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How do you get on with the voice recognition?
Works well for me, you can speak naturally rather than the voice you'd use talking to a small child... That said Alexa struggles with some words for me, after installing a smart light outside my front door I wanted to name it "outside" but ended up having to name it "porch" after she kept getting confused with outside (I don't have a lisp either...).
How do you get on with the voice recognition?
Works fine even with my accent and she seems to learn too.
For the shopping list stuff, how does this actually work?
I wish more supermarkets would get on this. I shop online with tescos, so when I tell my GH to buy something it actually adds it to my Tescos basket rather than just creating a list in text. When I am ready to do my shopping, I just log into tescos, quick scan to ensure the contents of my basket was created correctly. Then I check out and I`m done.
It only works with tescos at the moment, would be nice to have a choice of supermarket.
Anyone else just not bothered?
I’ve never tried Alexa nor Siri and am just not remotely interested in either of them.
I did struggle with the idea of self consciously using them for simple phone tasks in the office, but at home it just makes simple things easier.
Generally in the mornings as I'm getting ready for work is I ask what the weather is like today, run through any appointments, play Radio 6, when I get home stick the radio on, set a timer, update reminders
Anyone else just not bothered?
I wouldn't call myself a fan. We only bought it because an Echo Dot and a bluetooth speaker was half the price of an internet radio, and we wanted one of those because local radio stations are awful.
Anyone else just not bothered?
I’ve never tried Alexa nor Siri and am just not remotely interested in either of them.
I use Siri about ... ummm .. 15 times a week?? normally to play music when in the car.. or calling someone from my contacts.
I have everything else in Siri/Apps turned off, I dont want those evil data hivers nicking my othe rprivate life.
It only works with tescos at the moment, would be nice to have a choice of supermarket.
Alexa does this with Ocado and Morrisons.. but not Tesco.
How do you get on with the voice recognition?
Actually does pretty well with me TJ. Probably understands my Scottish accent more often than my wife does.
Using the app you can indicate when she got things right or wrong, which I believe feeds back into the recognition.
You say “Alexa, add (whatever) to shopping list.”
I'm imagining cunning advertisers adding something that sounds a lot like that to their adverts 🙂
I use Siri about … ummm .. 15 times a week?? normally to play music when in the car.. or calling someone from my contacts.
I use Siri to send and receive texts/WhatsApp/iMessage when on the bike or in the car. e.g. "Hey Siri, tell MrsGrahamS I'll be home in ten minutes" and "Hey Siri, read last message"
Alexa does this with Ocado and Morrisons.. but not Tesco.
So how does it work? "Alex order me some carrots".
It just adds the first carrots it finds, or it reads out a list of 20 different carrots, or selects the ones the supermarket makes the most margin on?
I use the Ocado phone app. I can browse the 20 or so carrots and pick the one I want looking at price/weight and picture of the product.
I still struggle to see their usefulness past a gimmick.
I still struggle to see their usefulness past a gimmick.
So all of the stuff above is a gimmick?
A voice interface for the tech in your home, media and more? Given it's quicker to get a BBC radio station up on the device than using my phone it's already doing more.
If it's a gimmick the test would be is it the way most UI's will be heading
A "solution" to a problem you've been told you have by the device makers.
For someone who's disabled I can see a use but for everyone else it's just an excuse to pretend to be Captain Picard: "Make it so!"
Given it’s quicker to get a BBC radio station up on the device than using my phone it’s already doing more.
when you really, really, really, really need to be listening to the radio right NOW!
A “solution” to a problem you’ve been told you have by the device makers.
Not really. It's quite a cheap device, and it has a few handy features. Mostly around music, for me. There's no need for passive aggression; f you don't like it, don't buy one. Shrug your shoulders and move on, you don't have to denigrate the rest of us.
I don't think it was a passive-agressive comment, just pointing out that it's definitely a push of technology into the market
I don't really understand the Luddite comments that crop up whenever new tech is being discussed.
It was like when sat-navs were new, "what's wrong with just reading a map?" everyone wailed. And sure, you could park up, spend five minutes working out a route through unfamiliar country, then later get stuck in traffic and play the "should we get off at the next junction?" lottery. Or fast-forward to today, you can just go "ok Google, navigate to (place)" and have the optimal route presented to you in a couple of seconds taking into account national real-time traffic information, and have a pretty accurate ETA to boot. And if a traffic jam later occurs ahead of you, it reroutes automatically on the fly to avoid it.
