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I'm shocked that not one single article I've found mentioned this incredibly obvious fact. This has ALWAYS been the case and only a few select models ever offe

by luma 2y ago

I'm shocked that not one single article I've found mentioned this incredibly obvious fact. This has ALWAYS been the case and only a few select models ever offered the option to turn it off. This change puts all devices on equal footing and behavior with the launch device. I don't love Amazon, but I love ginned up outrage over tech the author never bothered to understand even less.

wilg 2y ago
Online news articles are not really a workable medium for real journalism or reporting
jasonfarnon 2y ago
"I don't love Amazon, but I love ginned up outrage over tech the author never bothered to understand even less." And 99% of Echo owners disagree with this. No one cares if a reporter mixed up "amazon is starting to spy on you tomorrow" vs "amazon has been spying on you since the first echo was launched". Only amazon would make an argument like "yeah but we've been doing this for years now and no one made a big deal about it..."
- jvanderbot 2y ago
  Right. But you have to admit this sounds a bit like labelling Cereal "arsenic free". Really helpful to know but the sudden announcement hides that it's always been that way and implies others aren't. In truth this is probably how they all work and always have, but such a headline wouldn't ding Amazon sales.
  - Sophira 2y ago
    I don't have anything of substance to say, but I wanted to mention that I appreciate your subtle xkcd reference[0]! [0] https://xkcd.com/641/ https://xkcd.com/641/
    - drpossum 2y ago
      > I don't have anything of substance to say Thanks for saying something anyways. I wish more people would follow your example.
      - Sophira 2y ago
        I genuinely can't tell whether you're being sarcastic or whether you're saying that you appreciated the link to the XKCD. If the former, then I apologise.
smallmancontrov 2y ago
> ginned up The Sauron's Eye of public sentiment can only pay attention to one thing at a time. If you justify today on the basis that it wasn't paying attention yesterday, you can rationalize anything.
thomasjudge 2y ago
The Register in particular is a pretty garbagey source
- hardlianotion 2y ago
  I disagree.
- hodgesrm 2y ago
  Some of us like the tabloid-style IT reporting. The more salient criticism for me is that it's way less entertaining than a few years ago.
hulitu 2y ago
> I'm shocked that not one single article I've found mentioned this incredibly obvious fact. The search engines are crap. There was a story some years ago where Amazon employees from an Eastern European country were actually listening to your Alexa and sent the relevant commands back to the device.

by luma 2y ago

wilg 2y ago

Online news articles are not really a workable medium for real journalism or reporting

jasonfarnon 2y ago

"I don't love Amazon, but I love ginned up outrage over tech the author never bothered to understand even less." And 99% of Echo owners disagree with this. No one cares if a reporter mixed up "amazon is starting to spy on you tomorrow" vs "amazon has been spying on you since the first echo was launched". Only amazon would make an argument like "yeah but we've been doing this for years now and no one made a big deal about it..."

jvanderbot 2y ago
Right. But you have to admit this sounds a bit like labelling Cereal "arsenic free". Really helpful to know but the sudden announcement hides that it's always been that way and implies others aren't. In truth this is probably how they all work and always have, but such a headline wouldn't ding Amazon sales.
- Sophira 2y ago
  I don't have anything of substance to say, but I wanted to mention that I appreciate your subtle xkcd reference[0]! [0] https://xkcd.com/641/ https://xkcd.com/641/
  - drpossum 2y ago
    > I don't have anything of substance to say Thanks for saying something anyways. I wish more people would follow your example.
    - Sophira 2y ago
      I genuinely can't tell whether you're being sarcastic or whether you're saying that you appreciated the link to the XKCD. If the former, then I apologise.

smallmancontrov 2y ago

> ginned up The Sauron's Eye of public sentiment can only pay attention to one thing at a time. If you justify today on the basis that it wasn't paying attention yesterday, you can rationalize anything.

thomasjudge 2y ago

The Register in particular is a pretty garbagey source

hardlianotion 2y ago
I disagree.
hodgesrm 2y ago
Some of us like the tabloid-style IT reporting. The more salient criticism for me is that it's way less entertaining than a few years ago.

hulitu 2y ago

> I'm shocked that not one single article I've found mentioned this incredibly obvious fact. The search engines are crap. There was a story some years ago where Amazon employees from an Eastern European country were actually listening to your Alexa and sent the relevant commands back to the device.