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Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

Amazon Echo

Anyone else pick up the Amazon Echo?

Mine is coming this afternoon. I've been preping the wife for it. I showed her the video originally when they announce the invitation sign up. Her question was why do we need that. So, I've been saying if we had the Echo we'd know every time one of the quick questions that we seem to ask on an almost daily basis comes up. We have a lot of questions when we watch television or movies. We're watching a British series One Foot in the Grave and they frequently use words that we aren't familiar with, but we normally understand what they mean from the context. Pilchards for example.

Msradell
Premium Member
join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY

Msradell

Premium Member

I'll be interested to see how it works for you. It's certainly an interesting concept but I really wonder if it's ready for prime time.

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

I don't think it is much more than Amazon's home version of Siri. I think anyone who cooks and doesn't know that there are three teaspoons in a tablespoon needs to learn a bit more about functioning in the kitchen.

I do see the shopping list thing to be a benefit. My problem will be that I have an iPhone and not an Android, so if there isn't an app on the Apple app store it will be limited, but I was thinking I might be able to get around it by e-mailing the list to myself, but that is only good if I remember to do it, or can schedule it.

From the brief experience I had with the setup, which is web based, you can either access it by Amazon or Alexis, but you can't customize it further. We'll see how much use it is. I look at it as a toy and don't know how much serious use it will get.

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious

Premium Member

Probably better suited in »Gadgets ?
said by Kilroy:

I think anyone who cooks and doesn't know that there are three teaspoons in a tablespoon needs to learn a bit more about functioning in the kitchen.

On the other hand, we're a "mixed measurement system" household -- my husband is from Sweden and most of his family recipes are in metric

I've signed up to see about getting one because I like toys I expect eventually there will be an iOS app as there are for other Amazon services...

(Off topic but perhaps worth mentioning: As far as recipe and shopping list management goes, we've been using »plantoeat.com (web only but mobile/tablet friendly) for nearly two years now and have yet to find anything worth replacing it with.)

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

Well, plugged it in and played with it a bit. Set up is not for the weak of heart. You have to have a machine with both a wired and wireless connection. You go to an Amazon web page and it tells you to connect to the wireless of the Echo. The problem is the configuration is on the web and you won't be able to continue if you're only connected via wireless.

There is an iPhone app for it already. You can stay with the default Alexa or change it to Amazon, but those are your only options.

It understands me well enough, but search links in the app for questions it couldn't answer. We were watching Noah and I don't know where they got the story, but it isn't the Noah's Ark story I know. So I asked the Echo "How many people on Noah's ark?" and it didn't give me an answer. I asked, "What was Noah's ark made of?" It did have the answer for "Who was the director of Noah?" and "Who was the director of Tree of Life?" as Noah reminded my wife of Tree of Life.

The weather works, both for current location and other locations. The news feature plays clips from NPR and other news services.

I played a little music. You can adjust the volume from 1 to 10.

That was about all I played with. It comes with a bookmark sized card with things you can ask.

shimonmor
Premium Member
join:2000-12-30
Sedro Woolley, WA

shimonmor

Premium Member

Thanks for sharing your experience. I would be curious to hear anymore updates.

Julio Ojeda
@98.240.216.x

Julio Ojeda to Kilroy

Anon

to Kilroy
Hi, I stumbled on your posts (by Googling "Amazon Echo Minnesota") and I'm wondering if I can chat with you for a story I'm writing about the Echo. As a St. Paul paper, having St. Paul people in a story is a plus!

Thanks.

JULIO OJEDA-ZAPATA, technology reporter and tech blogger
TwinCities.com / St. Paul Pioneer Press / Digital First Media
345 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN 55101-1004 USA
Tech reporting: twincities.technology
Tech blog: yourtechweblog.com
Personal site: ojezap.com
651-228-5467

Jason
Stowage Class Traveler

join:2001-01-24
38.2967 Lat

Jason to Kilroy

to Kilroy
Just got the invite to purchase one.. Got it for $99

Should be here Thursday, or Friday.

