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I'm all for this. We recently purchased some Echo Shows, one for us and one for my grandparents and the Amazon experience to setup communication between the two

I'm all for this. We recently purchased some Echo Shows, one for us and one for my grandparents and the Amazon experience to setup communication between the two was absolutely painful. First both need an Amazon account which, okay that's not so bad. But now both Amazon accounts need to log into the Amazon Alexa mobile app which my grandparents can not do as they do not have a mobile phone with apps on it so, instead, I have to use their login on my phone. Then I had to register their cell phone with their account on my mobile phone because they can't do the text message verification via their landline that they've had for 30 years and to top it all off now their Echo has all of the contacts from my phone because it doesn't let you manually manage contacts per Amazon account, no they have to be copied directly from your phone. So if they can make it so all they need is a Facebook account and now they can video chat with us or any of their friends and family? That would be perfect for my grandparents.

ams6110 9y ago
Why do you/your grandparents think you need this? I would never go though such pain for any kind of online service.
- BinaryIdiot 9y ago
  We live across the country from them so we wanted to setup an easy to use way to video chat with them. We had setup Skype for them before we left but every single time they had issues with audio not working and other various problems. With the Echo Show they simply say "Call BinaryIdiot" and it works. That's it. So yes the setup was awful but we wanted a way for them, who are not tech savvy in the least, to be able to quickly and easily video call us whenever they wanted.
  - Pamar 9y ago
    Question, just out of curiosity: now that it is setup will either your parents or you use it to chat with someone else or will it remain a point-to-point thing whose main attractive was it worked smoothly for your parents?
hellbanner 9y ago
Right, and for those of us who don't want to use a Facebook account? The world is lacking good, adopted implementations of open networking.
- aazzzasdfasdf22 9y ago
  I've used Jitsi Meet self-hosted style. It's not trivial to setup, but it's not the worst thing either. It worked really well afterward. https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Also there are WebRTC based sites that don't require logins appear.in rabb.it Everyone is hooked on the big names and their requirements, when alternatives exist.
  - spditner 9y ago
    Jitsi also runs one that you can use without an account. From jitsi.org's "Try Jitsi" button: https://meet.jit.si https://meet.jit.si You can also make up random links and jump straight into a room, like: https://meet.jit.si/CleverPhrase https://meet.jit.si/CleverPhrase
- jjaredsimpson 9y ago
  What's wrong with just making a disposable single use facebook account.
  - hellbanner 9y ago
    Profiling, I'd rather not give any datapoints to FB besides, they could add to my shadow profile.
  - hobarrera 9y ago
    They generally ask for a phone number nowadays for new accounts, so you'd need a new number for each one (or reuse the same one, which defeats the purpose of the disposable accounts).
PhasmaFelis 9y ago
> So if they can make it so all they need is a Facebook account and now they can video chat with us or any of their friends and family? That would be perfect for my grandparents. You can already do that, though. Facebook has built-in videochat on all platforms. I'm not clear how this device is substantially better than videochatting on your laptop.
- BinaryIdiot 9y ago
  > I'm not clear how this device is substantially better than videochatting on your laptop. That's because you're knowledgable about technology. My grandparents are incredibly smart people but doing anything on the laptop, mobile devices; pretty much they always find a way to go down the wrong path. Always. But a device like Echo Show (once it's setup) or a dedicate Facebook chat device? That's push button, done. Easy. No update process to deal with, no random dialogs, no spammy bloatware from terrible software vendors to confuse, etc. For those still in society but do not have the firmest grasp of technology do still want to participate where they can. Sometimes it's not made easy enough to do, in my opinion and experience and one of the best reasons for a dedicated device such as this.
  - PhasmaFelis 9y ago
    My impression is that even thumbfingered old grannies have mostly figured out Facebook, though. I'm sure there's a market for people who want to use videochat but can't manage even the very simplest of computer operations; I'm just not sure it's a very large market. I suppose I wish them luck, in any case, if it can make a few people's lives better.

ams6110 9y ago

Why do you/your grandparents think you need this? I would never go though such pain for any kind of online service.

BinaryIdiot 9y ago
We live across the country from them so we wanted to setup an easy to use way to video chat with them. We had setup Skype for them before we left but every single time they had issues with audio not working and other various problems. With the Echo Show they simply say "Call BinaryIdiot" and it works. That's it. So yes the setup was awful but we wanted a way for them, who are not tech savvy in the least, to be able to quickly and easily video call us whenever they wanted.
- Pamar 9y ago
  Question, just out of curiosity: now that it is setup will either your parents or you use it to chat with someone else or will it remain a point-to-point thing whose main attractive was it worked smoothly for your parents?

hellbanner 9y ago

Right, and for those of us who don't want to use a Facebook account? The world is lacking good, adopted implementations of open networking.

aazzzasdfasdf22 9y ago
I've used Jitsi Meet self-hosted style. It's not trivial to setup, but it's not the worst thing either. It worked really well afterward. https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Also there are WebRTC based sites that don't require logins appear.in rabb.it Everyone is hooked on the big names and their requirements, when alternatives exist.
- spditner 9y ago
  Jitsi also runs one that you can use without an account. From jitsi.org's "Try Jitsi" button: https://meet.jit.si https://meet.jit.si You can also make up random links and jump straight into a room, like: https://meet.jit.si/CleverPhrase https://meet.jit.si/CleverPhrase
jjaredsimpson 9y ago
What's wrong with just making a disposable single use facebook account.
- hellbanner 9y ago
  Profiling, I'd rather not give any datapoints to FB besides, they could add to my shadow profile.
- hobarrera 9y ago
  They generally ask for a phone number nowadays for new accounts, so you'd need a new number for each one (or reuse the same one, which defeats the purpose of the disposable accounts).

PhasmaFelis 9y ago

> So if they can make it so all they need is a Facebook account and now they can video chat with us or any of their friends and family? That would be perfect for my grandparents. You can already do that, though. Facebook has built-in videochat on all platforms. I'm not clear how this device is substantially better than videochatting on your laptop.

BinaryIdiot 9y ago
> I'm not clear how this device is substantially better than videochatting on your laptop. That's because you're knowledgable about technology. My grandparents are incredibly smart people but doing anything on the laptop, mobile devices; pretty much they always find a way to go down the wrong path. Always. But a device like Echo Show (once it's setup) or a dedicate Facebook chat device? That's push button, done. Easy. No update process to deal with, no random dialogs, no spammy bloatware from terrible software vendors to confuse, etc. For those still in society but do not have the firmest grasp of technology do still want to participate where they can. Sometimes it's not made easy enough to do, in my opinion and experience and one of the best reasons for a dedicated device such as this.
- PhasmaFelis 9y ago
  My impression is that even thumbfingered old grannies have mostly figured out Facebook, though. I'm sure there's a market for people who want to use videochat but can't manage even the very simplest of computer operations; I'm just not sure it's a very large market. I suppose I wish them luck, in any case, if it can make a few people's lives better.