5 ms·

‘OK Google, give everybody in America a free speaker’

7 points by maxshmax 8y ago

IronWolve 8y ago
Cable had a voice remote that was cool, but I'm a cord cutter, I canceled cable. My phone has voice apps, but I disable them. I dont need to speak to my google/amazon apps. My Win10 gaming PC has M$ Cortana, but I disabled that. My hdtv is old but I watch most my content on my PC. Seems most new TV's now are voice enabled. My Car is the only place I use voice, voice dialing. Wonder how many people really need or want voice-enabled speakers in their homes.
- maxshmax 8y ago
  I'm not a huge fan of voice either, but I find this stat fascinating. Why wouldn't Google just put one in every home for free. Who would go Amazon at that point (not to say one is better than the other).
  - Sir_Substance 8y ago
    >Who would go Amazon at that point People who want to buy things other than nexus phones? Google isn't a retailer of anything except their own hardware as far as I know. Is something very different in the USA on this front?
    - maxshmax 8y ago
      I should have clarified better - who would go to Amazon for their voice products, e.g., Alexa
      - Sir_Substance 8y ago
        For that I have no idea. I don't understand why anyone would have voice products in their house. If google gave me a free home mini I would drop it in the bin without a second thought.
atonse 8y ago
Yes! Let's put microphones in every single household in the US. That way, then it just becomes sooooo easy to pass a law for the company (in this case Google), to collaborate via a National Security Letter to make any feed available. I can imagine the NSA and FBI salivating over the mere idea of this.
- pnloyd 8y ago
  We're already carrying microphones around in our pockets. Do the speaker microphones really make the situation worse? When it is almost guaranteed that there is already multiple microphones present.
  - milesokeefe 8y ago
    I would say they do. For instance, if I got a Google Home it would be the only non-Apple device with a microphone in my apartment, making gov access significantly easier.
    - blechinger 8y ago
      Do you really think isolating yourself to the Apple ecosystem makes you more secure? If so: how do you qualify that?
7402 8y ago
I would be delighted to get a free nice-looking speaker that I could disassemble and hack and use for my own purposes!
- elipsey 8y ago
  This! Free hardware is great. Anyone remember the Cuecat? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat
daly 8y ago
Selling hardware below manufacturing cost in order to undercut competition. Isn't that called "dumping"? Wouldn't that be an anti-trust issue?

7 points by maxshmax 8y ago

Cable had a voice remote that was cool, but I'm a cord cutter, I canceled cable. My phone has voice apps, but I disable them. I dont need to speak to my google/amazon apps. My Win10 gaming PC has M$ Cortana, but I disabled that. My hdtv is old but I watch most my content on my PC. Seems most new TV's now are voice enabled. My Car is the only place I use voice, voice dialing. Wonder how many people really need or want voice-enabled speakers in their homes.

maxshmax 8y ago
I'm not a huge fan of voice either, but I find this stat fascinating. Why wouldn't Google just put one in every home for free. Who would go Amazon at that point (not to say one is better than the other).
- Sir_Substance 8y ago
  >Who would go Amazon at that point People who want to buy things other than nexus phones? Google isn't a retailer of anything except their own hardware as far as I know. Is something very different in the USA on this front?
  - maxshmax 8y ago
    I should have clarified better - who would go to Amazon for their voice products, e.g., Alexa
    - Sir_Substance 8y ago
      For that I have no idea. I don't understand why anyone would have voice products in their house. If google gave me a free home mini I would drop it in the bin without a second thought.

atonse 8y ago

Yes! Let's put microphones in every single household in the US. That way, then it just becomes sooooo easy to pass a law for the company (in this case Google), to collaborate via a National Security Letter to make any feed available. I can imagine the NSA and FBI salivating over the mere idea of this.

pnloyd 8y ago
We're already carrying microphones around in our pockets. Do the speaker microphones really make the situation worse? When it is almost guaranteed that there is already multiple microphones present.
- milesokeefe 8y ago
  I would say they do. For instance, if I got a Google Home it would be the only non-Apple device with a microphone in my apartment, making gov access significantly easier.
  - blechinger 8y ago
    Do you really think isolating yourself to the Apple ecosystem makes you more secure? If so: how do you qualify that?

7402 8y ago

I would be delighted to get a free nice-looking speaker that I could disassemble and hack and use for my own purposes!

elipsey 8y ago
This! Free hardware is great. Anyone remember the Cuecat? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat

daly 8y ago

Selling hardware below manufacturing cost in order to undercut competition. Isn't that called "dumping"? Wouldn't that be an anti-trust issue?