My daughter in law got me an Alexa for Christmas. Wasn't that nice of her. I don't think she likes me very much.
Do You Have ALEXA?
by minimus 32 Replies latest jw friends
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Tameria2001
Had one for less than a week, only because my husband won it. Couldn't figure out how to operate the stupid thing, and I'm talking about the startup. But after all the weird stuff I hear about it, I'm glad I don't have one.
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LV101
It's true "robotic-enough way" like Simon says (lolol) because I ask for volume change and half the time sound level goes even louder or shuts off in the middle of a song I like or I ask for certain type music and it pushes a new album and I yell and tell it to stop so it goes dead, fortunately. It can be frustrating. Sometimes it just goes dead on it's own - weird. It must pick up signals outside. I hope it works if elderly ones yell out at home if they fall and need ER help - one poor guy's blood sugar bottomed out (diabetic) and he collapsed on floor unable to yell for help. The home has 2 of these gadgets and neither of them helped in his case but wife checks on him every couple of hrs. and he's still alive. Baby cams probably still most effective.
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pale.emperor
My girlfriend has one. I do like that I can tell it to play such and such a song and it does. Apart from that I don’t have any need for one myself. It’s most likely the way of the future. In time we’ll likely all have one.
My concern is, is it listening all the time? Getting spam recommendations from things we’ve spoken about earlier... coincidence? I hope so. spooky.
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Simon
My concern is, is it listening all the time? Getting spam recommendations from things we’ve spoken about earlier... coincidence? I hope so. spooky.
It absolutely is, and it's not always a machine - humans listen to recordings too to "tune the voice recognition". Who else? Who knows ...
It's not just these assistants either. Here's a "fun" experiment: next time you are out, often with your phone on the table, make a mental note of the topics you talk about. We've been out and ended up talking about Japan with friends.
Next day, at home, while browsing the web, you start getting adverts for flights to Japan. We have never searched for such a thing, just had a discussion with our phones listening to us.
Advertising is a multi billion dollar industry and being able to target people is obviously a massive advantage. Wouldn't it be a surprise for companies not to take advantage of having a remote listening device that you willingly take with you.
Advertising is one thing, but more chilling would be government access - imagine the ability for an authoritarian administration being able to identify dissenters?
Enjoy your tech devices ... but don't think they are "your" devices.
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LV101
Yes - it listens all the time but supposedly there are options and detailed lists were recently printed in newspaper how to manipulate/turn them off. If you don't want the recording device on you can control that, etc., etc. I don't know if it actually turns off (trust issue) but Amazon is trying to respect the privacy issue. I plug the power to Alexa in/off - it's a pain because I forget when coming and going when i actually want it plugged in. I like it with construction going on and much of the glass sensors are off and even hard-wired security cameras (exterior) have been in the way, etc.
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tiki
I'm with Laurav on this one...not at that level of lazy and hope I never am. Plus the hackers issue...seems to me you're setting yourself up for potential problems.
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rickroll
I have the Echo Dot. Got it for 22 bucks from Amazon days. Works well. I can get radio stations or listen to music by the song ect. Can not beat it for 22 bucks.
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LV101
I don't think one can have enough security and it's good backup when the great SONOS in sound system goes south. I don't like radios sitting around - looks tacky and the ALEXA can be out of the way. I'm thinking of adding one more for the construction workers upstairs - they love it and don't have to lug there own into my house.
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minimus
I think I’d like it for music... that’s about it