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Yeah over the last few weeks Alexa has grown annoyingly chatty. Pretty much every ask, like "Alexa, what's the outside temperature?" is followed by the answer a

Yeah over the last few weeks Alexa has grown annoyingly chatty. Pretty much every ask, like "Alexa, what's the outside temperature?" is followed by the answer and then "Did you know..." which is itself followed by me saying "Alexa stop" in an irritated voice. "Computer, lay in a course to intercept the Romulan cruiser." "Intercept course calculated. Did you know, I can automatically reorder toilet paper for the bridge head?" If any one from Amazon is hanging nearby, please pass along how annoying a chatty home assistant is.

curiousllama 5y ago
Agreed that "did you know" sucks. Worst possible way to teach me to use the device. That said, it's a really interesting problem figuring out how to teach people what Alexa can/can't do. How do you tell your users "we built a feature so now you can set subscription orders!" Personally, I don't get why they don't run ads. Like, instead of a smiley face delivery person, just say "here's a new thing your Alexa can do"
- krrrh 5y ago
  > it's a really interesting problem figuring out how to teach people what Alexa can/can't do A monthly email seems more than adequate.
  - JshWright 5y ago
    I bet the open rate on that email would be far from "adequate" (depending on the perspective we're looking at it from).
    - krrrh 5y ago
      Yeah, which is my point. The uptake for new voice commands is even lower.
- Applejinx 5y ago
  That would cost money, but if you're engaging with your Alexa you are guaranteed to be paying attention and are therefore a captive audience. If you can be trained to tolerate 'did you know' it's time to sell paid advertising in that slot.
- MisterTea 5y ago
  > Personally, I don't get why they don't run ads. They will. Thing is if you asked Alexa to turn the lights on and it replied with an ad, people would lose their minds. However, if you slowly erode the experience with these "did you know" quips and other time wasters, eventually people will accept the extra annoyance. Now you have the ability to slip in ads. Why? If you replace the 5-10 seconds useless quips with an ad that could save some one money, suddenly you invert the negative aspects of ads and the outcome is positive. No linger are you subject to needless did you knows and instead "useful" ads that tell you nike is on sale.
  - MrStonedOne 5y ago
    They meant run ads on tvs about what alexa can do.
- outworlder 5y ago
  > it's a really interesting problem figuring out how to teach people what Alexa can/can't do Well, for starters, it needs to interpret queries better :) I have Echos across the house, and one Google device I got for free. Google's implementation "understands" way, way more. Amazon's offering is more well supported and they are less likely to pull a Reader, otherwise I'd have switched by now.
- MrStonedOne 5y ago
  > That said, it's a really interesting problem figuring out how to teach people what Alexa can/can't do. How do you tell your users "we built a feature so now you can set subscription orders!" Did you know there is a setting to turn the did you know stuff off? Did you know that this setting even used to work at one point in time? Its frustrating that companies can't get it into their head that users may not want to know. Also they have my email, and could send that kind of shit there so no excuses for updating the system to ignore the "follow up recommendations" setting.
lima 5y ago
Google Assistant never does that, thankfully. (...yet?)
- HanShotFirst 5y ago
  My Google Home has definitely done this on several occasions. Seems sporadic though, not enough to truly annoy me yet.
  - lima 5y ago
    Oh no
- freen 5y ago
  It did…
bananabat 5y ago
My family teases me about my irritated voice for Alexa. It seems this is the tone she listens to.
theshrike79 5y ago
The "did you know..." crap sounds like someone's bonuses are tied to Alexa engagement. And people just triggering their half-dozen routines they made 3 years ago isn't enough engagement. Thus: a ham-fisted attempt to get people to use it more.
setpatchaddress 5y ago
If Apple ever does this with HomePods, I’m throwing mine out (after smashing them with a mallet to ensure that they won’t plague anyone else).

curiousllama 5y ago

Agreed that "did you know" sucks. Worst possible way to teach me to use the device. That said, it's a really interesting problem figuring out how to teach people what Alexa can/can't do. How do you tell your users "we built a feature so now you can set subscription orders!" Personally, I don't get why they don't run ads. Like, instead of a smiley face delivery person, just say "here's a new thing your Alexa can do"

krrrh 5y ago
> it's a really interesting problem figuring out how to teach people what Alexa can/can't do A monthly email seems more than adequate.
- JshWright 5y ago
  I bet the open rate on that email would be far from "adequate" (depending on the perspective we're looking at it from).
  - krrrh 5y ago
    Yeah, which is my point. The uptake for new voice commands is even lower.
Applejinx 5y ago
That would cost money, but if you're engaging with your Alexa you are guaranteed to be paying attention and are therefore a captive audience. If you can be trained to tolerate 'did you know' it's time to sell paid advertising in that slot.
MisterTea 5y ago
> Personally, I don't get why they don't run ads. They will. Thing is if you asked Alexa to turn the lights on and it replied with an ad, people would lose their minds. However, if you slowly erode the experience with these "did you know" quips and other time wasters, eventually people will accept the extra annoyance. Now you have the ability to slip in ads. Why? If you replace the 5-10 seconds useless quips with an ad that could save some one money, suddenly you invert the negative aspects of ads and the outcome is positive. No linger are you subject to needless did you knows and instead "useful" ads that tell you nike is on sale.
- MrStonedOne 5y ago
  They meant run ads on tvs about what alexa can do.
outworlder 5y ago
> it's a really interesting problem figuring out how to teach people what Alexa can/can't do Well, for starters, it needs to interpret queries better :) I have Echos across the house, and one Google device I got for free. Google's implementation "understands" way, way more. Amazon's offering is more well supported and they are less likely to pull a Reader, otherwise I'd have switched by now.
MrStonedOne 5y ago
> That said, it's a really interesting problem figuring out how to teach people what Alexa can/can't do. How do you tell your users "we built a feature so now you can set subscription orders!" Did you know there is a setting to turn the did you know stuff off? Did you know that this setting even used to work at one point in time? Its frustrating that companies can't get it into their head that users may not want to know. Also they have my email, and could send that kind of shit there so no excuses for updating the system to ignore the "follow up recommendations" setting.

lima 5y ago

Google Assistant never does that, thankfully. (...yet?)

HanShotFirst 5y ago
My Google Home has definitely done this on several occasions. Seems sporadic though, not enough to truly annoy me yet.
- lima 5y ago
  Oh no
freen 5y ago
It did…

bananabat 5y ago

My family teases me about my irritated voice for Alexa. It seems this is the tone she listens to.

theshrike79 5y ago

The "did you know..." crap sounds like someone's bonuses are tied to Alexa engagement. And people just triggering their half-dozen routines they made 3 years ago isn't enough engagement. Thus: a ham-fisted attempt to get people to use it more.

setpatchaddress 5y ago

If Apple ever does this with HomePods, I’m throwing mine out (after smashing them with a mallet to ensure that they won’t plague anyone else).