4 ms·

Does anyone really find these home assistants to be all that useful? Echo, home, etc. All of them really seem to be designed to get you to buy them and then to

Does anyone really find these home assistants to be all that useful? Echo, home, etc. All of them really seem to be designed to get you to buy them and then to sell you more stuff, not to actually be useful. It barely works for even simple queries. The music integration doesn't work well with Spotify on the home, and can't even add reminders. The echo has to ask "am or pm" when I tell it to 'wake me up tomorrow at 8'. It's really good at understanding the words that I say but this really illustrates the gap between natural language transcribing and understanding. The only reason I use it is that it's perfect as a handsfree music player and that has its uses in the shower, etc.

thebiglebrewski 9y ago
Yes, I do
pianoben 9y ago
I find a lot of use in mine as a voice-control system for home automation; it's great to be able to say, "OK Google, lights out!" as I head upstairs to bed. The convenience and _naturalness_ of the interaction is just so cool!
- candiodari 9y ago
  Ironically, extremely unnatural for most "Google" interactions. Asking non-trivia questions just doesn't work very well at all. Asking basic questions like the weather, the time, and maybe my calendar (doesn't work well with multiple calendars so while I look forward to when I can use this, I can't yet).
Bahamut 9y ago
My roommate finds it helps with loneliness - oftentimes she's home alone because of her work schedule as a flight attendant, and everyone else is busy at work, so she has no one to really talk to. She has found some happiness with talking to Alexa.
- julianpye 9y ago
  I found this out with elderly relatives, too. They know it's a computer, but they like the interaction. When my father said 'Alexa, good night', she replied 'Sleep Well'. Several of his friends then wanted an Echo as well.
nharada 9y ago
"The only reason I use it is that it's perfect as a handsfree music player and that has its uses in the shower, etc" Doesn't this mean that you find it useful?
paul7986 9y ago
Yes I use my Google home daily for general inquiries like weather, the date and other random questions. If your not in front of tangible internet device why go looking for your phone or walk over to turn your PC on and or wake up your laptop when you can just ask a question and receive an answer? It’s a way better UX .. it makes interacting with the net way easier! These speakers once they start showing the info via projection on walls or beaming the info on your TV, mirrors, etc I think are going to be even more useful.
ggcdn 9y ago
My wife and I have enjoyed having a Google Home in the kitchen. It's worked for us flawlessly playing music from Spotify, timers, random fact queries, even recipes with step-by-step instructions. I imagine that the functionality will only get better over time.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> Does anyone really find these home assistants to be all that useful? Just got a Home Mini; I find it pretty useful as a living room entertainment controller. > All of them really seem to be designed to get you to buy them and then to sell you more stuff, not to actually be useful. While I don't actually use mine for shopping yet, reducing friction for shopping you would do anyway is quite useful. > The music integration doesn't work well with Spotify on the home Seems to work reasonably well with Google Play Music (and the playback controls are are acceptable if minimal for Netflix; haven't used media controls with anything else.) > and can't even add reminders. The Home doesn't seem to have trouble adding reminders for me. > The echo has to ask "am or pm" when I tell it to 'wake me up tomorrow at 8'. While 8am is more likely, it's not impossible that someone would mean pm (people have all kinds of different schedules), and confirmation is better than assumption with alarms. So, so see this as doing the right thing. > The only reason I use it is that it's perfect as a handsfree music player and that has its uses in the shower, etc. So clearly you find it useful.
synicalx 9y ago
I've got a couple of Homes, and I find them pretty useful overall but definitely not essential. Main things I use them for; 1. Alarm clock + morning briefing while I get ready 2. Music player (youtube music works really well, spotify doesn't) 3. Cooking assistant, setting timers etc 4. TV remote - saying "ok google, play xyz" is the ultimate in lazy and I love it Eventually, and when they get a little cheaper, I intend to invest in a suite of smart lights which (probably?) go nicely with an assistant. Having said that, natural language stuff still has a long way to go. Ultimately I think of them more as a semi-useful toy.
cmrdporcupine 9y ago
Disclaimer: I work on the Google Home hardware team. I have tested a few of these, and have a Max and a regular Home in my house. Also have the assistant on my NVIDIA Shield and on Android Auto. I find them handier than I thought I would. But my kids might finder them handier than I do. My 10 year old daughter really likes the home, she has it in her room and uses it to listen to whatever music she wants, which she sings along to. She gets the weather from it, sets alarms if she needs them, and generally finds it useful. I use it to find my phone ("hey google, where's my phone" to get it to ring), to ask about weather, travel times, math questions [especially good with the kids], and most often to play music.. either by cast from my phone or computer, or just by verbal request. The Max sounds _really_ good. I need to get a second so I can get stereo though. I think they're handy and getting handier. I can't compare to the competition, though.
TYPE_FASTER 9y ago
Echo Dot integrated with Logitech Harmony, useful for turning multiple components on/off with one phrase. Integrated with Sonos, easier to play music than using my phone. Home assistants really are useful if they are integrated and work well. I want to try a RP3 version of Alexa next.
nunez 9y ago
Our Echo Dots became signficantly more useful after getting smart bulbs and smart plugs. “Alexa, turn on Christmas!” “Okay.”
jacksmith21006 9y ago
We need have a couple Google homes and family uses them all the time. We first had the Echo but since purchased Google homes. The big difference is the Echo requires rigid language or basically commands you memorize versus the Google home natural language for most things. It is like the Echo is a command line and the Google Home a GUI.

