Alexa, what do you do?

[TXCyclones]

My daughter got me an Echo Dot for Christmas. She works for Amazon and has one and thought I'd enjoy it. I have it connected to my Sonos system, which is pretty cool. But other than that... wtf does Alexa do and why do I want it?

Anybody here using it for anything good/creative?

 

[srjclone]

I have a google home and mostly use it for Music. I do use the "good morning" feature or whatever you call it where it gives me a brief synopsis of the weather and any news stories that may be interesting to me. Other than that, it's just a glorified speaker in my house haha

 

[awd4cy]

My wife got one for Christmas as well. I still don’t have any idea how its useful. Maybe it’s great for others though I guess.

 

[Go2Guy]

But other than that... wtf does Alexa do and why do I want it? Anybody here using it for anything good/creative?

My sentiments exactly, but I suppose it could replace Google / YouTube - do you use that often? My concern is privacy and having Amazon spy on me.

 

[Isualum13]

She listens to you 24/7 listening for trigger words. Before you know it, you're on the no fly list.

 

[AgronAlum]

My daughter got me an Echo Dot for Christmas. She works for Amazon and has one and thought I'd enjoy it. I have it connected to my Sonos system, which is pretty cool. But other than that... wtf does Alexa do and why do I want it?

Anybody here using it for anything good/creative?

We play spotify through it the most instead of turning on the big system in the other room. I use it as a kitchen timer a lot. Occasionally we'll play some jeopardy/sports jeopardy, music trivia, etc.

The kiddo mostly uses it to annoy me. If he plays What Does the Fox Say one more god damned time, I'm throwing it through the window. Oh, and he likes telling it to make fart noises. Classic.

 

[BCClone]

Heard she will talk dirty when you are....uuummm...needing assistance. Somebody let me know if true and maybe I willing get one.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

I have yet to understand why anyone would put an object in their home that is designed to listen to everything you say.

 

[tman24]

Have it play the football and basketball games from the radio so I dont have to listen to the national announcers on tv.


Other than that play music, used to turn on my christmas tree for me or answer random questions.

 

[discydisc]

My daughter got me an Echo Dot for Christmas. She works for Amazon and has one and thought I'd enjoy it. I have it connected to my Sonos system, which is pretty cool. But other than that... wtf does Alexa do and why do I want it?

Anybody here using it for anything good/creative?

If you cook much, its great in the kitchen to set timers while keeping your hands free.
If you have smart plugs/switches they can be tied to it.
You can also listen to @ChrisMWilliams on KXNO via the iheart radio.

 

[cycloneG]

I use the google assistant to adjust the thermostat and run the vacuum.

 

[3GenClone]

Play Jeopardy.

We also use it for music service- Apple Music support just got added a few weeks ago.

I had a Smart Plug dedicated for the Christmas Tree.

I have about 20 Philips Hue bulbs installed that have Alexa support. They can turn on/off/dim/change colors/change color temps (different white values)

You can tie your phone to it and call people, although it’s kind of a hassle.

 

[TXCyclones]

I have yet to understand why anyone would put an object in their home that is designed to listen to everything you say.

It was young love, but we eventually grew apart. But for awhile it was better than sex by myself. But I'm still not convinced she was actually listening to everything.

 

[VeloClone]

I said we would never get one, so my daughter gets a Google one from her friend as a birthday gift. Her friend's dad works for Google. She uses it to listen to music 90% of the time. She also does have it wake her up whenever she has to wake up for a different time than her alarm is set. She also plays the occasional trivia game on it.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I was hesitant of them, but got an Echo Dot for Christmas last year. It's okay, but I didn't run out and buy a bunch more.

It's hooked to my Harmony remote, so I can turn the TV on/off, which is actually kinda handy.

I also have a house full of Sonos speakers, most of which have Alexa built in. So I usually use it to start/stop the music on Sonos. The functionality is intentionally crippled on Sonos Alexa, so you can't do everything, but basic on, off, volume change, skip, etc.

 

[throwittoblythe]

She listens to you 24/7 listening for trigger words. Before you know it, you're on the no fly list.

I know it's probably confirmation bias, but I've had multiple friends with an echo tell me this very thing has happened to them. They haven't searched for an item online at all, but have been talking about it in their conversations at home. Then they start seeing ads for it on facebook. Things like that make me hesitate to ever allow one in my home.

 

[AgronAlum]

I have yet to understand why anyone would put an object in their home that is designed to listen to everything you say.

There is absolutely nothing said in my house that I'm worried about Amazon listening to.

 

[jbindm]

I bought one last Christmas and it lasted all of about two weeks before we unplugged it and threw it in the junk drawer. It might just be that I'm not much a techie, but I didn't see much benefit from it. Just another thing on the kitchen counter that I have to remember to charge every night.

 

[AgronAlum]

I know it's probably confirmation bias, but I've had multiple friends with an echo tell me this very thing has happened to them. They haven't searched for an item online at all, but have been talking about it in their conversations at home. Then they start seeing ads for it on facebook. Things like that make me hesitate to ever allow one in my home.

We've had the same things happen with just a phone.

 

[CyOps]

We got one for Christmas last year along with a compatible outlet/switch. The wife plays music on it alot. We plugged our under cabinet lights into the outlet because they didn't have a switch. Now we tell Alexa to turn them on and off. Other than that, our son mostly uses Alexa to find out NBA scores.

When I'm at someones house that has a smart speaker I go up to it and say things like "bomb, militia, government overthrow, assassination" then tell them they're going to be on a special list.