3 ms·

It boggles the mind the people would carry around always-on personal trackers that not only perfectly pin-point your location, know who your family and friends

It boggles the mind the people would carry around always-on personal trackers that not only perfectly pin-point your location, know who your family and friends are, and can also listen to your conversations. Smart speakers are not all that scary if you know how they work and that information, in detail, is all out there. They go to a low-power mode waiting for the keyword and only then do actually turn on the main CPU and do any processing. They may the safest least privacy leaking Internet device you actually own. Your TV is probably taking screen shots of what you're watching. Your phone is leaking data to dozens of different entities all the time. Your computer is constantly sending stuff out. A smart speaker is tame by comparison.

yborg 6y ago
I assume the strawman you are propping up is a mobile phone. There is a significant difference there of course, which is that the phone performs a function impossible to obtain in any other way, namely mobile telephony. The "smart speaker" performs functions trivially replicated in other ways.
- wvenable 6y ago
  Yes, but the point is that they're so much safer than your mobile phone that the trivial usage is perfectly fine. I have an Alexa and while I only use it for basically trivial things I use it for those trivial things all the time. It's really quite nice to have. I also have my phone on me, all the time, even while at home so really my privacy issues aren't increased by having that Alexa.
mLuby 6y ago
It's not mind-boggling; we've just forgotten what it's like to buy and carry physical maps (or give/remember directions, or a stand-alone GPS device), have a physical address/contact book, use a tape recorder, etc. Now those things are all in one device. It is extremely convenient, but in general none of those features need to exfiltrate data from your device. If you ask me, device owners should have unimpeachable control over what data, if any, is sent from their devices.
- nitrogen 6y ago
  generating directions from point A to B (which physical maps couldn't do). Standalone GPS navigators are perfectly capable of navigating without a network connection. The only thing you lose is real-time traffic info, which in a better parallel universe would be broadcast in the open by every DOT.
  - mLuby 6y ago
    Excellent point; I've amended my comment.
puranjay 6y ago
I understand where you're coming from. I'm uneasy about the privacy implications of smartphones. But the utility is too great to ignore. My smartphone is integral to how I communicate, travel and even run my business. Smart speakers are just gimmicks

yborg 6y ago

I assume the strawman you are propping up is a mobile phone. There is a significant difference there of course, which is that the phone performs a function impossible to obtain in any other way, namely mobile telephony. The "smart speaker" performs functions trivially replicated in other ways.

wvenable 6y ago
Yes, but the point is that they're so much safer than your mobile phone that the trivial usage is perfectly fine. I have an Alexa and while I only use it for basically trivial things I use it for those trivial things all the time. It's really quite nice to have. I also have my phone on me, all the time, even while at home so really my privacy issues aren't increased by having that Alexa.

mLuby 6y ago

It's not mind-boggling; we've just forgotten what it's like to buy and carry physical maps (or give/remember directions, or a stand-alone GPS device), have a physical address/contact book, use a tape recorder, etc. Now those things are all in one device. It is extremely convenient, but in general none of those features need to exfiltrate data from your device. If you ask me, device owners should have unimpeachable control over what data, if any, is sent from their devices.

nitrogen 6y ago
generating directions from point A to B (which physical maps couldn't do). Standalone GPS navigators are perfectly capable of navigating without a network connection. The only thing you lose is real-time traffic info, which in a better parallel universe would be broadcast in the open by every DOT.
- mLuby 6y ago
  Excellent point; I've amended my comment.

puranjay 6y ago

I understand where you're coming from. I'm uneasy about the privacy implications of smartphones. But the utility is too great to ignore. My smartphone is integral to how I communicate, travel and even run my business. Smart speakers are just gimmicks