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

I've been using mine mainly for the shopping list and weather. It is still early in the release and it doesn't have a lot of answers for my questions, like "What is a meme?". I changed it to user Amazon instead of Alexis so it some times wakes up when we are watching Amazon Prime shows. The meme question came due to Alpha Dogs as I didn't have a good way to explain to my wife what a meme is. I ended up showing her.

The shopping list is interesting since I don't have a data plan on my phone. I have to make sure my list is up to date before I go off line and then need to put the phone in airplane mode so the Echo app goes to off line mode.

I spent about 15 minutes talking to Julio after I got back from vacation.

Right now the Echo is English only, as far as I know. My wife is Mexican and she feels that she has to "order" the Echo to do things, not request. So I asked her to try in Spanish and it just failed. I had Julio talk to her to understand that her accent isn't that bad, but the Echo doesn't accept it as readily as my mid-west accent.
Kilroy

Kilroy

MVM

Here is a link to Julio's article.

mchill
Premium Member
join:2001-01-18
Parlin, NJ

mchill to Kilroy

Premium Member

to Kilroy
I got my invite to purchase, said 4 - 6 months for delivery! Be interesting to see if it takes that long to get.

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

There seem to be a lot of complaints about the estimated delivery times. If it is anything like the FireTV stick it will probably come before the estimates.

Jason
Stowage Class Traveler

join:2001-01-24
38.2967 Lat

Jason

I misread the delivery timeframe for my Echo. Got the Invite, and ordered Jan 6, ETA is 2nd week in Feb.

psiuuuu
@sbcglobal.net

psiuuuu

Anon

said by Jason:

I misread the delivery timeframe for my Echo. Got the Invite, and ordered Jan 6, ETA is 2nd week in Feb.

I ordered Jan 1, yesterday was the expected day. Nothing. They emailed to say sorry about that, new date of Feb 4. Then emailed again to give me a $10 credit for future purchases due to it taking longer.

My only real hope is that Amazon does actually stick with this thing and keep improving it (as opposed to, say, OS software on Kindle/Fire's after about one update).

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

I don't know if they will continue to improve it. the $200 entry point makes it an expensive toy. At $100 it is almost reasonable. The music and shopping list features are the most complete, but if you don't use play lists the experience is hit or miss. I've purchased 6,235 songs from Amazon, but getting the Echo to play the one I want is almost impossible, especially for classical music.

The wife and I have joined our Amazon accounts into a household. This doesn't merge my music with hers, but does allow her to install my applications from the app store and read my ebooks. The main reason was for the shopping list. Her phone has a data plan, mine doesn't. In order to have the shopping list work properly for me I have to update it on the network prior to going shopping and then put my phone in airplane mode to get the Echo app to go into off line mode, then I can turn airplane mode off.

It is still an experiment. Part of the problem is that it would be more useful if you could have an Echo network. Due to the price you will centrally locate the Echo or put it where you will use it most. This is less than convenient. Having satellite units where you are that communicate with the main unit would be a better design, technically you can use the app or the remote to access it, but if you wanted to listen to music it would play in the room it is installed.
psiu
join:2004-01-20
Farmington, MI

psiu

Member

I guess my real pipe dream is a WP app for it, but regular updates (and it's cloud powered, so...) would be good.

We joined our accounts as well, but most everything is on mine. Need to get some playlists together. Will also simply use it to stream from my phone, since it doesn't support Xbox Music (yet). Had some CC points available when I ordered, so only paid around $81 for mine, whenever I get it.

(well, with the $10 credit, now down to around $71!)
psiu

psiu to Kilroy

Member

to Kilroy
Also, here's hoping Apple releases a 6th gen iPod Touch this year -- my wife's 4th gen is still on iOS 6 (or is it 5?) and staying there. But nothing new installs anymore. :P

So a new device would be nice, she could download shopping lists, same sort of idea as you.
psiu

psiu to Kilroy

Member

to Kilroy
We actually got ours a couple days after I posted. They missed the estimated shipping date, gave me $10, then got it to me a few days later. :P

Works pretty nicely. Feels like I'm on the Enterprise. Though she is, self admittedly not a replicator (ask for "tea, Earl Grey, hot").

