Forum menu
We have an Alexa with a screen in the kitchen. Morning ritual typically kicks off with "Alexa, play Radio 4" whilst sorting a double shot from the Espresso machine.
This morning i'm greeted with the unhelpful response,"sorry, I can't find the station you requested..." its the same response when I ask for BBC 6 music, another household staple during the day.
Anyone else getting this this morning?
First world problems, but sometimes morning routines ain't to be messed with. Chuffin' Bezos.
Sadly, ours still recognises Radio 2. Chuffing Zoe Ball.....🙄
Yup same here. I used Alexa open BBC and it brings up BBC sounds you can chose from there.
Same, doesn't recognise any BBC stations
...Google speakers seems to work...
Unsure if that is good or bad though!
Alexa’s been promised a seat in the House of Lords by Boris.
I can relate, I don't recognise a Radio 4 without Barry Cryer either.
Thank god for that!
I thought ours had gone rogue. Or I was going mad
“Alexa… play radio 4” are the first words I utter every day as I put the coffee machine on (how STW am I?!)
This morning she put on something dreadful like Smooth FM on instead. Repeated requests got the same result
What’s going on? Has Bezos deemed the BBC to be unworthy of his platform now then?
You have to enable bbc sounds through the Alexa app
Apparently you now have to say
“Ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 4”
Do you want an update on what you've missed? Well, plenty of Barry Cryer singing... (well, I say plenty, they could play just that all morning, and I'd be happy)... and members of the government arguing in public about the NI increases.
Alexa wouldn’t open BBC Radio 6 for even even when I asked it to do it via BBC sounds 🙁 NP, ‘play music by Vivaldi’ got something going from Apple Music in the shower. Then used Bluetooth to play BBC R3 to Alexa in the kitchen for breakfast.
Unsure if it’s a rights thing, a bug, or more freakiness like the absence of Alexa a few days back.
I thought these things were supposed to make life easier. 3 clicks of the mouse and radio 6 is playing on my setup. No having to talk to anyone let alone a robot
I am glad its not just me, I had to ask it to open the BBC app this morning to get R4.
I hope it goes back to the old days it was a lot easier.
Have you not got a knob you can twiddle?
Pffft mine comes on automatically when I wake up
[img] 
[/img]
Are these things not inherently crap?
What real benefit do they offer over say physically turning on a radio or googling whatever it is you want to know on your phone?
Honestly never understood these things. Our reliance on technology (because we're too bloody lazy to physically do anything ourselves) could come to bite us in the arse.
As Reinhold Messner once said, "Eines Tages geht der Mensch kaputt, weil er zu faul ist zu Fuß zu gehen."
One day the human race will fail because it's too lazy to walk. "
My Sonos with built in Alexa is doing the same this morning.
Glad its not just me then !
What real benefit do they offer over say physically turning on a radio or googling whatever it is you want to know on your phone?
They're great when you're cooking and your hands are covered in raw chicken or flour or whatever.
They’re great when you’re cooking and your hands are covered in raw chicken or flour or whatever.
I've developed an amazing ability called "turning on the radio before I start cooking".
Another advantage of playing music as I do of course is it comes thru proper speakers. Depending on the room either old missions or gale mini monitors. I cannot believe an alexa gives a similar sound quality
You can plug an Alexa in to an amplifier so you get the smart function and to use your speakers too. Given that you can often pick up an echo dot for £20, that’s a cheap way of getting the best of both worlds.
99% of the time Alexa is flawless, the 1% of time that it isn’t, all the luddites come out of the woodwork!
Apparently you now have to say
Why can't they just leave shit alone!!?!
My morning ritual, whilst making the porridge through bleary eyes, mumbling out..."alexa play 6music"
Incidentally, I really love Chris Hawkins, what a top bloke.
all the luddites come out of the woodwork!
Said Bezos' bitch.
Luddite and proud! I'm going to come round to your house and smash your alexa for taking away real peoples jobs!
Given that you can often pick up an echo dot for £20, that’s a cheap way of getting the best of both worlds.
whilst true, if you want nicer quality you really want an echo link (£200ish) or link amp (£280ish).
