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Alexa was only the 32nd most popular name in the US for girls. A little over 6k babies were named Alexa in the US prior to the speaker's launch. The "Alexa sto

Alexa was only the 32nd most popular name in the US for girls. A little over 6k babies were named Alexa in the US prior to the speaker's launch. The "Alexa stop" thing, is it a real or invented harm? My name happens to match the lead character of Karate Kid and I constantly asked to do the crane pose when I was 7. Doesn't seem to have traumatized me.

MichaelCollins 4y ago
> Alexa was only the 32nd most popular name in the US for girls. 32nd most popular is not exactly obscure. Why did they have to give the computer a human name in the first place? Probably because it helps people form some sort of parasocial relationship to the product, which is gross, but probably good for business.
- danrocks 4y ago
  I used to work there, after the launch (and therefore, of the name). One of the reasons given was that Alexa was a distinctly suitable word for proper recognition by the ASR model embedded on the device software. Also probably because it was good for business.
mint2 4y ago
The popularity of the name cratered after launch. That doesn’t signify anything to you? That anecdote is nice but honestly it sounds like you survived a less frequent and more temporary somewhat similar but much milder version so now you’re stating everyone else needs to get over themselves?
- danrocks 4y ago
  What does it signify? Annoyance? Yes. Harm, such that it required a committee of enlighted priests to have blocked it? Where is the evidence for it?
  - mint2 4y ago
    For illustrative purposes: Dan stop! Dan stop! Dan set timer for 50 minutes. Timer set for 15 minutes. Dan stop! Dan cancel timer! Dan set timer for Fiifttyy minutes” Dan turn off kitchen light” Dan set thermostat to 68. Dan play Music. Your name is now Kleenexified to mean robotic female servant, no harm! It doesn’t seem like you googled or looked into how people named Alexa actually feel before pronouncing how they should feel. This comment chain really shows why these responsibility vetting teams are needed, a lot of corporate workers are not empathetic or considerate beyond their immediate siloed task and assume everyone should react exactly the same as they did to only very tangentially similar experiences.

MichaelCollins 4y ago

> Alexa was only the 32nd most popular name in the US for girls. 32nd most popular is not exactly obscure. Why did they have to give the computer a human name in the first place? Probably because it helps people form some sort of parasocial relationship to the product, which is gross, but probably good for business.

danrocks 4y ago
I used to work there, after the launch (and therefore, of the name). One of the reasons given was that Alexa was a distinctly suitable word for proper recognition by the ASR model embedded on the device software. Also probably because it was good for business.

mint2 4y ago

The popularity of the name cratered after launch. That doesn’t signify anything to you? That anecdote is nice but honestly it sounds like you survived a less frequent and more temporary somewhat similar but much milder version so now you’re stating everyone else needs to get over themselves?

danrocks 4y ago
What does it signify? Annoyance? Yes. Harm, such that it required a committee of enlighted priests to have blocked it? Where is the evidence for it?
- mint2 4y ago
  For illustrative purposes: Dan stop! Dan stop! Dan set timer for 50 minutes. Timer set for 15 minutes. Dan stop! Dan cancel timer! Dan set timer for Fiifttyy minutes” Dan turn off kitchen light” Dan set thermostat to 68. Dan play Music. Your name is now Kleenexified to mean robotic female servant, no harm! It doesn’t seem like you googled or looked into how people named Alexa actually feel before pronouncing how they should feel. This comment chain really shows why these responsibility vetting teams are needed, a lot of corporate workers are not empathetic or considerate beyond their immediate siloed task and assume everyone should react exactly the same as they did to only very tangentially similar experiences.