Amazon announces: Echo

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by soondai

baffling. First step toward some bigger plan or self-contained boondoggle? Or am I just completely out of step and this thing could conceivably sell?

Indications are it will sell.
Not in take-over-the-world numbers but in make-some-decent-coin numbers.

First of all, if you strip away the speech recognition hype, you're looking at a good quality Bluetooth wireless speaker for $99. There's a market for that.
Second, it's an internet audio streamer. There's a market for that.
Third, there's the cool gadget holiday gift aspect. There's a market for that.

There's something like 50M Prime subscribers out there by now so if Amazon gets even 1% to buy Echo, that's $50M in sales. A toy like this, coming for the holidays, can easily do three-four times that. How many Silivalley startups would be thrilled with $50M in sales out of the gate for their new device? Hint: a lot.

Odds are the thing is running FireOS and if it sells enough it will probably get an SDK for android developers to adapt apps for it. Or cook up entirely new ones. Since it has both speakers and microphones it could host internet telephony apps, home security apps, and entirely new classes of apps.

It's a (mostly) new category of device so it can just as easily thud once the new toy shine wears off or it could evolve into a billion dollar business or something in between. Nobody really knows for sure.

But it will be interesting to see what comes of this.
Other companies just sit on their cash piles collecting interest and little else: Amazon puts everything to work, looking for new ways to make money. If nothing else, they're entertaining.

[petrucci]

I find the product oddly appealing, which is strange. It does not support audio books and the speaker is not as good as my stereo system. So, I really should have no use for it. But, then I think it would be really convenient to have an internet's worth of music available at all times. Thus, I am tempted.

The thing that kills it for me are those mics. I am usually not the paranoid big brother type. However, why would I want to put a set of microphones in my home that are networked? I suppose that if someone really wanted to hear what was going on in my house they could hack my computer's internal speaker to pick up sound or something and listen to me farting. I also have a land line phone, which is also a wired microphone. Despite these things, in this day and age of data gathering, I find the concept of the mics on a networked device very invasive. Target was able to accurately predict pregnancy based on shopping habits. Maybe Amazon will use the information to try to sell me beans.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by petrucci

Maybe Amazon will use the information to try to sell me beans.

If the mikes are sensitive enough, they might know who to offer to sell Beano.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by petrucci

I find the product oddly appealing, which is strange. .

Me, too. At first I thought it was a joke. But after watching the video, I requested an invitation. I think my DH would like it for music.

[soondai]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Indications are it will sell.

I always enjoy your takes and will have to defer to you on this one. I am still mystified.

Very strange run for Amazon for me. The phone. The first kindle I was not even tempted to purchase. This thing. Last month they botched some birthday presents deliveries.

I did buy the TV dongle.

Curious where it all heads.

[conan50]

After getting the image of the celebration going on over at the NSA out of my mind, I can see this being very useful for the blind. Also for older folks who need reminding to take their meds, or for doctor appointments, etc. Perhaps the tech could get to the point it could be sort of a digital companion for the aged, maybe even dial 911 in an emergency. Perhaps a first step to much bigger things.
For me, the main appeal would be telling it what music to play, and giving me the weather report. But the privacy issue gives me pause.

[Purple Lady]

I just requested an invite. I noticed it can stream TuneIn. I have a few very old Roku Soundbridge devices that can stream internet radio stations that I would love to have replacements for.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

If the mikes are sensitive enough, they might know who to offer to sell Beano.

Silly!!!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by soondai

Very strange run for Amazon for me. The phone. The first kindle I was not even tempted to purchase. This thing. Last month they botched some birthday presents deliveries.

I did buy the TV dongle.

Curious where it all heads.

Try this:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_...rnid=386442011

Amazon sells a wide variety of bluetooth speakers and if you look at the prices, a lot of them are priced at $100-200. How well they sell is something Amazon would know well. So if they're getting into the business they must think there is a market for it.

Now, the rest of the gadget is basically "parts bin engineering", bringing in features from their other products: tablets, STB, streamer stick... For example, Echo comes with a voice remote control--probably the same from the FireTV box. In other words, no big investment needed to add the fancy features.

I think it makes some business sense for Amazon to sell one. I'm not buying one myself (I don't need an external speaker for my phone) but there seems to be a market for these things at $100-plus for people who rely on their phone for music so Amazon going to $99 for Prime members is probably going to draw in a few new subscribers.

Amazon has been doing a lot of hiring at Lab126 so where it heads is more... odd... gadgets. I'm expecting a thermostat at some point, along with a home security camera.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

... For example, Echo comes with a voice remote control--probably the same from the FireTV box...

I wonder if the remote will work with the Fire TV stick I ordered? The remote costs $30.

[soondai]

a parody of the ad is atop Reddit's front page:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GijLoiVkmYI

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by soondai

a parody of the ad is atop Reddit's front page:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GijLoiVkmYI

Country music played when he asked for rock, just like Amazon prime music playlists! Amazon even has classical listed in their prime music classic rock genre.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by SCION

Silly!!!

Every chance I get.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by conan50

After getting the image of the celebration going on over at the NSA out of my mind, I can see this being very useful for the blind.

about the NSA celebration, and good point about usage for the blind!

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I just requested an invite. I noticed it can stream TuneIn. I have a few very old Roku Soundbridge devices that can stream internet radio stations that I would love to have replacements for.

Awesome, I had not even seen that! There is a radio channel I can only get through TuneIn in the US, and I am addicted to it. Maybe it could be set up as an alarm clock as well. One that cannot be shut off, unless you solve a math problem!! I would really need something like that.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by xendula

Awesome, I had not even seen that! There is a radio channel I can only get through TuneIn in the US, and I am addicted to it. Maybe it could be set up as an alarm clock as well. One that cannot be shut off, unless you solve a math problem!! I would really need something like that.

You can set it as an alarm but it can be shut off... if you remember the activation word. I guess you could set the activation word to "Rumplestiltskin" or "Brezinski" or some other tongue twister...