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It's not so good with Scottish accents, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orD-e_W6Pic
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/mashable.com/2017/09/14/south-park-alexa-google-home-nsfw-cartman.amp
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57632/
I have one, got it in one of the sales for 20 quid or something. Its alright, I use it for radio and music. It is paired to my AV system, which is neat, so I can listen to 6 Music nice and loud. I also use it for weather, news, music, cinema listings, gigs etc. I had this grand idea of controlling the whole house (whatever that means) with it, but that hasn't happened. Yet. I have just got a few Arlo cameras, which I will get round to setting up, and have great plans for Alexa domination of that. Which again, I am sure, will be a great let down.
Had this masterplan to control the lights, heating etc etc with it. However, I quickly realised that its just as easy, and lot cheaper to (guess what its amazing this) program my heating via the thermostat (who'd have thunk?) and actually switch the lights on by hand!
I could probably use it for Amazon stuff, and Kindle, but I just can't be arsed really, when I can see it all on my ipad, and there is less danger of accidentally ordering load of stuff I don't need, want, especially when fuelled by alcohol.
Hey Alexa, buy me a new hifi etc etc....
I've got a wife to do that.
Not sure I have a use-case for an Alexa based thing myself - I like the idea of using it to voice control my PC and have my PC connected to decent a DAC & Amp and also with all my dvds/blurays ripped to a big NAS and have all my media accessible by voice command - but music on the Echo stuff is done through the Amazon app and will output from the device, and video done the way I'd like requires multiple separate programs - which aren't part of the Echo so probably an update to one might cause all the others to stop working... that doesn't sound ideal. And then to have Amazon listen to everything you think and try to steal you soul...
See, I thought Alexa was a name, but having typed it several times and each time Google put red wiggly lines under it. So apparently all the Alexas out there have been misspelling their own name it should be "Alex a" ... Thanks Google.
Suddenly Persil and Toasters are everywhere you look.
Perhaps a minor thing, but how about you talk about your food preferences then some day apply for health insurance and they say "No, data we bought from Amazon indicates you like bad food so we can't insure you" or apply for a job "sorry, the owner is Vegan and you've been eating meat recently"
Once upon a time the fear was you'd say something illegal, but the future is showing that totally innocuous things can make changes around us. Big data is worth a lot - so your opinions are worth listening to.
Of course on a technical level Alexa is meant to only be actively listening after you say "Alexa" prior to that it's ignoring you (according to their own information, but who knows if that might change via an online update)
However, I am ignored when I voice these concerns... I've reached the conclusion that all we care about is looking innovative to our peers rather than actually providing a useful service. A vanity project... All style over substance... Digital transformation in a nutshell...
Whatever happened to common sense? I think I'm getting too old and grumpy to do this job...
they are listening and transmitting all the time ....