I’m trying really hard to want to get an Echo but when I ask people tell me what you use it for I don’t really get excited.  In order of most popular responses:

”i play music on it”.    Well I have speakers in my ceiling so I wouldn’t really care about that.

”It makes shopping lists”.   Will it only make Amazon shopping lists or can I make a Costco or Home Depot list on it?   “I don’t know”

”I control my lights with it”.   

“I ask it the weather.  I ask it traffic”.   Is it better than google maps?   “I don’t know”

”my kids ask it questions for fun”

i don’t think this motivates me enough to get one.   Please change my mind.  

Why would you want an open mic recording device in your home?

 

You need to watch this movie, even though I'm hypocritical enough to be telling you this from a smartphone.

 

for everything you want it to do you have to buy an app for it, my daughter has one.. it is kind of stupid in a way just another way to do what we already do everyday may even make it worse getting the apps to work. I guess it would be good if you go away a lot as there is an app to control lighting and your heating and cooling but again you need the lighting and thermostat to go with the app. 

I just purchased front door deadbolt schlage sense smart, I also purchased the wifi for the schlage sense smart to be used remotely by the phone these locks can also be controlled by the home network, oh yah you will need that also to make everything work in your home with the echo dot.

You can't possibly live without one    They are fun toys, but they are actually quite useful.  We have an echo, two dots, and a dash.  My wife uses one as her alarm clock all the time.  I tell the same one to play Bloomberg Radio on TuneIn while I read the market reports on my iPhone before I get up.  At night we use it as a white noise machine playing rain or ocean wave sounds.  You can link them all together so you have the same thing playing all over the house.  They also work as an intercom.  They also now work as a voice activated telephone.  You can call landlines, cellphone, any phone number on them for free.  We play Jeopardy on them.  We can use them as voice remotes for our PS Vue account.  We don't have any of the smart home stuff, but if you do you can control lights and all sorts of things with your voice.  I love them.

Oh, how lazy a society we've become.

23 minutes ago, PK90 said:

Oh, how lazy a society we've become.

Maybe some, I prefer to think of it as efficiency. 

And now Amazon and possibly the Russians know what you do when your home.

Only Echo I owned could not handle landscaping duties worth a crap.

11 minutes ago, T Bill said:

And now Amazon and possibly the Russians know what you do when your home.

Only Echo I owned could not handle landscaping duties worth a crap.

lol, thought I was opening a thread on pos leaf blowers!  i have no use at all for this tech stuff.

Don't need something listening / recording  24/7 in my home..even though I think the smart phones already do. Does anybody really know what these things do or don't do? We're getting where tech is running more and more of our lives, can't even imagine what my kids will have in 20-30 years. 

Oh, how lazy a society we've become.

The minute tv remotes were invented. Including the big clunky ones that turn a motor on the channel knob.[emoji23]

 

 

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I have the original which to me is still the best. It can belt out some serious music in areas where your sound system is not.
I also have a Dot and a Show.

I could give a ratz ass what the govt can hear. I tape the show camera up unless I need it. Don’t need people suing me from going blind watching me butt nekid.

All kidding aside, my house is pretty automated. Works great for that. My wife loves the dot in the kitchen. Orig is upstairs. Show is in living room. They all control anything.

Look at it this way. I’m a technerd from yesteryear. You are either going to love or hate it. Start with the cheap one. If you like it, get more.


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5 minutes ago, Bklynracer said:

Don't need something listening / recording  24/7 in my home..even though I think the smart phones already do. Does anybody really know what these things do or don't do? We're getting where tech is running more and more of our lives, can't even imagine what my kids will have in 20-30 years. 

RFIDs and total Government intervention and control in their lives.  Security instead of Freedom.  All this shit is mass social engineering!  Big Government's wet dream!  Wish somebody would bitch slap Zuckerberg

3 minutes ago, T Bill said:

... Security instead of Freedom. ...

