Appeal of devices like Alexa?

[kelvinhall05]

I will start off by saying that I am not the target market for smart devices. I don't have a job or anything that would require regular calendar stuff being read to me or whatever, I don't listen to music (especially on speakers), I don't call many people, and I am not in my house most of the time.

 

With that being said, I fucking love my Home Mini. I did get it for free because of Google One, and I wouldn't have bought it otherwise, so that does make me view it differently than an average person. I love that I get yell at it "what's the weather" or "remind me to [reminder]". The few calls I've placed on it have been very nice even if I'm two meters away or so and not facing it. When I occasionally listen to stuff, it sounds good and really does fill a room even below 50% volume. All in all, I'm a fan of it.

[The1Dickens]

14 minutes ago, Kopaka said:

The appeal as I see it, is being able to do interactions while your hands are busy doing other stuff. And sure it's maybe just a few seconds saved compared to stopping whatever you're doing and pulling out your smartphone, but it can be a nice alternative to have.

When I get my garage in order, I'm going to put one in there so I don't have to get oil on anything to change songs, look something up, etc. when working on my cars.

[Metallus97]

3 minutes ago, The1Dickens said:

When I get my garage in order, I'm going to put one in there so I don't have to get oil on anything to change songs, look something up, etc. when working on my cars.

That’s also where I have one of my homepods! 

[Tsuki]

i use my google home to play music occasionally and to tell me the weather and traffic before i leave for work.

and to annoy my wife "hey google, tell me a bedtime story"

 

 

i honestly dont think i would ever actually purchase one, but mine was free with a spotify family promotion, which im paying for anyways

[Kisai]

5 hours ago, Paul Siu said:

This is not a criticism of the usage of the device, but what is the appeal of a device like Alexa Echo or google home. I often hear people talking about ordering toilet paper, but that is hardly a use case that justify the device. Couldn't I use alexa or google through my smartphone? Is the device use mostly for streaming music, controlling smart appliances, etc? I am curious to know how everyone uses these smart devices (I don't even know what to call them)?

 

Paul

 

It's basically trying to be Star Trek  "computer" AI, but not quite.

"Hey alexa, order me a medium pepperoni pizza, extra cheese, and deliver it at 5pm"

 

Yes you can use your phone instead of a smartspeaker, but then you have to keep the phone plugged in for it to be as useful. 

 

The devices themselves are not really good devices to begin with, think of them as just computers you control with voice, and have no actual visual feedback.

 

Personally, I think we're too early in the evolution of these devices to allow them to control anything that can catch fire (so no controlling the HVAC or space heaters, stove or microwave), there is no redundancy in HVAC, so you can go from a comfortable home to one that has killed the pets and plants in about an hour by running the furnace full blast because the sensor malfunctions. HVAC controls need to have limiters setup and then the device (eg NEST) can't override the hard limits in a malfunction condition.

 

Likewise, these devices should not be permitted to "open a valve"  (eg water, gas) without redundancy to close the valve should it fail. This is why something like smart kitchen or smart bathroom is very, very far from becoming reality.

 

The most frequent use of Alexa type devices right now is lighting controls, because with all the LED lighting out there, it's very hard to create an ignition source from a poorly wired LED setup, and ad worst you just burn out the entire set quickly. Streaming audio to a singular speaker is about as good as your $30 clock AM/FM radio. Which is to say, it's not an expensive high quality speaker, it's more like something that you listen to for lack of headphones.

[Spotty]

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[Founders]

They're a tool designed to collect data and improve machine learning. 

[TheOnlyKirst]

I got mine for free as a beta test to implement Alexa in my country, how could I say no?

[Automobili3XF]

I just can't find any use for them myself, i rather press buttons or tap screens to do stuff.

As for music, i have a dedicated setup that is rather loud, i don't think it would be able to understand me over the music.

[aaradorn]

The ease of things, I can control my TV, music and lightning with my google home. Yeah its stupid and not necessary but things do become easier. Turning lights on and off while you are away is very handy, or when you are in bed. Cold winter night and you forgot a lamp. It sucks to get up and turn the thing off. Just ask your phone to turn it off for you. Have a RGB setup? Have the lamp join it and sync it with your system. Just get the flowrate the same as your keyboard,mouse and other rgb things and you have a party.

[kokakolia]

22 hours ago, Tedster said:

However, they can be quite nice for music (though I've had some very inconsistent experiences with Alexa), can sound decent, and if you have multiple, can be nice for a speaker in every room, and your smart assistant with that, if you can use it enough to justify it.

I like the Google home mini, but the sound just doesn't cut the mustard. Yeah it's like a cheap Bluetooth speaker so you can't expect much. I would have much preferred a Bluetooth exciter speaker module you can glue onto a table, wall or window because that would sound 10 times better and cost about the same or less. 

[Founders]

12 hours ago, SocksAndSandals-Kirst said:

I got mine for free as a beta test to implement Alexa in my country, how could I say no?

You did Amazon a huge favor. 

[Trik'Stari]

I honestly couldn't tell you, but I have enough knowledge to know that I don't want to have ANY conversations within audible range of one of those devices.

 

I honestly don't like having some conversations near "smart" phones to be honest.

[TheOnlyKirst]

11 hours ago, Ehmc130 said:

You did Amazon a huge favor. 

and I'm fully aware of that, but I wasn't the only one on the beta program, so me not accepting it wouldn't make Amazon not come to here, and I was gonna buy one anyways, so win-win.

[Mark Kaine]

A spy in your house that can also turn on and off the lights for you,  what's not to like?