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My Echo was an interesting novelty at first. But a couple years in now, it is essentially (in order of usefulness): 1. An alarm clock / kitchen timer 2. A th

My Echo was an interesting novelty at first. But a couple years in now, it is essentially (in order of usefulness): 1. An alarm clock / kitchen timer 2. A thing that tells me the weather report during morning coffee, so I know what to wear 3. A DJ that my kids yell at to play pop music If it died tomorrow, I'd probably just go back to using my phone for these 3 things rather than buy a new one. I can't imagine getting into it enough to explore third-party "skills".

sigi45 8y ago
Novelity for sure but i use the timer/alarm clock so frequently, that i will rebuy a new one if the old one breaks. I use it for: - I have to go in 1h but i only need 30 minutes to prepare the leave so timer for 30minutes - Pizza / food - short nap - for learning And quite often.
massivecali 8y ago
I see the house dj speaker aspect, but why does anyone need the first 2 when their phones accommodate those functions?
- taeric 8y ago
  Has become ubiquitous. With a speaker in every room, I don't have to find my phone to start a timer. We also user audible heavily. The kids live the boxcar children readings.
- r3bl 8y ago
  Same thing: convenience. Find the phone, unlock the phone, find and open the app, find and click the control. That requires some effort. Saying commands, having physical buttons at the expected location in your home, NFC tags.. there's a bunch of more convenient ways to do extremely repetitive tasks that would otherwise take you more time to do.
  - Zimahl 8y ago
    Hasn't this been minimized by 'Hey Siri' and 'OK Google'?
    - Bartweiss 8y ago
      I guess it still has value if you have a non-privacy reason not to use voice control on your phone. Some people don't consistently have their phones on hand when they're at home, which would do it. And some people have problems with unwanted voice activation - my experience was that the voice-printing on "OK Google" was not actually all that personalized, and sometimes it did totally unexpected things like breaking out of navigation to make a phone call. Last time I tested it, keeping Google voice recognition on was also a massive battery drain, but I assume that's improved. (That phone call was particularly ludicrous: Android offered me an unprompted 'helpful tip' that I could say things like "call mom", but since the tip fired when it was already listening for a navigation command, it accepted its own instruction.)
bonestamp2 8y ago
Same, although I'd say a timer and weather machine that I talk to everyday is a runaway hit. There are few other things I own besides my bed, phone, clothes and a couple major appliances that I use every single day.
Judson 8y ago
I came to say the same. For my 15mo old son, I prefer asking Alexa to play music on the Echo because I don't have to ignore him (in a way) to go tapping on my phone -- which makes him very curious about what I'm doing. As a plus, he babbles at the Echo when he wants to listen to music.
wvenable 8y ago
For me add: 4. Shopping List. And that's a killer feature for me; it's so damn convenient to use a voice interface to add items to the shopping list as you run out of item that I'd probably replace it just for that.
- Cyph0n 8y ago
  Same here. One feature I would like is to be able to change where your shopping list goes as I do not particularly enjoy using the Alexa app.
  - wvenable 8y ago
    It's possible to access the list via their API so theoretically you could build your own solution. I agree the Alexa app is not good for accessing the lists.
  - Resinderate 8y ago
    I had the same problem with google home. I already had a shared (with the SO) google keep note for my shopping list. I wrote a google keep integration with an IFTTT app to solve this, letting me do a "OK Google, we need X" to add X to the list. https://github.com/Resinderate/shopping-list/blob/master/shopping-list.py https://github.com/Resinderate/shopping-list/blob/master/sho...
    - enobrev 8y ago
      When I first got a Google home, the keep integration was built in. And then they moved it to Google Express shopping list, suddenly, which was infuriating. Ended up using ifttt with Asana. Will try with keep as I preferred keep for shared shopping and Todo lists.
  - kageneko 8y ago
    You can do this. I have mine set up to use Todoist. You need to add the appropriate skill and then link the account.
  - win_ini 8y ago
ryanbrunner 8y ago
Pretty much the same for me, although I'll add (I have Google Homes but pretty much the same thing): 1. Metric / imperial conversions, especially in the kitchen - this is one feature that is miles better than using a phone or computer if my hands are dirty cooking something and I want to know how many grams 12 ounces is or something like that. 2. Intercom between my 2 google homes, one in my kitchen and one in our converted attic playroom - it's so much nicer to use Google home to call my kids down for dinner vs. screaming up two flights of stairs. 3. Making quick phone calls 4. Finding my phone - I lose my phone constantly, and it's super handy that I can get my google home to make it ring even if it's on silent.
- analogmemory 8y ago
  Agreed on the kitchen part. Once I moved my google home (mini) into the kitchen it got more useful. * Setting multiple alarms (why can't apple do this??) * Conversions * Food questions I think it would be rad if I could feed it a recipe and then have it read me the ingredients and instructions for each step. Maybe that exists?
  - lancesells 8y ago
    > * Setting multiple alarms (why can't apple do this??) It launched without that ability but an update sometime last year lets you set multiple alarms.
    - analogmemory 8y ago
      Sorry that should have been timers. If I tell Siri to set a timer (while a timer is running) it still asks if I want to change the timer or leave it alone.
      - lancesells 8y ago
        You can set multiple timers in Siri. At least on a Homepod.
  - 8y ago
mFixman 8y ago
4. An interface that allows me to listen to the ratio or to podcasts without having to touch (and potentially get distracted by) my cellphone.
- KJKingJ 8y ago
  For an elderly relative of mine who no longer has the physical dexterity they used to, this has been a killer feature of voice assistants for them. No longer do they need to fiddle with awkward buttons to change the radio station or find out what the weather is, they just... ask and it happens.
sachin18590 8y ago
I can turn lights off without getting off my bed, and damn, has it made my life crazy simple. I was in India for few months last year and I realized a large part of me getting up early was to just switch on the geyser, open the door for the cook and turn the lights on. I would get back to bed after and check up fb till the water got hot. Just the fact that Echo can do these things without making me get off the bed will be a crazy value addition to my current decently privileged life.

