Anyone have an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot?

I had a hard time deciding between the Echo and the Echo Dot, finally chose the latter for forty bucks. I'm loving it. I'm a Siri fan but the Echo Dot leaves it in the dust! It's very user friendly and more convenient.

Anyone else have one?

Sounds like a handy device that could make things easier for the elderly or disabled with mobility issues.

My wife was looking into one of these devises when we realised our first generation Fire Tv has it built in. At some point an update added Alexa to the devise and it already has a microphone function for voice search. So we pushed the button and asked Alexa if she could hear us. She replied affirmative.

Supposedly you can place these little things all over your house. I think that's super neat. Where ever you are in your house just ask Alexa. Standing in the laundry room and realize the soap is low? Alexa, order laundry soap. In the kitchen and need a measurement conversion? Alexa, how many ounces in a gallon? Just sat on the couch and to lazy to get back up? Alexa, turn the living room lights off.

Super cool!

The wife and I have the Tap (non-hands free version) and we use the crap out of it for various things. We plan on getting an Echo and/or Dots in the future. You can buy systems that connect to them that will regulate your AC/Heater and can turn on/off/dim your lights. There are a tone of "Easter Eggs" built into it that are fun to ask. My favorite is asking Alexa, "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

I tend to regard Amazon/Jeff Bezos as about as benign and trustworthy as a carpet viper so I'll pass.

Hadn't heard of this little gadget, yet. Pretty cool, if you ask me!

LostHighway said:

I tend to regard Amazon/Jeff Bezos as about as benign and trustworthy as a carpet viper so I'll pass.

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It is my understanding that all of your queries and searches on these devices are stored by Amazon in their cloud.

Mr. Scruffy said:

It is my understanding that all of your queries and searches on these devices are stored by Amazon in their cloud.

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You are right, Harry. An interesting article here.

The privacy issue is real. And not just for Amazon. Think those Siri questions are anonymous? I seriously doubt it. We are pretty careful about what we say into the mic. The nice thing about the Fire Tv is they mic is a manual function. You need to push and hold it to use it for anything. The Dots just sit back listening to every thing said. Now mind, the NSA can turn on mics in automobiles to listen to conversations. At least in OnStar GM vehicles so who knows? I suspect like most of these concerns the colour of your underwear is only of interest in the sense of who they can market(sell) the information to, including their own marketing team, an make profit on it. There is nothing inherently wrong with expanding the portfolio. But blanket storage of random inquiries is not a comforting thought.

I did notice I can access my Amazon account and delete voice recordings. It is not super easy to get to but not really hidden either. If you have the Alexa app on your mobile or tablet, there is a place in the settings to delete the recordings. If you access it through the Amazon web site(logged in) then go to this link; https://www.amazon.com/mn/dcw/myx.html/ref=kinw_myk_redirect#/home/content/booksAll/dateDsc/ There you will click on Your Devises> Manage Voice Recordings. When you click the latter you will get a dialogue box which states the following;

When you use voice search on this Amazon Fire TV, we keep the voice recordings associated with your account to learn your voice and how you speak to improve the accuracy of the results provided to you and to improve our services. Learn more.

You can choose to delete these associated voice recordings you’ve made on this device. This may degrade your experience using the voice features. Are you sure you want to delete?


You are then offered a button to delete or cancel. I will just have to take their word for it that they are deleted. I think there is a way to delete recordings selectively but I did not explore it. So it there is some protection but again, who really knows where it winds up in cyber world?

I must admit that these devices do seem pretty cool. However, I often wonder if I'm just lured in by romantic ideas put forward by Star Trek and other such shows. Talking to a computer makes for good scripted TV, but I've had shouting matches with my phone.

Am I the only one who finds this all a bit unnerving? I don't want a tv that can record what we are talking about, or built in cameras that can be hacked and record what's going on in my house, or pods that monitor conversations. When I go into my house, I want the doors locked, and big brother left outside. I even have my skype camera turned away from me at work and a post it over my laptop camera

Oh yeah, an Echo and several Dots. I got into the very first round of deliveries for the Echo a couple of years ago. I love mine. I haven't ventured into home automation with it yet, so it's mostly a music player..but a darn good one, and I do use it for various other random things (timers, weather, news, podcasts, etc). I feel a little weird when I go out and Alexa isn't there at my bidding . I'm taking a look at the SDK (software development kit) now to see about doing some of my own skills development. There is pretty healthy, and quickly growing library of add-on skills. You can also use it to interact with anything that IFTTT ( ifttt.com ) can work with.

The best part is when this intrusive data is hacked.

Stolen ID is one (bad) thing, stolen every-detail-of-your-life is another.


AA

I have an echo and dot. They are fantastically convenient. As far as privacy goes im the most perverted, shameless person I know. Good luck with that amazon.

TexLaw said:

I must admit that these devices do seem pretty cool. However, I often wonder if I'm just lured in by romantic ideas put forward by Star Trek and other such shows. Talking to a computer makes for good scripted TV, but I've had shouting matches with my phone.

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Nice custom title

DC_MPA said:

Am I the only one who finds this all a bit unnerving? I don't want a tv that can record what we are talking about, or built in cameras that can be hacked and record what's going on in my house, or pods that monitor conversations. When I go into my house, I want the doors locked, and big brother left outside. I even have my skype camera turned away from me at work and a post it over my laptop camera

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I think a blend of Huxley and Orwell is going on. We are happily welcoming the surveillance state.

James, pretty interesting stuff at ifttt. I wonder what the physical interface is for the home devises? Does most of this work through wifi? Bluetooth? If some standard protocol is used, then I would wager the Arduino nerds are hard at work developing interfaces for all sorts of mechanical devises.

One thing I have been looking at for awhile is a home brew security system. I would say that 95% of the alarm panels from the major brands are nothing more than 1980's microcontroller tech. Hardly any of them have a network interface and their underlying firmware is not smart enough to use it anyway. Even if you wanted the network capability disconnected for daily use, it would be a major upgrade to be able to programme settings, zones, and devises(if they are capable of being addressed and communications capable) from the desk top. Either through a browser interface or an app or applet. The old hardwired systems are archaic but rock solid most times. A Cat5e or Cat6 cable is dead reliable, cheap, easy to work with and can multitask like no other cable around right now.

Everyone wants wireless but they all have their issues and most are tied to a provider that makes them a paper weight if you quit using them. And open source, electo/electronic/mechanical alarm system would be a fun thing to tinker with. I looked at Arduino but a gent who is much sharper than I(a retired IT guy from General Dynamics) told me there is some issue with Arduino and the type of switching needed for alarm controls. Don't quote me on that. He is WAY beyond my capabilities with pc/tech stuff. Anyroad, we are off the track here and sorry to the OP but the applications of a HAL9000 interface in your abode is tempting. If a bit terrifying as well.

The data all these AI machines collect is more valuable than the devices themselves. That's what these retailers really want. Data. To learn more about YOU. So they can more easily separate you from your money.

oc_in_fw said:

Nice custom title

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I didn't see that!