Round at a friend's a couple of weeks ago, he's got an Echo running home automation. "Alexa, living room fifty percent" - *lights dim to half brightness*. Sure, it's not necessary, and you could get up and dim the lights yourself, stop being so lazy. But snuggled up on the couch with your partner all warm and snug and comfortable it's surely a nice thing to have? I wonder, do all the naysayers still get up to change channels on the TV set, eschewing this new-fangled "remote control" malarkey? It's exactly the same argument.
Alexa / Siri / Google / Cortana et al may well be "solutions to a problem you've been told you have," but the inescapable fact is that they're groundbreaking in terms of the way we're able to interact with technology. Windows rendered command lines obsolete to all but the propeller-heads. Touch screens ditto physical keyboards on phones. Hands up who sneered when the first iPad was announced. "What's this for? It's pointless." Give it another decade, we'll be sat telling our grandkids about how we used to have to type out SMS messages letter-by-letter and they'll look at us like we're dinosaurs.
when you really, really, really, really need to be listening to the radio right NOW!
Or for when you are doing the washing up or cooking and want to listen to something else, or set a timer etc.
But yes, lets not make things easier, or simpler....
just pointing out that it’s definitely a push of technology into the market
Like the last 50 years then
Or fast-forward to today, you can just go “ok Google, navigate to (place)” and have the optimal route presented to you in a couple of seconds taking into account national real-time traffic information, and have a pretty accurate ETA to boot.
To add to that with android Auto on the way home I can ask for an open shop that sells something, last one was checking when the local shop shut on a Sunday to decide if I carried on or went shopping on the way back, all done with the same effort as a conversation with a passenger.
Asking when the next tram from my stop is while getting ready in the morning is another really useful example.
As with anything like this, if you were designing it from scratch today would you make it a fixed object with a keyboard being the only interface?
So how does it work? “Alex order me some carrots”.
Its actually fairly smart. If I say, "Hey google buy teabags", it will add the brand I most often buy to the basket based on my shopping history
Like the last 50 years then
What? Over the last forever number of years there has been a mix of push and pull technology
I still struggle to see their usefulness past a gimmick.
Most of the skills available right now are gimmicks ("tell me a joke" etc) but it's still a young technology - as it matures and complementary technologies (e.g. smart home) become more commonplace the killer apps will emerge.
When it works, the music control can be genuinely useful - asking to play an album verbally is significantly easier / quicker than the process on your phone.
A “solution” to a problem you’ve been told you have by the device makers.
See, also, the TV remote.
The TV remote isn't a great example really. Everyone knows about channel hopping, light setting hopping not so much.
I'll be honest, I'm kind of playing devils advocate as I'm enough of an Amazon household that one of their deals will snag me!
I don’t really understand the Luddite comments that crop up whenever new tech is being discussed.
I have a £1000 mobile phone with Siri on it. I do not see the need to spend another £200 or whatever to buy something that does the same thing. Unless we are now at the stage where companies are purposefully de-engineering things like phones so you have to buy a crappy speaker with Siri built in.
My next home I would want to control my house heating/lighting/speakers etc all from my phone rather than splurging out on yet another gadget.
(my phone currently can put radio 4 on in an instant)
+1 to everything Cougar just said.
Obviously some true STWers are sat at home with paraffin lamps frantically writing out their reply with quill and ink 🙂
To be clear, absolutely no one is claiming that Alexa (or Siri, Google etc) are in any way "essential" or even that they do things that are completely unachievable using other methods.
They are just gadgets of convenience. The remote control is an excellent analogy.
Give it another decade, we’ll be sat telling our grandkids about how we used to have to type out SMS messages
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Best get busy if you want to have some Grandkids in ten years time Cougs. </span>
I do not see the need to spend another £200 or whatever to buy something that does the same thing.
What about £30 on a device that works better than Siri, allows you to make calls, and can ring your £1000 phone for you when you can't find it?
I have a £1000 mobile phone with Siri on it. I do not see the need to spend another £200 or whatever to buy something that does the same thing.
Having seen people struggle with Siri I can see why 😉 Try one of the ones that just works 😉
Everyone knows about channel hopping, light setting hopping not so much.
