Does anyone have an Amazon Echo?

[DaLittle B]

I've read reviews,seen professional "reviewers",Tech people play with one,but don't personally know anyone that uses one.

I'm still not a 100% sure if I'd use it,think it's creepy too invasion of privacy (this thing is always listening!).

I have windows 10 on my render farm computer,I hate the privacy issues with it,don't use cortana,and half the stuff in it.

I just got Spotify free,a couple of weeks ago,a big Amazon guy,not a big app guy.

So I'm curious about real people's thoughts on it,what do they actually use it for.

[Dave Gray]

No.  What is it?

[Phishfan]

No.  What is it?

You've had to see the Alec Baldwin commercials during the Super Bowl (the one with Dan Marino).

I don't know anyone that has one or even anyone that has expressed interest in it to me. I have no desire to get one at this point.

[Tenshot13]

It looks cool, but I think marketing is the only thing pushing it right now...I don't know anyone that owns one.

[Brian Fein]

My cousins both have one, but not sure if they use it.  Similarly, we bought one for my 92-year old grandmother who always wants to Google stuff but doesn't have a computer.  We haven't messed with it yet cause we didn't get wifi in her house yet.

[Dave Gray]

I still don't really get what it is or what purpose it serves.

[Phishfan]

My cousins both have one, but not sure if they use it.  Similarly, we bought one for my 92-year old grandmother who always wants to Google stuff but doesn't have a computer.  We haven't messed with it yet cause we didn't get wifi in her house yet.

This sounds strangely interesting to me.

[Tenshot13]

I still don't really get what it is or what purpose it serves.

It's always on...you say, "Echo, play music, turn off lights, etc." and it does.
It's like Siri for your home.

[Sunstroke]

My mom and stepdad have the Echo set up in their home. They really seem to like it, but I was pretty unimpressed on my visit up there last month.

[DaLittle B]

Tenshot's 1st comment about it being more marketing, I agree.His explanation of what "Echo" is is pretty spot on,and how I'd explain it.

- Echo:A round Bluetooth speaker,that you connect to your home wifi with Amazon's version of "Siri" speech recognition.

My cousins both have one, but not sure if they use it.  Similarly, we bought one for my 92-year old grandmother who always wants to Google stuff but doesn't have a computer.  We haven't messed with it yet cause we didn't get wifi in her house yet.

This why I'm sort of intrigued,Since I take care of my Mom,she's always asking me look up things like.Is this person still alive? How old is this person? Checking the weather on her tablet (which seems to get stuck every few hours)

Here's Amazon commercial for it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQn6aFQwBQU

[Brian Fein]

That's what I wonder - since its an Amazon product, how well does it integrate with Google if you ask it "how old is Justin Bieber" does it feed back an answer, or does it ask you if you want to buy a Justin Bieber CD?

I also wonder if you say "Alexa, I need a water filter for my refrigerator" if it can just prime-ship you a water filter, which you've previously purchased.  That would be great functionality...

[Phishfan]

^^^ Their TV advertising makes it seem that it is intuitive to previous actions. Alec Baldwin just tells it to order socks like it knows what he wants in the latest commercial but I don't know how much BS that is. I'm still skeptical and not interested.

[Baba Booey]

That's what I wonder - since its an Amazon product, how well does it integrate with Google if you ask it "how old is Justin Bieber" does it feed back an answer, or does it ask you if you want to buy a Justin Bieber CD?

It syncs with Google Calendar. It's best if you have an Amazon Prime account with it. It's great for streaming music listening to radio, probably its best feature. It sync's with Pandora, Spotify, and those music services and can stream every radio station in the country pretty much. Great for taking notes if you have a thought and nothing to write it down with, just shout it out and it will take a note and then you can access it later.

More features are coming every few months and more integration with Google is on the way.

[TonyB0D]

I have one!  As a long time Prime subscriber, I was allowed to get one with their early adoption rollout for only $100 (they're kinda pricey now and don't come with the voice remote).  I LOVE it!  It's basically a really great sounding/looking Bluetooth speaker with a Siri-type assistant built in.

If you have Amazon prime, it has access to all the music on their cloud, along with any other music you have purchased.  It also has Spotify integration, and can play and radio station on the planet, provided they have an online stream (which they all do at this point).  "Alexa, play KZOK FM radio, Sattle"  "OK".   It also has a bluetooth link for pairing iPads and such (so I can use my Sirius satellite radio app).  She can also control the Amazon Fire TV device via voice commands.

For Prime members, you can have her order your favorite past orders (you can set them up via the iphone/ipad app) automatically by saying "Alexa, order more paper towels".

The "Siri" part of her is just as powerful as Siri, and she has a bunch of other cool features.  I like asking her for the forecast while I'm getting dressed, or asking for the day's news.  She can set timers, reminders, and alarms.  Another cool feature I use a lot is when my hands are full while cooking, and I need a unit conversion done on the spot.

It's also starting to get into the home automation market.  I had some Wifi light bulbs, and she can control those via voice.  She can connect and control Nest thermostats, and many other devices.  Amazon just recently released the code to developers, and the third party market is where it really shines.  Using a program called "If This, Then That", you can rig up all sorts of cool automation and functionality.  For example, I set up an IFTTT script for texting my phone when a timer runs out.  That way when I'm up on the roof of my apt drinking, she'll text me when my food's done.  Other scripts can include changing colors of your light bulbs when you get certain emails, RSS news articles, etc.  Since I ride a motorcycle, I have one of the light bulbs in my living room lamp turn red when there's rain in the forecast for the day.  The things you can do with the advanced functionality of IFTTT is pretty awesome.  The best part about it is more functionality is getting added all the time. 

I'm really glad I got one, I use it every day and new functionality is always being developed and added.   My friends like it so much that a bunch of them have ordered themselves one after coming over and playing with it.

[DaLittle B]

Cool to finally hear someone has one 

Yeah I see they're now up to $179,the 3rd party additions is why I'm seeing more reviews pop up here and there.The 3rd party thing, I think it's awesome for better functionality,but a huge privacy issue,like apps and permissions on a phone,or a tablet.