Security is an illusion.

14 minutes ago, Bklynracer said:

Don't need something listening / recording  24/7 in my home..even though I think the smart phones already do. Does anybody really know what these things do or don't do? We're getting where tech is running more and more of our lives, can't even imagine what my kids will have in 20-30 years. 

The Echo system only listens for the activation word, typically Alexa, and then records what you say then and only then.  The NSA does not get this information either, as I used to routinely say "commence the plan to kill Obama today" and I never got any visits from anyone

17 minutes ago, Bklynracer said:

Don't need something listening / recording  24/7 in my home..even though I think the smart phones already do. Does anybody really know what these things do or don't do? We're getting where tech is running more and more of our lives, can't even imagine what my kids will have in 20-30 years. 

ever seen equilibrium?

1 minute ago, Howard said:

The Echo system only listens for the activation word, typically Alexa, and then records what you say then and only then.  The NSA does not get this information either, as I used to routinely say "commence the plan to kill Obama today" and I never got any visits from anyone

if it's listening for the activation word.....then it is still listening.

3 minutes ago, Howard said:

The Echo system only listens for the activation word, typically Alexa, and then records what you say then and only then.  The NSA does not get this information either, as I used to routinely say "commence the plan to kill Obama today" and I never got any visits from anyone

As far as you know it only listens for activation words

3 minutes ago, 1LtCAP said:

ever seen equilibrium?

if it's listening for the activation word.....then it is still listening.

No to the first question, and exactly to the 2nd comment 

No to the first question, and exactly to the 2nd comment 

Listening yes, recording no.

11 minutes ago, Bklynracer said:

As far as you know it only listens for activation words

No to the first question, and exactly to the 2nd comment 

it is what we stand a good chance of becoming in the next 20-30 years. totally govt controlled, drugged society.

Listening yes, recording no.

1.  The speaker is actually pretty darn good on the full sized ones.  I have the first and second generation ones and we use it more than my full size stereo as of late.   Being able to connect multiple phones and seek out songs via voice activation is pretty handy.  Also have a dot in my office and it’s fine for low volume talk radio while working. 

2.  The shopping list/to do list is AWESOME. Entire family is connected so whenever one of us gets to the supermarket or such we just check on our phones to see what is needed.   O more calling or forgetting written lists at home.  I’m a die hard list guy and this feature has made my life so much easier.  

3.  The ability to set multiple timers and alarms with voice commands is great, especially since I cook all the holiday and bigger meals in the house and it gets a little chaotic.

4.  Voice activated searches and stuff is used occasionally but still kinda nice.  

I’m a huge advocate.  

No.  Don't get one.

 

Never fear. All my Alexa devices wear tin foil hats. 🤣🤪

 

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13 hours ago, 45Doll said:

Security is an illusion.

Remove security add privacy. ....

13 hours ago, Howard said:

 

Listening yes, recording no.

 

Incorrect Google voice records...and archives

18 minutes ago, USRifle30Cal said:

Incorrect Google voice records...and archives

They all do.  I disable Hey Siri on my iOS products.  Hopefully that prevents but who knows?

23 minutes ago, Rob0115 said:

They all do.  I disable Hey Siri on my iOS products.  Hopefully that prevents but who knows?

You do not -

 

LOL - Reminds me of this.

 

 

Would be trivial to figure out.   The echo doesn’t have the local processing to do too much voice recognition.  Probably just enough to recognize the wake word. Anything else would have to be sent to centralized servers.   By looking at traffic patterns in the router you can see when the echo sends big bursts of data.  If it is constantly sending a lot of data then it’s always listening. If it only sends bursts after a wake word then it is not.  

loose lips sink ships.

and for the record.....the kind of stuff we're talkin' 'bout here is why i don't want a smart tv

1 hour ago, USRifle30Cal said:

Incorrect Google voice records...and archives

Echo only records what you say immediately following the activation word, it does not record any other time.