Smart speaker, who has/uses one? What for?

[Regular.Cyclist]

My favourite for those who have smart speakers. ”Alexa, play Pink and Perky at full volume on repeat“. When on full volume the things can‘t pick up new commands easily.

The newer ones can without too much effort.

 

[Gunk]

We have music streamed right through the house with a full size Apple HomePod in the kitchen and a couple of HomePod minis in two of the bedrooms. We also use a B&O Beosound A8 with an Airplay adaptor in the living room.

The sound quality is good , especially the B&O A8 but Siri isn’t a patch on Alexa

 

[wafter]

Letting Jeff Bezos eavesdrop on your most private conversations so that he can use these to better manipulate you into spending money...?

 

[bikingdad90]

I use mine as a morning alarm and for voice instructions to set things around the home. Especially when going to bed at night or leaving for work in the morning.

Letting Jeff Bezos eavesdrop on your most private conversations so that he can use these to better manipulate you into spending money...?

Anything voice activated in the bedroom is a hard no for me. I don’t want them listening into me while I go about sleeping and doing other things.

I do have a very old echo dot in the kitchen that I use as a timer and to play music from. It doesn’t mesh to the router as firmware is too old. I’d upgrade to increase mesh WiFi coverage but not a fan of the fabric style finish as it would get greasy and dirty over time in a kitchen.

 

[figbat]

If you have more than one they make a useful intercom too - for example from the garage to the kitchen etc.

Ours is largely used for streaming radio or Amazon music. Sometimes to answer questions about trivia or things we’d like to know. Weather reports. A routine for switching smart plugs off at night, I also use mine to precondition my EV.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Sceptic here.

When I see a film or drama with these things in, a simple voice command at normal volume seems to prompt an instant and exact interpretation of said command.

In real-life (friends homes) they sometimes work perfectly but on other occasions misinterpret commands or require several 'goes' at ever increasing voice volume to work effectively - especially if the device is quite far away. Occasionally with both parties of a relationship joining in - one 'helping' the other out.

PS I am not a Luddite - I love techy stuff but these things seem to be a bit hit and miss to me.

 

[wafter]

Anything voice activated in the bedroom is a hard no for me. I don’t want them listening into me while I go about sleeping and doing other things.

I do have a very old echo dot in the kitchen that I use as a timer and to play music from. It doesn’t mesh to the router as firmware is too old. I’d upgrade to increase mesh WiFi coverage but not a fan of the fabric style finish as it would get greasy and dirty over time in a kitchen.

Absolutely - tbh it never ceases to amaze me how willing most are to sell their privacy down the river for the sake of convenience and novelty.

Personally I won't touch "smart" devices and my home it totally devoid of them. It's terrifying to think of the level of insight they give to any third party with access to their output - phones collect geolocation data from everywhere you go, eavesdrop on whatever sound their mics can pick up and monitor your browsing history. Cars log journey specs and driving behaviour. TVs and speakers eavesdrop on audio and report viewing / listening habits.

It's not inconceivable to conclude that if you have a number of these devices pretty much every facet of your existance is being monitored by big tech / big brother - at best to allow them to better manipulate you for profit; at worst to satisfy far more sinister motives.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

Absolutely - tbh it never ceases to amaze me how willing most are to sell their privacy down the river for the sake of convenience and novelty.

Personally I won't touch "smart" devices and my home it totally devoid of them. It's terrifying to think of the level of insight they give to any third party with access to their output - phones collect geolocation data from everywhere you go, eavesdrop on whatever sound their mics can pick up and monitor your browsing history. Cars log journey specs and driving behaviour. TVs and speakers eavesdrop on audio and report viewing / listening habits.

It's not inconceivable to conclude that if you have a number of these devices pretty much every facet of your existance is being monitored by big tech / big brother - at best to allow them to better manipulate you for profit; at worst to satisfy far more sinister motives.

This shows a lack of understanding of the devices. Within the Alexa app you can review everything it has ‘heard’. You can also delete it all. I regularly review the logs and, without exception, it has only triggered with the ’wake’ word.

 

[Dave7]

I use mine as a morning alarm and for voice instructions to set things around the home. Especially when going to bed at night or leaving for work in the morning.

I must learn how to do all that. It sounds complex!!

 

[Gunk]

doing other things.

Lucky you still do “other things”

 

[Drago]

Mainly for listening to Planet Rock.

 

[wafter]

This shows a lack of understanding of the devices. Within the Alexa app you can review everything it has ‘heard’. You can also delete it all. I regularly review the logs and, without exception, it has only triggered with the ’wake’ word.

You can review everything it tells you it's heard; while presumably deleting records from the device does nothing to remove them from Amazon's records. On top of that there's plenty of metadata to be had from your usage habits..

 

[fossyant]

Anything voice activated in the bedroom is a hard no for me. I don’t want them listening into me while I go about sleeping and doing other things.

Like fixing the bike in the bedroom whilst your partner is out ? Or in the kitchen, or on the dining table !

 

[Dave7]

Mainly for listening to Planet Rock.

That is one i look forward to playing. My Virgin box won't get that one.

 

[mistyoptic]

I was reminded of this by the discussion about Al#xa


View: https://youtu.be/0HugGCoK7m0?si=T0T2wjEHYsB9wyjE