Amazon Echo

Anyone else been following the Amazon Echo announcement?

http://www.amazon.com/oc/echo/ref_=ods_dp_ae

I actually don't know if one would have seen it if they weren't Amazon Prime. It was on the front page banner over the weekend and through Monday , I think. They're doing a sort of limited roll out for purchase, it seems, with Prime members able to get invites. Watch the video for more on the device.

The device is basically a speaker, but with an "always on" personal assistant (similar to Siri, etc) that you can communicate with via voice commands. You can ask it questions, manipulate lists, and access of other web/cloud enabled services. This actual device may not be the one that "makes it", but I think it's likely that something like this will, at some point.

Being integral to the living space I think sets it apart from the mobile device equivalents, like Siri. One could imagine having one in every room (or maybe more likely a single one, with mics in every room) to do your bidding on command ala HAL.

There's some creep factor here too, of course. Having an always on microphone in your space is pretty weird, although there is a mute button on the top .

Thoughts?

This is how The Terminator started.

heybatter said:

This is how The Terminator started.

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Yes, it is

yeah, i saw it and asked for an "invite"

But make no mistake -- Amazon is offering this as a easy sales portal. And that's why it's being heavily discounted to Prime subscribers -- we buy far more product from Amazon than normal members.

I suspect many conversations with Echo will go like this:

Me: Echo, how cold is it outside?
Echo: It is 30° outside right now with a expected high of 37.
Me: Wow -- that's cold.
Echo: Yes, it is -- would you me to send a listing of popular winter jackets in your size to your email address? I can also add a remote outdoor thermometer to your shopping cart.

Cool device!

When I heard Facebook could turn on your microphone randomly to see what you are listening to/talking about/watching, I decided promptly to uninstall it. Targeted ads are great, but we know anyone can store these conversations.

langod said:

yeah, i saw it and asked for an "invite"

But make no mistake -- Amazon is offering this as a easy sales portal. And that's why it's being heavily discounted to Prime subscribers -- we buy far more product from Amazon than normal members.

I suspect many conversations with Echo will go like this:

Me: Echo, how cold is it outside?
Echo: It is 30° outside right now with a expected high of 37.
Me: Wow -- that's cold.
Echo: Yes, it is -- would you me to send a listing of popular winter jackets in your size to your email address? I can also add a remote outdoor thermometer to your shopping cart.

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Absolutely. I don't have a problem with that...they're around to make money, and I don't mind giving it to them as long as they give me good deals and service (which they do). They are the masters of "easy to buy", and this is definitely another extension of that.

Call me paranoid, but it's a little too "big brother-ish" for me. How long until someone figures a way to hack into it and can listen in and cause all kinds of havoc. No thanks. Amazon Prime is already plenty easy to use.

The Future is here.
Their next product will be named "Her".

I wouldn't bother with one of these. If you have an iPhone or Google Now, or Cortana you basically have this functionality. This tube is just another tech expense on top of your phone just so you don't have to grab your device to talk to it. Having a laptop, a tablet, and a cell phone, I have no interest in yet another device that has an even more specialized function. This is why I had no interest in a smart watch either. At least with Google Now, if the system can't find an answer that it can verbalize back to you, it will call up web sites related to your question. I imagine the Amazon thing just says "sorry, can't answer that". Also, even with Google Now, it works, but I use it much less than I imagined I would. I don't feel a big need for voice input.

shaveitoff said:

I wouldn't bother with one of these. If you have an iPhone or Google Now, or Cortana you basically have this functionality. This tube is just another tech expense on top of your phone just so you don't have to grab your device to talk to it. Having a laptop, a tablet, and a cell phone, I have no interest in yet another device that has an even more specialized function. This is why I had no interest in a smart watch either. At least with Google Now, if the system can't find an answer that it can verbalize back to you, it will call up web sites related to your question. I imagine the Amazon thing just says "sorry, can't answer that". Also, even with Google Now, it works, but I use it much less than I imagined I would. I don't feel a big need for voice input.

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Yeah, I get that. I could see that folks that have smart phones (I don't) would probably find this less useful, as they likely have their device with them all the time. For me, I'm usually at home, so having something like this integral to my living space is more compelling. I do have a tablet and multiple computers, but the kinds of things I'd use this for are quick inquiries where going to one of those devices would not be as convenient. Personally, I'd like to see some sort of API provided that I could program to ( and have other devices interface with ). If I could do that, I'd have it controlling all kinds of stuff around the house .

I stopped doing business with Amazon on the first of this year, when they started collecting sales taxes and upped their minimum no-shipping purchase to $35. It's now generally cheaper to buy locally.

Eaaqas said:

Cool device!

When I heard Facebook could turn on your microphone randomly to see what you are listening to/talking about/watching, I decided promptly to uninstall it. Targeted ads are great, but we know anyone can store these conversations.

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http://www.snopes.com/computer/facebook/facebooklisten.asp

I'm not trying to defend anything Facebook does, but I just wanted to post this as to not spread false rumors. According to Snopes at least, Facebook does not have an 'always on' microphone feature. It CAN listen into audio while you are making a status update if you opt in. The proposed purpose is to identify songs or TV shows, and include a small clip in the status update if you choose.