thebiglebrewski 9y ago

Yes, I do

pianoben 9y ago

I find a lot of use in mine as a voice-control system for home automation; it's great to be able to say, "OK Google, lights out!" as I head upstairs to bed. The convenience and _naturalness_ of the interaction is just so cool!

candiodari 9y ago
Ironically, extremely unnatural for most "Google" interactions. Asking non-trivia questions just doesn't work very well at all. Asking basic questions like the weather, the time, and maybe my calendar (doesn't work well with multiple calendars so while I look forward to when I can use this, I can't yet).

Bahamut 9y ago

My roommate finds it helps with loneliness - oftentimes she's home alone because of her work schedule as a flight attendant, and everyone else is busy at work, so she has no one to really talk to. She has found some happiness with talking to Alexa.

julianpye 9y ago
I found this out with elderly relatives, too. They know it's a computer, but they like the interaction. When my father said 'Alexa, good night', she replied 'Sleep Well'. Several of his friends then wanted an Echo as well.

nharada 9y ago

"The only reason I use it is that it's perfect as a handsfree music player and that has its uses in the shower, etc" Doesn't this mean that you find it useful?

paul7986 9y ago

Yes I use my Google home daily for general inquiries like weather, the date and other random questions. If your not in front of tangible internet device why go looking for your phone or walk over to turn your PC on and or wake up your laptop when you can just ask a question and receive an answer? It’s a way better UX .. it makes interacting with the net way easier! These speakers once they start showing the info via projection on walls or beaming the info on your TV, mirrors, etc I think are going to be even more useful.

ggcdn 9y ago

My wife and I have enjoyed having a Google Home in the kitchen. It's worked for us flawlessly playing music from Spotify, timers, random fact queries, even recipes with step-by-step instructions. I imagine that the functionality will only get better over time.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> Does anyone really find these home assistants to be all that useful? Just got a Home Mini; I find it pretty useful as a living room entertainment controller. > All of them really seem to be designed to get you to buy them and then to sell you more stuff, not to actually be useful. While I don't actually use mine for shopping yet, reducing friction for shopping you would do anyway is quite useful. > The music integration doesn't work well with Spotify on the home Seems to work reasonably well with Google Play Music (and the playback controls are are acceptable if minimal for Netflix; haven't used media controls with anything else.) > and can't even add reminders. The Home doesn't seem to have trouble adding reminders for me. > The echo has to ask "am or pm" when I tell it to 'wake me up tomorrow at 8'. While 8am is more likely, it's not impossible that someone would mean pm (people have all kinds of different schedules), and confirmation is better than assumption with alarms. So, so see this as doing the right thing. > The only reason I use it is that it's perfect as a handsfree music player and that has its uses in the shower, etc. So clearly you find it useful.

synicalx 9y ago

I've got a couple of Homes, and I find them pretty useful overall but definitely not essential. Main things I use them for; 1. Alarm clock + morning briefing while I get ready 2. Music player (youtube music works really well, spotify doesn't) 3. Cooking assistant, setting timers etc 4. TV remote - saying "ok google, play xyz" is the ultimate in lazy and I love it Eventually, and when they get a little cheaper, I intend to invest in a suite of smart lights which (probably?) go nicely with an assistant. Having said that, natural language stuff still has a long way to go. Ultimately I think of them more as a semi-useful toy.

cmrdporcupine 9y ago

Disclaimer: I work on the Google Home hardware team. I have tested a few of these, and have a Max and a regular Home in my house. Also have the assistant on my NVIDIA Shield and on Android Auto. I find them handier than I thought I would. But my kids might finder them handier than I do. My 10 year old daughter really likes the home, she has it in her room and uses it to listen to whatever music she wants, which she sings along to. She gets the weather from it, sets alarms if she needs them, and generally finds it useful. I use it to find my phone ("hey google, where's my phone" to get it to ring), to ask about weather, travel times, math questions [especially good with the kids], and most often to play music.. either by cast from my phone or computer, or just by verbal request. The Max sounds _really_ good. I need to get a second so I can get stereo though. I think they're handy and getting handier. I can't compare to the competition, though.

TYPE_FASTER 9y ago

Echo Dot integrated with Logitech Harmony, useful for turning multiple components on/off with one phrase. Integrated with Sonos, easier to play music than using my phone. Home assistants really are useful if they are integrated and work well. I want to try a RP3 version of Alexa next.

nunez 9y ago

Our Echo Dots became signficantly more useful after getting smart bulbs and smart plugs. “Alexa, turn on Christmas!” “Okay.”

jacksmith21006 9y ago

We need have a couple Google homes and family uses them all the time. We first had the Echo but since purchased Google homes. The big difference is the Echo requires rigid language or basically commands you memorize versus the Google home natural language for most things. It is like the Echo is a command line and the Google Home a GUI.