I picked up a couple years of Prime last weekend as gifts, when mine expires in April I will then renew and I'm considering using the savings to get Amazon Music so I can upload many tens of gigs of music to have available. (Cheaper than any other streaming services, though maybe Plex? Apps for this thing?)

Timers are nice, weather, news, alarms, music. Pretty cool. Nice having different ways of interacting -- remote, app on Kindle, voice, and volume control directly.

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

Initially I would wake it up and then say my request. Now, I just speak the whole request at once. Still mostly using it for the shopping list and weather.
psiu
join:2004-01-20
Farmington, MI

psiu

Member

said by Kilroy:

Initially I would wake it up and then say my request. Now, I just speak the whole request at once.

Yeah, it's really good at that -- no unnatural pauses or anything needed.

My wife was totally threatened and jealous of our little computerized fem-bot initially. She was like "I am NOT talking to it." The first night I had a timer set for cooking and she thought it missed the mark -- so she asked "Alexa, how much time is left?" "Two minutes and forty seconds are left".

She said I failed miserably at not smirking. :P Now she puts on terrible music to torture me with. *sigh*

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

I was playing around on the Echo webpage and there is a voice training section that I may have my wife go through.
Kilroy

Kilroy

MVM

Just got an e-mail that two new features have been added:
said by Amazon :
Voice control for Spotify, iTunes, and Pandora: You can now enjoy hands-free voice control for these popular music services. To get started, simply connect your phone or tablet to Echo by saying "Alexa, pair my device." After you start playing your music, you can easily control it by saying the wake word and: play, pause, stop, next, or previous.

Simon Says: You've likely heard some of Echo's jokes—now there's another way to have fun with Echo. You can get Echo to repeat whatever you have in mind by starting with "Alexa, Simon says…" Here's a fun tip: you can covertly use the remote control from another room to get Echo to repeat what you say and surprise your family.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

2 edits

SysOp to Kilroy

Member

to Kilroy
To answer your question; no.

My opinion is I simply do not want a device always listening to everything all the time in the privacy of my home going back to Amazon.

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

If they are recording everything that the Echo hears and storing it, they have way too much garbage to be useful. Mine is in the same room that we watch media, so yesterday they got an episode of Columbo, Roseanne, and a bunch of special features from Roseanne. The solution to data retention is to flood them with so much useless carp to render data collection next to useless. A standard day is two to three hours of shows running the gambit of interests.

If they are using keyword searches they got sniper, missile launcher, and explode off the Pierce Brosnan car ad. I'm not doing anything wrong, but if you listen to what's going on and plan to act on the words you hear you are wasting your time monitoring my Echo.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

SysOp

Member

I am putting on my tin foil hat now

Jason
Stowage Class Traveler

join:2001-01-24
38.2967 Lat

1 edit

Jason to Kilroy

to Kilroy
Finally got my Echo a few days ago.. Been playing with it.. Very promising technology.

1) Its really snappy.. It comes back at you with an answer in very short order. (even if its the patent "Sorry, I dont know the answer" My internet connection isnt particularly fast (9Mb up, 2Mb down) but Okay google, and Siri are both much slower in "thinking" and response than Alexa on my wifi.

2) Its still quite intuitive, even as limited as it is currently. For instance; Just now, I was trying to elicit the "Sorry, I dont know the answer" response so I could quote it above word-for word, so I said "Alexa, Wash my car" and the response was "Okay.. Wash my car has been added to the to-do list" Heh

3) It forces you to think in discrete commands, unlike Siri, or Okay Google. In Alexas case, you have to initiate any command with the wake word, so trying to get a follow-up answer to a previous answer is intuitively not possible. Siri, and Google, continue to listen after giving the answer, giving the indication that you can ask a follow-up question (or even converse) to/with it. This has led to frustrations with Google, and Siri, but Alexa, not so much. I like Amazons way, better than either of the previously mentioned offerings.

