying anything other than "Alexa, play ${random_pop_song}" - will eventually move listening devices across the bright line established in Kyllo v. United States[1][2]. The SCOTUS opinion: (emphasis added) >> "Where, as here, the Government uses a device that is not in general public use, to explore details of the home that would previously have been unknowable without physical intrusion, the surveillance is a "search" and is presumptively unreasonable without a warrant." When a technology is* in "general public use", a warrant is no longer required to use that technology in a search. If Echo (or similar) becomes common enough for people to start assuming the average home may contain a microphone that uploads to a 3rd party, the expectation that a home is private. Music is important, but was that particular convenience worth undermining the 4th Amendment? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_States [2] http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/533/27.html http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/533/27.html
  - JacobJans 9y ago
    > Normalizing sending the audio from formerly private areas I call B.S. Why? It has been normal for decades to send audio from "private areas." Phones, for example. Cell phones now mean you send audio from nearly any location with cell service. I expect that Amazon respects my privacy, according to their own statements and terms of service. Activating the sending of information is only done intentionally, with the use of a trigger word that I don't otherwise use. This is no different than pressing a button on a computer, or dialing a phone number on my phone. The expectation of privacy does not change just because I have a device with a microphone, at least from a legal perspective. Obviously, this still requires trusting the service provider, government, etc.
prawn 9y ago
I bought light bulbs that I can control with my phone. I never use them because the process is too slow. When the price is right, Alexa-controlled devices (heating, lighting, etc) would get a lot of use.

Sindrome 9y ago

Wish Alexa came out before I spent $500 on a Sonos. Now I don't even use my Sonos . . .

zippergz 9y ago
Interesting. I have both, in several of the same rooms, and I find that I use Sonos all the time and almost never use Alexa. But I think I'm the oddball in the world, because I find voice control (I have both Alexa and Siri in my life) to be annoying and clumsy most of the time. I'd rather just tap or type. And the sound quality on Sonos is so much better that aside from voice control, Alexa seems to have no advantage. But again, I know I'm the weird one here - everyone else seems to love voice control.
rm999 9y ago
Funny, I have both and I consider them different products with very different use-cases (although I have the Echo Dots, not the full size Echos). Also, in a great development, both are going to integrate with each other much better soon; there's a private beta in place right now: http://www.aftvnews.com/sonos-begins-beta-testing-amazon-alexa-control-integration/ http://www.aftvnews.com/sonos-begins-beta-testing-amazon-ale...
- hbosch 9y ago
  Ah, is this the reason behind Sonos' conspicuous exclusion from the list of AirPlay 2 partners at WWDC? It was a hellstorm on Twitter after the fact, with plenty of Sonos faithful begging the brand for an answer... It seems (seemed?) like Apple and Sonos happily shared some consumer overlap until then. I find this news quite intriguing in that light.

notyourwork 9y ago

I wonder how Google Home installs compares to that of Amazon alexa hardware?

AlexB138 9y ago

I'm not surprised. There are very few mass appeal deals in Prime Day, and the Echo devices are heavily subsidized. I think it's more a statement of how lackluster Prime Day continues to be than it is a success of Echo.

skynetv2 9y ago
agreed. I couldn't find one thing I'd like to buy. Just Amazon devices over and over on every page.
- drewrv 9y ago
  I set out to buy a new monitor but their UI didn't make it easy and I gave up.
  - workerIbe 9y ago
    I was too, they are under gaming tech or something. I found 3 but 2 were super wide aspect and the other wasn't a deal I couldn't beat any other day.
  - saghm 9y ago
    I tried the same thing, and it took me almost half an hour to realize that there was a "prime day" category in the search bar available for usage (although I also blame the UI for not making that more obvious). Of course, once I searched, there wasn't anything I was interested in anyways.
0x4f3759df 9y ago
Instant Pot is on sale, too bad I bought one a few weeks ago.
- aaronbrethorst 9y ago
  I just ordered one. A good friend of mine sent along her favorite Instant Pot risotto recipe upon hearing I'd bought one today. I cannot wait to try it: https://thisoldgal.com/pressure-cooker-best-wild-mushroom-risotto/ https://thisoldgal.com/pressure-cooker-best-wild-mushroom-ri...