They’re great when you’re cooking and your hands are covered in raw chicken or flour or whatever.
I'm generally slightly skeptical of voice controlled things (though not to the point that I'd try and argue that walking to a computer, waking it up and doing '3 clicks of a mouse', is more convenient than simple saying a sentence when you are getting on with something else), but being able to tell Siri to add things to a shared shopping list while your hands are full cooking rather than wrestling with a phone, is one of the most useful things ever.
Like most of this tech there are a few things it does that can be great (if it’s what you want) and then they bundle in a whole load of other stuff. For us the main things are:
“Alexa play xxx by yyy” Pretty much any song (or album) I want to play available whenever I want simply by asking for it. My younger self would have found that mind blowing.
“Alexa add xxx to the shopping list” Any member of the family can add things to the list and whenever I happen to go shopping I just open the app on my phone and there is the list.
“Alexa ask the bbc to play radio4” is working just fine for me, but usually I’ll just “open the bbc” to get to bbc sounds and play any station, show or podcast I fancy from there.
If you don’t have a use for one then of course it’s useless, but some of the things it can do would have sounded like science fiction just a few years ago.
Mine continues to work fine as long as I say "play BBC Radio 4 or 6"
working on the Echo , but not the Show 8. GO figure!
Mine must be the Alexa equivalent of Dracs iPad. Play Radio 4, play Radio 6, play BBC Radio 4 etc all working first time.
Mine wasn't;t working earlier, now play Radio 2 etc. working fine.
Must be a few stressed teams in Alexa HQ these days!
I’ve developed an amazing ability called “turning on the radio before I start cooking”.
Yes, but you can’t then ask your radio how long you’ve got left on your timer, can you? 😃
I’ve developed an amazing ability called “turning on the radio before I start cooking”.
I bet your radio doesn't make a farting noise either when you tell it to pull your finger.
but you can’t then ask your radio how long you’ve got left on your timer, can you? 😃
No - but you can just glance at the clock
I've just tried this mornign and it's all working - i've always said "Alexa, BBC Radio 1,2,3,4" etc it all still works.. - it responds with "playing xxxxx on BBC sounds" - i've not linked anything either.
No – but you can just glance at the clock
What if you live in a casino?
Are these things not inherently crap?
What real benefit do they offer over say physically turning on a radio or googling whatever it is you want to know on your phone?
Honestly never understood these things. Our reliance on technology (because we’re too bloody lazy to physically do anything ourselves) could come to bite us in the arse.
As Reinhold Messner once said, “Eines Tages geht der Mensch kaputt, weil er zu faul ist zu Fuß zu gehen.”
One day the human race will fail because it’s too lazy to walk. “
Beautifully put. I'd also add "...if it hasn't already failed because it's exhausted the planet's resources by developing more and more unnecessary crap that uses more and more electricity"
There was a report recently about how unused these things are shortly after purchase - link
My personal experience very similar and now completely unused as I went full luddite.
And as for
if you want nicer quality you really want an echo link (£200ish) or link amp (£280ish)
Just sums up streaming in general - get rid of your nice quality sound system for the wonderful convenience of this shiny new tech. A few years later - doesn't this cheap cr@p we flogged you to replace your sound system sound sh!te - buy a better one using newfangled hi-res audio.
99% of the time Alexa is flawless, the 1% of time that it isn’t, all the luddites come out of the woodwork!
60% of the time it works every time!
I bet it's something to do with the BBC attempting to direct everything through BBC Sounds. Perhaps they've switched off some legacy streams that Alexa was using.
Google Assistant is playing Radio 4 just fine.
They’re great when you’re cooking and your hands are covered in raw chicken or flour or whatever.
Our kitchen radio is often covered in chicken juice, raw egg etc.. I just feel silly talking to the ether.
Anyone else getting this this morning?
Mine went daft this am as well...
Might be working now?
DrP
Another advantage of playing music as I do of course is it comes thru proper speakers. Depending on the room either old missions or gale mini monitors.
Are those connected to your gramophone?