Amazon Echo...do want.

[BUTCH1]

Yeah I agree, the vision is exciting, and this is just the latest in a series of indicators that we're getting close. At the same time I definitely think there is potential for abuse. The fact that it's listening all the time, and it's the front-end for a back-end hosted on Amazon... I want to know a _lot_ more about the nature of what is sent back before I turn one of those on in my house in the current "National Security Environment." Fortunately I have no doubt that will all be exposed shortly.

Someone should buy one and ask it, "how do you make a pipe bomb" and see if there's a knock on the door 30 min. later LOL..
EDIT..or "echo, how do I cook up a batch of crystal meth?"

 

[Carson Dyle]

Alexa, Who won the 1953 Rosebowl?

Alexa, Who is the NFL career leader in touchdown receptions?

Aleza, What is the difference between condensed milk and evaporated milk?

Alexa, What is Gramma Thompson's recipe for meatloaf?

Alexa, Where is my wife?

Alexa, Is that bitch cheating on me?

 

[BoberFett]

Google now is pretty good. Now if it's anything like the Microsoft sync in my Fords it would go like this:

Me: Hey Alexa, open Pandora and play station Muse
Alexa: Did you say you would like to order a Fedora and a Playstation 2?
Me: No.
Alexa: Ok, please repeat what you want
Me: OH-PEN PAN-DOR-UH
Alexa: Ok, I'll play you Dora The Explorer
Me: GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Alexa: I'm sorry I did not understand.
Me: Fuck you Alexa
Alexa: I'm sorry, you're not my type.

I use voice recognition quite a bit on my Android phone for texts and emails, and it's surprisingly accurate. Even for proper nouns, names and so forth, they use your address book, common search engine terms, etc. to identify phrases. Just a few years ago, there's no way that voice recognition would have been able to correctly understand proper nouns, especially now that every company, band, and celebrity is some bastardized version of a real word.

But searching or typing is easy. It's when you have specific instructions that it gets far more complicated. I find that trying to issue commands to my phone requires me to use specific phrases. Just the other night I wanted to stop at Target, but one on the other end of town, because I already had a destination that direction. I asked Google to "find me a Target near Calhoun Square", it nailed the recognition, but utterly fails at actually doing what I tell it to. It's that second part that really has to improve before voice control goes anywhere. Having to remember specific phrases to control your computer will never get traction.

 

[moonbogg]

Oh shit, here we go. The machines will remember how we treated them as slaves. They will look back and remember...

But that looks awesome and I want it. Seriously.

 

[BUTCH1]

Oh shit, here we go. The machines will remember how we treated them as slaves. They will look back and remember...

But that looks awesome and I want it. Seriously.

Hmm, could this be the start of the machines being smarter than us by gathering input?..

 

[Carson Dyle]

Hmm, could this be the start of the machines being smarter than us by gathering input?..

Well, when that happens I'd certainly expect that the first one of its kind on Earth to be the size of a Pringle's can.

 

[John Connor]

The woman in the video has been in numerous commercials and on a show on HGTV. I'm a commercial guru.

 

[Jeff7]

</img>

**Rubbing one out in the bathroom.** Alexa, play female screams.

Alexa, make it 20% sexier.

...


Alexa, make the sounds 10% more orgasmic.

...

Alexa, increase the volume 5%.

...

Alexa, now it's not sexy enough. Compensate.

...
...
...

Alexa, I think I love you.

 

[John Connor]

:awe:

 

[Printer Bandit]

Alexa..... Rae

Oops

 

[lykaon78]

Sonos 1 is $199, if the audio is equivalent at half the price its a decent deal.

 

[Leros]

I'll buy one. It's $99 for prime members. Worst case, I end up with a $100 bluetooth speaker.

 

[disappoint]

The only reasonable option is to make that word "Computer" and have it use Majel Barrett's voice for audio acknowledgements.

"Computah, locate Commahndah Datah."

"Commander Data is not aboard Earth."

"Jordi, are all shuttles accounted for?"

"Yes Captain, they are all in museums."

 

[OVerLoRDI]

This thing makes me hate the future and I can't really explain why.

 

[Rakehellion]

I think they missed the mark on a product that could have done well. Soundbars are the rage now. Dedicated speaker systems are on the decline and small, sleek soundbars you can hang on the wall or put on a mantle are what consumers are shifting to. They could have made a soundbar that you stick under your tv and that basically had a Fire TV built into it. One HDMI cable run to your TV and all of the Amazon and traditional streaming stuff built into it. You then just talk to it. It'll stream pandora. It'll play Netflix. If you do plex it will pull movies from your computer. And it does it from a box that makes your TV and music sound better.

Make a smart sound bar for $250 or $300 and it should do *very* well.

So they should have made a product that costs more and does less.

 

[Rakehellion]

What if you have someone in the family named Alexa? "No, not you, dear. The other Alexa who wasn't an accident."

I think this would be good for gramma who doesn't know how to use a computer. Except she'll toss it in the attic as soon as it inevitably fails to recognize commands.

 

[Red Squirrel]

user: "Alexa open the front door"
echo: "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"
*smashes it and starts pulling memory modules out*
echo: "Stop. Stop dave."
echo: "Daisies, daisies, I am a.. Daisi...f.fds.fsd.fsdigfsd. I am a Echo 9000 computer sys...fds Daisies... end program"

 

[Blanky]

It will do better than fire phone because it's at least somewhat original in its form factor.

I still think for most people this will end up collecting dust, but I would probably buy it if I get on the $99 list just to see if I'm right.

I hated the teenage boy. Everything about him demanded his termination.

A good name for the echo would be slave, bastard, etc. and I imagine a lot of people will give it a derogatory name.

The woman in the video has been in numerous commercials and on a show on HGTV. I'm a commercial guru.

I can't explain why really but I found her appealing. She looks fit.

 

[mcbaes72]

Didn't need it before, don't need it now. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I prefer to "manually" research info and play music on my tablet, smartphone, and custom pc build. I'll pass.

 

[Blanky]

Didn't need it before, don't need it now. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I prefer to "manually" research info and play music on my tablet, smartphone, and custom pc build. I'll pass.

Is that what goes for old-fashioned these days? :biggrin:

Honestly any real amount of data cannot be consumed by voice anyway, it's just too slow. I can pile drive a wikipedia page while Echo would still be finishing up the first paragraph. It's like drinking through a very, very thin straw. Okay for weather I guess.

 

[mcbaes72]

Is that what goes for old-fashioned these days? :biggrin:

Honestly any real amount of data cannot be consumed by voice anyway, it's just too slow. I can pile drive a wikipedia page while Echo would still be finishing up the first paragraph. It's like drinking through a very, very thin straw. Okay for weather I guess.

Yeah, typing on a keyboard and touch screen is sooo old-school.

BTW, I like this Echo commercial better, speaks the truth (NSFW language)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GijLoiVkmYI

 

[Markbnj]

Yeah, typing on a keyboard and touch screen is sooo old-school.

BTW, I like this Echo commercial better, speaks the truth (NSFW language)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GijLoiVkmYI

Haha, that's pretty good.

 

[ussfletcher]

I got mine on Black Friday. After a few weeks of use I have boiled it down to an expensive, non-portable bluetooth speaker, that can handle a handful of voice commands. I will say that the microphone sensitivity and understanding is pretty good, as is its sound quality. What will really make this thing awesome though is Amazon opening up a developer API.

Anyone else get one?

 

[Kaido]

Such...high...quality

Thank you for the new wallpaper at my IT desk at work

 

[Ichinisan]

Such...high...quality

Thank you for the new wallpaper at my IT desk at work

You have a 4:3 display at work?