hkmurakami 9y ago

I bought a Camelbak portable coffee mug that's scheduled to be delivered between early to mid August. Not exactly what "Prime" advertises itself to be in most cases, when it comes with a 3 week shipping lead time (in in no hurry so I didn't mind the delay)

kome 9y ago

I am puzzled... are they useful?

tanilama 9y ago
Good to set reminders and play, occasionally, some music. After all Echo is a good bluetooth speaker at the basic level. I would be curious as well how other people would put echo into use though.
- prawn 9y ago
  In our house: playing music on Spotify and setting alarms when cooking.
  - cptskippy 9y ago
    It does unit conversions which is great when splitting or multiplying a recipe.
j_s 9y ago
Hands-free is often useful while wrestling toddlers. PS. Favorite kids CD: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Laurie-Berkner-Band/dp/B003KNDMFY https://www.amazon.com/Best-Laurie-Berkner-Band/dp/B003KNDMF... - cheaper to buy the CD for the car while unlocking the Echo-playable cloud MP3 edition - favorite tracks have been dubbed "Bumblebee" (1) and "Rawr" (4) - recorded a video on the iPad of myself loudly saying "Alexa, play We are the Dinosaurs" which my kid loves to re-use
workerIbe 9y ago
I don't know if I'd call it usefull but get 4 or 5 people playing DJ while drinking and it can be amusing for a while.
- j_s 9y ago
  Or Twitch streamers trolling their listeners!
9y ago

unclebucknasty 9y ago

Ah, Echo: awesome "AI" for consuming Amazon services, including buying stuff from Amazon. Not so great for much else. The real trick is that they manage to get people to pay them anything for these little trojan horses.

maskedinvader 9y ago
well to be fair, they did beat everyone else to the market, when it comes to a decent speaker . you get what you pay for, and what you are paying for is with your loyalty to the amazon marketplace, the speakers on the echo / tap alone might warrant the prime day prices #sidenote
- unclebucknasty 9y ago
  Hey, I can't knock them for succeeding. I just don't think most are in it for the speaker (nor is it marketed as such). So, I'm just pointing to the fact that, ultimately, Amazon seeks (and likely will get) more value out of the Echo than does the customer (or at least much more than the initial cost). Yet, they are able to get the customer to pay for the privilege. Cool trick if you can pull it off.
stevecalifornia 9y ago
IMO that's not the case at all. Our family uses it 90% to listen to music on Spotify and 10% to get morning news. We don't consume any Amazon services with it. Pretty soon the entire house will be automated with it: lights, thermostat, sprinklers, fireplace and fans. "Alexa, turn on all the lights." It's a new interface device. We can finally, easily, use our voice to accomplish tasks-- anywhere in our house. Before, with phones, it was clumsy and required pulling out the phone.
- unclebucknasty 9y ago
  >We don't consume any Amazon services with it Give it time! Seriously, in addition to the ease with which you can also use your voice to buy on Amazon, Amazon will surely launch other services based on user behavior. In fact, they may even acquire popular services you currently use. And, of course, it's compiling data on you. It's a useful trojan horse, but a trojan horse nonetheless. Of course, if it wasn't useful it wouldn't succeed as a trojan horse. So, not saying it's evil. But, it's amazing that they are able to get people to pay for something from which they will ultimately collect many times the value.

kevin_thibedeau 9y ago

Eagerly awaiting the day-after-prime-day so I can make a purchase I was prevented from making yesterday.

pasbesoin 9y ago

The Motorola G5 4 GB / 64 GB for $180 appealed -- until I saw that it comes with Amazon's ad-ware at the lock screen (and wherever else, I guess...). Thought about searching to find out how hackable the Amazon version is... Then decided I have better things to do.

mpd 9y ago

The deep discount on the Echo actually convinced me to research smart speakers, and then buy a Google Home instead. Chromecast integration was the clincher for me.

ryan-allen 9y ago
Home is my first choice as it's the only voice recognition that doesn't drive me crazy.