4 ms·

He also has a Google nest (which is slightly upper class tech) and a google home -- even if it is in one room.

by 0003 8y ago

krn 8y ago
That's insane. In my EU country, pretty much everyone of age 18-65 has a smartphone and a laptop, and that's it. Tablets, e-readers, smart watches, and digital cameras are not popular, and home assistants are pretty much non-existent. TVs are rarely watched at home anymore, apart from the live sport events a few hours per week. Yet, nobody considers himself very analog or very digital, and almost everyone feels like he has all the tech he really needs. The lack of large suburban areas might be the main reason for this. Most people are either busy in the city, or in the nature with each other.
- rando444 8y ago
  Most home assistants have extremely limited language support, which is fine for younger people in bigger cities that speak english, but that's about it. Plus home assistants in America can order things for you, get your local movie times, and have a host of other features mostly only available in the US and certain locations. Unless you live in Germany, Japan, or the US better home assistants are still a year or two away.
  - krn 8y ago
    That's true, in a small European country home assistants will never be as feature-proof as they are in the US, and the language support might never even be there, when the language is spoken by fewer than 3 million people. Yet, most people under 40 speak English and have Google Assistant in their smartphones, but I have never heard of anyone actually using it. Probably because everything is already a few taps away with Google always sitting in one's pocket, and people in my country still consider the idea of talking to a device a bit weird. Especially, when being around others.
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    > Most home assistants have extremely limited language support, which is fine for younger people in bigger cities that speak english, but that's about it. And that's if you can make them actually use English. I'm baffled by the amount of technology that needs forceful and sometimes sophisticated (e.g. Google Search) reminders that just because I'm a Pole from Poland, doesn't mean I want to talk to technology in Polish. > Plus home assistants in America can order things for you, get your local movie times, and have a host of other features mostly only available in the US and certain locations. That would be a big factor IMO, if not the factor. Hype waves around smart assistants happen everywhere simultaneously, but most features are initially implemented only for the US (hell, I don't think any voice assistant available in Europe actually has feature parity with what you get when using it in the US). By the time those assistants become available and somewhat usable outside the States, nobody cares anymore.
  - renholder 8y ago
    >Most home assistants have extremely limited language support Can confirm: Roommate's Alexa cannot understand Swedish, whatsoever. I think the smaller-sized language markets are "too small" for them to even care. In other words, they don't see an ROI on it, yet; plus, almost everyone speaks English, these days, so that's more of an argument for them not to bother.
- ip26 8y ago
  IMO digital cameras are not "tech" they are "photography". Unless you're saying film cameras are much more popular than digital- but nearly the entire industry has left film behind, the same way "digital" LCD's completely left behind "analog" CRT's.
  - krn 8y ago
    I agree, they don't quite fit into the list. I meant all kinds of cameras, including DSLR. It was just an additional electronic device many people used to own that got replaced by the increasing capabilites of a smartphone. Just like netbooks were replaced by tablets, and tablets were replaced by phablets. And now almost every single smartphone is of the size of a phablet (>= 5.5in).
- mattmanser 8y ago
  In the UK Alexas and Google Home are pretty cheap and a lot of friends have them. As another poster said, it's an easy market for them as the language is the same.
- sunstone 8y ago
  If you have a smartphone then you also have a digital camera, like it or not.
andrepd 8y ago
Amazing x) Multiple tracking devices and an always-on wiretap, and that's after "changing his tech habits".
glenneroo 8y ago
Plus his oldest daughter has a Google Home "because she really really wanted one". For someone who cares so much about privacy, his plethora of spy-friendly electronics at home is not helping his situation, or his reporting.

He also has a Google nest (which is slightly upper class tech) and a google home -- even if it is in one room.

by 0003 8y ago

He also has a Google nest (which is slightly upper class tech) and a google home -- even if it is in one room.

krn 8y ago

That's insane. In my EU country, pretty much everyone of age 18-65 has a smartphone and a laptop, and that's it. Tablets, e-readers, smart watches, and digital cameras are not popular, and home assistants are pretty much non-existent. TVs are rarely watched at home anymore, apart from the live sport events a few hours per week. Yet, nobody considers himself very analog or very digital, and almost everyone feels like he has all the tech he really needs. The lack of large suburban areas might be the main reason for this. Most people are either busy in the city, or in the nature with each other.

rando444 8y ago
Most home assistants have extremely limited language support, which is fine for younger people in bigger cities that speak english, but that's about it. Plus home assistants in America can order things for you, get your local movie times, and have a host of other features mostly only available in the US and certain locations. Unless you live in Germany, Japan, or the US better home assistants are still a year or two away.
- krn 8y ago
  That's true, in a small European country home assistants will never be as feature-proof as they are in the US, and the language support might never even be there, when the language is spoken by fewer than 3 million people. Yet, most people under 40 speak English and have Google Assistant in their smartphones, but I have never heard of anyone actually using it. Probably because everything is already a few taps away with Google always sitting in one's pocket, and people in my country still consider the idea of talking to a device a bit weird. Especially, when being around others.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  > Most home assistants have extremely limited language support, which is fine for younger people in bigger cities that speak english, but that's about it. And that's if you can make them actually use English. I'm baffled by the amount of technology that needs forceful and sometimes sophisticated (e.g. Google Search) reminders that just because I'm a Pole from Poland, doesn't mean I want to talk to technology in Polish. > Plus home assistants in America can order things for you, get your local movie times, and have a host of other features mostly only available in the US and certain locations. That would be a big factor IMO, if not the factor. Hype waves around smart assistants happen everywhere simultaneously, but most features are initially implemented only for the US (hell, I don't think any voice assistant available in Europe actually has feature parity with what you get when using it in the US). By the time those assistants become available and somewhat usable outside the States, nobody cares anymore.
- renholder 8y ago
  >Most home assistants have extremely limited language support Can confirm: Roommate's Alexa cannot understand Swedish, whatsoever. I think the smaller-sized language markets are "too small" for them to even care. In other words, they don't see an ROI on it, yet; plus, almost everyone speaks English, these days, so that's more of an argument for them not to bother.
ip26 8y ago
IMO digital cameras are not "tech" they are "photography". Unless you're saying film cameras are much more popular than digital- but nearly the entire industry has left film behind, the same way "digital" LCD's completely left behind "analog" CRT's.
- krn 8y ago
  I agree, they don't quite fit into the list. I meant all kinds of cameras, including DSLR. It was just an additional electronic device many people used to own that got replaced by the increasing capabilites of a smartphone. Just like netbooks were replaced by tablets, and tablets were replaced by phablets. And now almost every single smartphone is of the size of a phablet (>= 5.5in).
mattmanser 8y ago
In the UK Alexas and Google Home are pretty cheap and a lot of friends have them. As another poster said, it's an easy market for them as the language is the same.
sunstone 8y ago
If you have a smartphone then you also have a digital camera, like it or not.

andrepd 8y ago

Amazing x) Multiple tracking devices and an always-on wiretap, and that's after "changing his tech habits".

glenneroo 8y ago

Plus his oldest daughter has a Google Home "because she really really wanted one". For someone who cares so much about privacy, his plethora of spy-friendly electronics at home is not helping his situation, or his reporting.