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I will never understand why anyone would ever want to use voice assistants (other than for accessibility reasons). It is so gimmicky and awkward to use. Androi
by phito 2y ago
I will never understand why anyone would ever want to use voice assistants (other than for accessibility reasons). It is so gimmicky and awkward to use.
Android Auto does not even understand the word "no".
- jbaber 2y agoIf they worked and were local, why not?
- charcircuit 2y agoPeople don't always have their hands free or are able to look at a screen. Not everyone is good at typing.
- Cthulhu_ 2y agoThe commenter did mention "except for accessibility reasons".
- charcircuit 2y agoIf you consider any advantage of voice as an input modality to be an accessibility reason, then by definition there are no non accessibility reasons to use voice.
- 0xTJ 2y agoVoice input while driving isn't an accessibility reason, but it's an important safety feature. Unfortunately Google's Assistant has only gotten worse, nearing uselessness in anything but setting driving directions.
- dwayne_dibley 2y agoThis reads more like, 'they're not very good' rather than 'people don't want them'. They could be hugely useful, and even in their current capacity I find are very much so. I find it maddening that my google home, hasn't got a single bit better in the 8 years since it's release, and it's now missing some of my favourite features it had at launch. The whole market has been stagnate ever since they convinced me to put a microphone in my house, it's almost as if that was their end game.
- Telemakhos 2y ago> ever since they convinced me to put a microphone in my house, it's almost as if that was their end game It was. You’re one of the few in the thread to realize that, while others are frothing at the mouth over Democrats vs Republicans or EU vs US. The Echo and like devices were never about you but about putting surveillance gear in your house and getting you to pay for it. At least on old rotary phones the cradle switch or plungers physically broke the circuit that powered the microphones. The modern cell phone and home assistant and security cameras smart televisions and smart vehicles are surveilling you at all times.
- kevincox 2y agoYeah, I feel the same way. For a small set of features that work fairly reliably it is great. Almost all of my use is: 1. Set $thing timer for $time 2. Add $thing to my grocery list. 3. Weather 4. Convert $amount to $unit. And it is pretty great when these work, being able to do it in the kitchen without stopping whatever I am doing (example setting the dishwasher timer while putting in the soap, adding milk to the grocery list as I am pulling the last bag out of the fridge) is amazing. No wasted time and no risk of forgetting to pick up my phone and do it after I finish the current task. But even then it is pretty unreliable. I feel like it has been getting worse over time to be honest.
- vladde 2y agoWhen I'm cooking food and hands dirty, setting a timer with my voice is extremely convenient. When I'm driving and want to switch ANC mode, it's convenient as well.
- Semaphor 2y agoTimers, and converting those insane units US recipes use.
- rafinha 2y agoIt's handy for non-tech-savy people, namely the elderly. It can be used for playing music: "Alexa play X", "Alexa shutdown" is all the user needs to know.
- Mordisquitos 2y agoArguably that comes under the 'accessibility' use case that was mentioned.
- Lanolderen 2y agoThere are a lot of reasons. Driving, working (mute, tell it to do something, unmute -> you've done something without getting up on camera), dirty hands, too comfy to get up and switch the lights off, etc. It's also probably great for old people. I keep checking for language support since I can definitely imagine an older person being able to learn voice prompts where they're often absolutely lost on a phone. It'd also let them call someone if they've fallen somewhere around the house and can't get up.
- probably_wrong 2y agoAs I pointed in another comment: because they let you keep uninterrupted focus in what you're doing. If I'm coding and realize I didn't turn on the heating in the living room I have three choices: I can break my flow and walk there and back, I can be cold during dinner, or I can yell "turn on the heating in the living room" and have it out of my mind. If it sounds like a luxury that's because it is. But like all luxuries it crept up on me and I only noticed once it was gone.
- aneutron 2y agoMaking an urgent phone call to your spouse while rushing to your kids in the ER without taking your hands off the steering while is a fucking godsend. No matter how broken they are currently, they do have their place, and they work at least a bare minimum.
- prmoustache 2y agoYou should just drive and call later. You are putting yourself, your kids and the people around you at risk by calling someone else while driving, even when keeping your hands no the steering wheel.
- neogodless 2y agoI'm not a parent, but I suspect that if you're driving your kid(s) to the ER, there's a risk of having hours or minutes left with your kid(s) before they perish. So while it is riskier to call on the way, the risk of your spouse missing out on the last few moments of your child's time on Earth is actually greater. That being said, one would hope that is a seriously unusual edge case for requiring voice commands. (I personally find it awkward to use them, and still don't trust them to get it right, so I try not to use it ever unless I have no other choice.)
- prmoustache 2y agoI think I'd always call an ambulance if it is what I perceive as a life threatening situation. Actually I did it once. You can't give CPR to your kids while driving. I also think calling the other parent would be way below in term of priority than making sure my kid stays alive so I think I would call only when ER specialists or at least paramedics have taken charge of them and that may be some hospital clerk doing it for me if I have to be available to give information about medical history.
- yifanl 2y agoThe point is to raise a generation on them, and then they'll look at us weird for not wanting to send data back to the Amazon mothership so we can write down milk on the grocery list, a task that would be impossible without phoning Amazon.