sigi45 8y ago

Novelity for sure but i use the timer/alarm clock so frequently, that i will rebuy a new one if the old one breaks. I use it for: - I have to go in 1h but i only need 30 minutes to prepare the leave so timer for 30minutes - Pizza / food - short nap - for learning And quite often.

massivecali 8y ago

I see the house dj speaker aspect, but why does anyone need the first 2 when their phones accommodate those functions?

taeric 8y ago
Has become ubiquitous. With a speaker in every room, I don't have to find my phone to start a timer. We also user audible heavily. The kids live the boxcar children readings.
r3bl 8y ago
Same thing: convenience. Find the phone, unlock the phone, find and open the app, find and click the control. That requires some effort. Saying commands, having physical buttons at the expected location in your home, NFC tags.. there's a bunch of more convenient ways to do extremely repetitive tasks that would otherwise take you more time to do.
- Zimahl 8y ago
  Hasn't this been minimized by 'Hey Siri' and 'OK Google'?
  - Bartweiss 8y ago
    I guess it still has value if you have a non-privacy reason not to use voice control on your phone. Some people don't consistently have their phones on hand when they're at home, which would do it. And some people have problems with unwanted voice activation - my experience was that the voice-printing on "OK Google" was not actually all that personalized, and sometimes it did totally unexpected things like breaking out of navigation to make a phone call. Last time I tested it, keeping Google voice recognition on was also a massive battery drain, but I assume that's improved. (That phone call was particularly ludicrous: Android offered me an unprompted 'helpful tip' that I could say things like "call mom", but since the tip fired when it was already listening for a navigation command, it accepted its own instruction.)

bonestamp2 8y ago

Same, although I'd say a timer and weather machine that I talk to everyday is a runaway hit. There are few other things I own besides my bed, phone, clothes and a couple major appliances that I use every single day.

Judson 8y ago

I came to say the same. For my 15mo old son, I prefer asking Alexa to play music on the Echo because I don't have to ignore him (in a way) to go tapping on my phone -- which makes him very curious about what I'm doing. As a plus, he babbles at the Echo when he wants to listen to music.

wvenable 8y ago

For me add: 4. Shopping List. And that's a killer feature for me; it's so damn convenient to use a voice interface to add items to the shopping list as you run out of item that I'd probably replace it just for that.

Cyph0n 8y ago
Same here. One feature I would like is to be able to change where your shopping list goes as I do not particularly enjoy using the Alexa app.
- wvenable 8y ago
  It's possible to access the list via their API so theoretically you could build your own solution. I agree the Alexa app is not good for accessing the lists.
- Resinderate 8y ago
  I had the same problem with google home. I already had a shared (with the SO) google keep note for my shopping list. I wrote a google keep integration with an IFTTT app to solve this, letting me do a "OK Google, we need X" to add X to the list. https://github.com/Resinderate/shopping-list/blob/master/shopping-list.py https://github.com/Resinderate/shopping-list/blob/master/sho...
  - enobrev 8y ago
    When I first got a Google home, the keep integration was built in. And then they moved it to Google Express shopping list, suddenly, which was infuriating. Ended up using ifttt with Asana. Will try with keep as I preferred keep for shared shopping and Todo lists.
- kageneko 8y ago
  You can do this. I have mine set up to use Todoist. You need to add the appropriate skill and then link the account.
- win_ini 8y ago

ryanbrunner 8y ago

Pretty much the same for me, although I'll add (I have Google Homes but pretty much the same thing): 1. Metric / imperial conversions, especially in the kitchen - this is one feature that is miles better than using a phone or computer if my hands are dirty cooking something and I want to know how many grams 12 ounces is or something like that. 2. Intercom between my 2 google homes, one in my kitchen and one in our converted attic playroom - it's so much nicer to use Google home to call my kids down for dinner vs. screaming up two flights of stairs. 3. Making quick phone calls 4. Finding my phone - I lose my phone constantly, and it's super handy that I can get my google home to make it ring even if it's on silent.

analogmemory 8y ago
Agreed on the kitchen part. Once I moved my google home (mini) into the kitchen it got more useful. * Setting multiple alarms (why can't apple do this??) * Conversions * Food questions I think it would be rad if I could feed it a recipe and then have it read me the ingredients and instructions for each step. Maybe that exists?
- lancesells 8y ago
  > * Setting multiple alarms (why can't apple do this??) It launched without that ability but an update sometime last year lets you set multiple alarms.
  - analogmemory 8y ago
    Sorry that should have been timers. If I tell Siri to set a timer (while a timer is running) it still asks if I want to change the timer or leave it alone.
    - lancesells 8y ago
      You can set multiple timers in Siri. At least on a Homepod.
- 8y ago

mFixman 8y ago

4. An interface that allows me to listen to the ratio or to podcasts without having to touch (and potentially get distracted by) my cellphone.

KJKingJ 8y ago
For an elderly relative of mine who no longer has the physical dexterity they used to, this has been a killer feature of voice assistants for them. No longer do they need to fiddle with awkward buttons to change the radio station or find out what the weather is, they just... ask and it happens.

sachin18590 8y ago

I can turn lights off without getting off my bed, and damn, has it made my life crazy simple. I was in India for few months last year and I realized a large part of me getting up early was to just switch on the geyser, open the door for the cook and turn the lights on. I would get back to bed after and check up fb till the water got hot. Just the fact that Echo can do these things without making me get off the bed will be a crazy value addition to my current decently privileged life.