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Referring to an Amazon Echo as a "microphone" is reductionist to the point where it could actually confuse readers as to what is being discussed. A smart speake
by fastball 6y ago
Referring to an Amazon Echo as a "microphone" is reductionist to the point where it could actually confuse readers as to what is being discussed. A smart speaker has a microphone, but it is not "a microphone".
It would be like Tesla taking issue with someone calling their car "an electric motor". Sure it has those things, but that's not what it is.
Totally reasonable change imo.
- ludamad 6y agoIt's reasonable in a vacuum but "having an Amazon microphone in your home" is not the same as "having an echo device in your home." There is a clear intent
- fastball 6y agoYes, the clear intent is by the author of this article to use inaccurate language in order to scare-tactic readers into thinking Amazon just wants to spy on you. Amazon sells literal microphones in addition to the Echo. That sentence could be referring to literal microphones under the AmazonBasics brand for all I know.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- pwinnski 6y agoIf the entire article repeatedly referred to the device as a microphone rather than by name, sure, that would be reductionist, and also silly. Fortunately, that's not what happened here, and the device is referred to consistently by brand name in the article. "While it’s natural to be chiefly concerned about privacy when your apartment comes with an Amazon microphone pre-installed, we should also be critical about where the data extracted from us ends up." In that one sentence, the actual one from the actual article, the word microphone is accurate and makes far more sense than anything else.