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I would like to know the ways in which people who already have an Echo use it. I have had one for months now and all I use it for is listening to music while I

I would like to know the ways in which people who already have an Echo use it. I have had one for months now and all I use it for is listening to music while I prepare dinner. Lately, the music has begun to stutter and that irritates me so much that I say "Alexa goodbye" and pull the plug out of the wall.

Navarr 11y ago
Alexa is my primary alarm now. It was also common for a time to ask it what the time was or what the weather was when preparing in the morning (our bedroom is our living room).
nogridbag 11y ago
I use it daily to check the weather forecast, manage my shopping and todo list, and set timers (mainly when cooking) while I'm just walking around my apartment. I also bought the Philips Hue Lux bulbs for the cool factor ("Alexa, turn off all the lights") - but the jury's still out on them. If I had to actually use their Philips Hue android app to turn the lights on and off I would flip out. Echo actually makes them usable. Once they open up the SDK, there's lots of things I'd love to add which will make my life easier. It was a great buy at $99. I would have even liked to buy an additional one for my bedroom. At $179 it's a tougher sell - I would have to think twice about it. I also noticed they're selling the remote control separately for an extra $30.
koala_man 11y ago
(Disclosure: I work on competing NLP) I ended up putting mine in the bedroom. The only commands that I've found weekly+ uses for are: - Turn the lights on/off - What time is it And that's pretty much it. Only the latter works reliably. I would have definitely have used the home automation more, but the Amazon recommended WeMo switch that works perfectly from the WeMo app only works half the time from Echo. It's a fun toy though. Guests always get a kick out of "Alexa, tell me a joke" and "Alexa, play some party music", and I still enjoy the occasional futuristic feeling when I e.g. listen to something interesting on NPR in my car and have Echo take over when I get home. However, as much as I enjoy NLP and early adoption, I really struggle to find practical, non-gimmick uses for it.
rylee 11y ago
It's my cooking timer now. Shouting out "Alexa, set a timer for 9 minutes" when putting chicken on the grill is far simpler than walking all the way to the kitchen and using a food timer.
SimpleXYZ 11y ago
I don't have a cell phone or a stereo, so the Echo is really the perfect device for me. I use it for weather, timers, news, fact look-up, math, music, etc. I really wish it supported something like json, allowing me to get an audio of anything on the web.
caseyf 11y ago
I use mine regularly for listening to music while making dinner and we all use it to add stuff to the family grocery list. I like it for $99, but not for double that.

Navarr 11y ago

Alexa is my primary alarm now. It was also common for a time to ask it what the time was or what the weather was when preparing in the morning (our bedroom is our living room).

nogridbag 11y ago

I use it daily to check the weather forecast, manage my shopping and todo list, and set timers (mainly when cooking) while I'm just walking around my apartment. I also bought the Philips Hue Lux bulbs for the cool factor ("Alexa, turn off all the lights") - but the jury's still out on them. If I had to actually use their Philips Hue android app to turn the lights on and off I would flip out. Echo actually makes them usable. Once they open up the SDK, there's lots of things I'd love to add which will make my life easier. It was a great buy at $99. I would have even liked to buy an additional one for my bedroom. At $179 it's a tougher sell - I would have to think twice about it. I also noticed they're selling the remote control separately for an extra $30.

koala_man 11y ago

(Disclosure: I work on competing NLP) I ended up putting mine in the bedroom. The only commands that I've found weekly+ uses for are: - Turn the lights on/off - What time is it And that's pretty much it. Only the latter works reliably. I would have definitely have used the home automation more, but the Amazon recommended WeMo switch that works perfectly from the WeMo app only works half the time from Echo. It's a fun toy though. Guests always get a kick out of "Alexa, tell me a joke" and "Alexa, play some party music", and I still enjoy the occasional futuristic feeling when I e.g. listen to something interesting on NPR in my car and have Echo take over when I get home. However, as much as I enjoy NLP and early adoption, I really struggle to find practical, non-gimmick uses for it.

rylee 11y ago

It's my cooking timer now. Shouting out "Alexa, set a timer for 9 minutes" when putting chicken on the grill is far simpler than walking all the way to the kitchen and using a food timer.

SimpleXYZ 11y ago

I don't have a cell phone or a stereo, so the Echo is really the perfect device for me. I use it for weather, timers, news, fact look-up, math, music, etc. I really wish it supported something like json, allowing me to get an audio of anything on the web.

caseyf 11y ago

I use mine regularly for listening to music while making dinner and we all use it to add stuff to the family grocery list. I like it for $99, but not for double that.