Not a great example really.. back when there were only 3 channels. The point being that what was originally deemed a gimmick is now the norm.
I’ll be honest, I’m kind of playing devils advocate
Trolling, I believe it's called these days 😉
This technology evolution will pave the way for fully integrated home and work life, better get used to it.. what’s going on now will improve society in ways no-me has even thought about.
Not just home life, but whole supply chain e2e service sector.
Order a tin of tomatoes today and the supermarket knows it needs to restock or warehouse stock, takes quantity and quality information, estimated basket totals and credit availability, distribution chains and suppliers growing capacity all planned with limited waste and downtime.
Awesome when you expand the gimmick out a bit, eh 👍
"OK, Alexa. Put another log on the fire please." Hmm.
Sat nav: try living at the end of a no-through road (with sign) that people ignore because their sat-nav tells them they can get through. Even more fun when the lorry gets stuck. Yes, that's the user's fault not the technology.
I'm not a luddite (I worked on the technical side of TV consumer products for nearly twenty years and once digital TV came along it became near impossible to control via the front panel plus manufacturers were always wanting "cheaper" so less buttons, etc.) and am probably borderline early adopter. Actually with the TV remote it might be quicker going over to the TV to do it than trying to find where my wife has left the remote!
For all those using Alexa, etc, if MI5 had come up with a device that listened to what was going on in your home so you could control things would you use it? That's no different to what Amazon, Google, et al. are doing.
Alexa, read me George Orwell's 1984.
Sat nav: try living at the end of a no-through road (with sign) that people ignore because their sat-nav tells them they can get through. Even more fun when the lorry gets stuck. Yes, that’s the user’s fault not the technology.
Where as live nav stuff like Google Maps can learn and you can have a road closed so it doesn't figure on the routing.
For all those using Alexa, etc, if MI5 had come up with a device that listened to what was going on in your home so you could control things would you use it? That’s no different to what Amazon, Google, et al. are doing.
True but it doesn't, your laptop might be though or your TV. Each of these devices has a wake command, it's only connected when it's woken up to listen to and execute a command.
Of course we will now enter the well you can't trust them blah blah blah.
End of the day I live on my own, not many conversations to record.
if MI5 had come up with a device that listened to what was going on in your home so you could control things would you use it?
Chances are your mobile phone can be compromised and turned into a listening device by security services (look at Snowden's revelations about The Smurf Suite for example).
But I still use a mobile and carry it everywhere. Do you?
I didn't realise how much I liked it till i was cooking a roast dinner at my mums house without Alexa.
Only having one timer was a nightmare, having to stop what i was doing to work the thing as well. Obviously coped perfectly well before but why would you want to?
@mikenewsmith - I had to go on to the various open mapping sites and mark the road down as a no through road so those devices that auto-update or use live data picked it up. There's still the occasional older 'dumb' device/user that heads down the lane.
Samsung did have a model of one of their Smart TVs (PN60F8500 and maybe others) that listened to what was going on in the room regardless of you issuing a wake command. I'm not sure if it was ever sold in the UK and quite what the "feature" was to be used for I don't think they'd figured out - the tin hat brigade said it was being sent to the CIA.
But I still use a mobile and carry it everywhere. Do you?
I have a mobile (iPhone) but I'll often leave it at home or wherever so it's never with me all the time. This weekend for example when we went for a ride my wife had her phone so we were covered for emergency cases so I left mine at home.
I like it - we have an Echo in the kitchen and our girls both have a Dot in their rooms. When I am cooking I can use it for timers and I can quickly change songs, turn up the volume etc even if I am knee deep in chicken carcass. The girls ask it to tell jokes, sing them happy birthday etc. We use it to help research when doing homework (much more seamless than breaking off and checking on a computer). Yesterday I was baking the Christmas cake and I asked it what the celsius equivalent to gas mark one was.
Not a great example really.. back when there were only 3 channels. The point being that what was originally deemed a gimmick is now the norm.
3 channels in the backwards UK maybe, but my Zenith LazyBones was awesome*
*maybe
The TV remote isn’t a great example really. Everyone knows about channel hopping, light setting hopping not so much.
Ah, but, we routinely channel-hop because of the TV remote. No-one knew about channel-hopping before it became a ubiquitous device (and we had more than three channels).