As far as this device goes, I see it as ultimately useless. Its kind of a step in the right direction as far as voice controlled technology goes. The ultimate step will be the automated home. Computer, set the thermostat to 70 degrees. Computer preheat the oven to 400. Computer, i'm too lazy to fold my laundry right now. Just incinerate everything in the dryer and print me new fabricate new clothes for me this week.

Edcculus said:

http://www.snopes.com/computer/facebook/facebooklisten.asp

I'm not trying to defend anything Facebook does, but I just wanted to post this as to not spread false rumors. According to Snopes at least, Facebook does not have an 'always on' microphone feature. It CAN listen into audio while you are making a status update if you opt in. The proposed purpose is to identify songs or TV shows, and include a small clip in the status update if you choose.

As far as this device goes, I see it as ultimately useless. Its kind of a step in the right direction as far as voice controlled technology goes. The ultimate step will be the automated home. Computer, set the thermostat to 70 degrees. Computer preheat the oven to 400. Computer, i'm too lazy to fold my laundry right now. Just incinerate everything in the dryer and print me new fabricate new clothes for me this week.

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Thanks for the snopes link... The Facebook open mic thing sounded fishy .

On the Echo device, I agree - home automation is the key here, at least for me - hence my mention of the importance of a device like this having an open API that I (or others ) could program to. That said, I think the softer things, like information look-up may become more useful than folks think, once they start using it.

1984 anyone???

BSAGuy said:

1984 anyone???

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Yep, it's a bit of that too

I can understand the appeal and the convenience of having such a device in my home, but I think it is utterly useless.

From what I understand, the most this device can do is a quick search, which I can do for myself in ~20 seconds. The same 20 seconds I will waste trying to make the device understand what I actually want, with free irritation thrown in just for giggles.

The other services it can provide such as setting an alarm, adding frozen peas to the list of groceries, making travel reservations, adding a reminder and so on, can be done easily by someone that has 2 seconds to spare. The same time it takes to irritate you. So that thing to me is a glorified, not so good wireless speaker. I already have a sweet speaker setup, which if so desired can be controlled from my cell.

Another thing is, it will probably be littered with ads, as fellow gentlemen have previously mentioned. I am trying to keep everything ad free, and is an uphill battle as it is. The last thing I need is an AI telling me to buy useless (probably) stuff.

Another and more serious concern of mine is this device's security. If its firmware is not open source and it has a moderate amount of commercial success, I can absolutely guarantee that in the first two months someone, somewhere, will be able to hack into it and listen to the mic or, even worse, steal account info. It's a little creepy as well having a mic always open, when you don't know if and what voice data is sent to amazon.
In addition, the wake up word, Alexa, brings back nasty memories of a worm that plagued many PCs wayyyyyyyyyy back and a certain data mining company that used to track everything, with all means necessary.

Lastly, I have childhood trauma from SHODAN mostly and Skynet, so I will pass up on any device with an upgradeable AI and limited functionality that can have ears on me 24/7 and can track my habits.

In all seriousness, though, the only use I can envision is for an individual that is technologically (very) challenged, or has some sort of disability and is not able to use a computer with comfort.

Good feed back, Antonis. I agree, there are pitfalls, but I still see this sort of technology as an inevitable presence in the home - mainly as a home control type device. I'm certainly very technically astute (I'm an electrical and software engineer working on embedded Linux), but I still find the overall idea interesting and potentially useful. I agree - an open source approach for the device would be very welcome - although that doesn't guarantee security. Plenty of open source projects have had security issues, as not enough trained eyes happen to be looking at the code.

Maybe the answer is that I should just roll my own device. It wouldn't be too tough to do with a Raspberry Pi. Maybe could tap into some of the IBM Watson API's.

I agree that at some point in the future we will have similar technology in our homes, I'm just saying it probably won't be this. Perhaps the Echo v3.0 or something like that. It sure is a step towards that direction.

As for the security, nothing is secure imho. There will be people that will try to exploit it for devious reasons. The open source approach at least gives you the option to turn it into a simple speaker if it is proven insecure. I'm sorry I am not continuing further, but I am out of time.

jamesspo said:

Maybe the answer is that I should just roll my own device. It wouldn't be too tough to do with a Raspberry Pi. Maybe could tap into some of the IBM Watson API's.

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That is brilliant. I am honestly excited with the idea alone.

Amazon is desperately trying to enter the hardware market. The Kindle was a huge success, but their phone was a complete flop. I am interested to see how this one goes.

Like someone already said, it just seems like a fancy Siri to me. Anyone with a smartphone already has this capability. Plus, who really asks Siri (or whatever personal assistant comes with their smartphone) what the weather is, when George Washington was born, to add milk to the grocery list, etc.? It is quicker to just manually do most of those things.

Never in a million years. I seem to have come come to a screeching halt at a MacBook Air: no smart phone, no tablet, no Facebook, and no Echo. My privacy is invaded already, probably fatally, but why help them out? Amazon works fine with me typing.