4) Its quite undeveloped yet. Theres a *ton* of potential here, and the voice recognition (even from down the hall) is, in a word, stunning. I have much more accurate recognition from alexa 10 feet away, than I ever have from either my android, or iPhone up-close. (Especially in my house, where I have parrots that like to squak all the time, heh. Alexa seems to handle their background noise with ease...) That said, Amazon really has a solid platform to develop from, they just need to do so. More streaming / infosite service integration, (Pandora, wolfram-alpha, or movifone, for instance) Better bluetooth integration (cant control a bluetooth connected device by voice, even simple "pause" or "next track" commands are responded to with "You can control your bluetooth music with the connected device" (Or whatever the line is, I'm paraphrasing there..)

5) The speakers are quite acceptable. On-par with bluetooth speakers in the $150-$200 price range IMO. Good, clean sound. Good bass, and can go to quite a high volume before bagging out.

Totally satisfied for my $99 so far, but theres so much untapped potential here, I seriously hope Amazon will continue to develop, refine, and mature this product. They're really off to a great start, but theres a long way they can take it.

Id love to see it work with Hue, ZigBee, or any number of the other "smart home" protocols, and offering "dumb" remote towers (A couple speakers, the mic array, and enough processing power to slave from the echo over the air) would be an excellent feature. The remote has a mic, so remote towers shouldnt be too far out. That way, you could have a tower in the kitchen, livingroom, and bedroom. No need to unplug, and move the echo tower if you want to use it in another part of the house.

TL.DR; Its pretty cool already, but quite limited. Great voice recognition, but limited access to data. Amazon has a great start, but needs to develop it a lot more to make it a "killer app" for the home. I think it has the potential to be revolutionary, if matured.

Alpha Phoenix
Premium Member
join:2001-06-15
Brooklyn, NY

Alpha Phoenix to Kilroy

Premium Member

to Kilroy
Too connected is not a good thing IMO.
psiu
join:2004-01-20
Farmington, MI

psiu to Jason

Member

to Jason
It really does all depend on how much stomach Amazon has for sticking it out and developing something that might not seem to have an immediate payoff.

Have seen some more recent writeups addressing this -- as they fill it in and also allow more purchasing, that should also allow more, shall we say, "sponsored" answers. Which, if they are appropriate for what Amazon knows about me, is fine.

edit: I also hope they a) add the concept of expandable Echo stations; b) add in further integration with other Amazon devices (hey...keep em updated longer, Amazon); c) work on an open framework for others to use the Echo, and for the Echo to hook into other open network/protocols. Put it at the center and I get my Starship Ranch House, and they get their customer profiling data from heaven...

They are kind of impressive/creepy-stalker when it comes to some of their recommendations. :P

As for voice recognition, it being disembodied from a device -- just a part of our house -- it just whets my appetite. The last few really really really cold days I have been wondering why I couldn't talk to my key fob and say, "KITT, meet me at the curb."
ImpetusEra
Premium Member
join:2004-05-19
00000

ImpetusEra to Kilroy

Premium Member

to Kilroy
I had one on order but canceled it today. It's probably worth the $99 as a Bluetooth speaker but I have no interest in that. As far as everything else it does it's neat but probably something I'd get bored of within a week. The whole way the thing has been "deployed" makes me wonder if when it's really available for purchase it will be hardware version 2.0 and actually cost $200 with features the current doesn't and can't support.

Kilroy
MVM
join:2002-11-21
Saint Paul, MN

Kilroy

MVM

I get an e-mail about once a week from Amazon about new features. You can now say, "Alexa, simon says..." and it will repeat whatever you say next. The one last week was had to do with movie quotes, I didn't test it out. One of the examples was, "Alexa, you can't handle the truth."

This will continue to evolve, at least for the time being. I currently have a ticket in for the way it reports the weather. Right now it is brrr cold in Minnesota and there is nothing like hearing a weather report like this. "The current temperature is -10. Today will be clear skies with a high of 26 and a low of 13." Last I check -10 is a lot less than 13. How hard can it be to have it adjust the high or low and make it at least equal to the current temp?