This is where we are with voice controlled hardware, as @frogstomp said before it's technology in its infancy. We don't know what we can do with it fully yet, in a few years time we may all be going "well sure, everyone knows about light dimming and smart heating..." and conveniently forgetting the good old days having to get up to turn the light on, only having it on or off, and being stuck with one colour. And that's just one application, as a long-previous halfwit manager once said to me, "make me a list of all the things you haven't thought of."
I have a £1000 mobile phone with Siri on it. I do not see the need to spend another £200 or whatever to buy something that does the same thing.
You're right of course, there's little point in duplicating functionality you already have. But by the same argument I have a £50 bluetooth speaker with Alexa, I do not see the need to spend £1,000 on a phone which does the same thing.
Not that they're exactly the same, there are pros and cons to having a fixed device over a mobile. Your phone is usually with you, which is more convenient for you but not so much for the rest of the family who are sat at home whilst you're out. Plus the Echo is a capable wireless speaker.
The TV remote isn’t a great example really. Everyone knows about channel hopping, light setting hopping not so much.
Our first TV with remote had 4 channels I think. Pre-remote my brother and I always used to argue about who's turn it was to change channel during ads etc. If someone had posted at the time for £50 you could get a device to do it without getting off your sofa I'm sure quite a few people would have posted what a waste of money that is. Sure, as time has gone on the TV remote is more useful (you can even web browse via one if you want to) but I'm sure the same will be said about smart home speakers
I have a £1000 mobile phone with Siri on it. I do not see the need to spend another £200 or whatever to buy something that does the same thing.
Yeah they're £39 so seems a bit daft to brag about your £1000 phone.
The TV remote isn’t a great example really. Everyone knows about channel hopping, light setting hopping not so much.
My new TV has a voice recognition remote. It's a gimmick but it's great.
For all those using Alexa, etc, if MI5 had come up with a device that listened to what was going on in your home so you could control things would you use it? That’s no different to what Amazon, Google, et al. are doing.
Not really.
Using Alexa etc benefits us, and we decide to give up a trivial amount of privacy (in our opinion) for a service we appreciate and let's not forget is free, in terms of money at least. We know what they say they are going to do with the data, and so far we trust them. They would be in legal trouble if they started doing something else with it.
MI5 are a security service, not an online shop, and they are able to do certain things with data collected about us in the name of security, and they don't have to tell us what they are doing nor can they be compelled to.
I have to say there is nothing folk are using these gadgets for that have any functionality for me. Nothing to entice me at all. But then I have my house hard wired for sound in every room and conventional light switches and heating controls
I don't remember anyone saying that installing your own home phone was pointless
I don't remember anyone saying TV remotes were a waste of time. (and you could quite easily "channel hop" before them)
I don't remember anyone saying satnavs were useless when they were new. (although I know I few people now who have found they prefer paper maps)
I all sounds like Fake History for the geek generation.
But then I have my house hard wired for sound in every room
That would be far too much of a ballache for me.
Nothing to entice me at all.
“Alexa....disagree with me about helmets” 😉
My tip would not be to put it near the telly box when you’re watching the match and Alexis Sanchez is playing
Mine's would be don't change the wake-up word to "computer" then decide to binge watch Star Trek - although it did manage to add Vulcan Tea to my shopping list during Discovery.
Novelty value - "Computer - engage self destruct"
Otherwise mostly music and timers. Had a problem getting local tide times though. Lighting is on a timer so if I'm up later than usual telling the echo to turn the lights on then off is easier than faffing about getting to the lights as I use side lights rather than the main room lights. When I move (soon), I'll probably fit hue lights to control the brightness levels as well
EDIT - I changed the wake up word to "Computer" because i didn't want to personalise the machine. But I still say "please"
The TV remote became a necessity when you got services like Teletext being broadcast rather than the slowly increasing number of channels.
I remember getting our first TV with remote because it had Teletext which was new at the time. It was back in the days when lots, including us, rented TVs, my dad was irritated that we'd not got the cheapest deal. But then he found he could use it to find beef and sheep prices at the various markets. Thinking back it might have had direct buttons for each of the four channels rather than using the digit buttons as you might these days to go to a particular channel.
@molgrips - I wasn't suggesting that MI5 start an online shopping mall but that many are happy for corporations to gather data on us for the purposes of selling us "stuff" (which is actually the business model behind Alexa) but seem not to be if that data were used for personal, societal, national security and safety.