Amazon Echo Club - Page 324

mlewis78 · 11-02-2022, 11:31 PM

Per my earlier posts, I tried just asking Amazon to play "ambient sounds ocean" and it played it, but a different recording. I like the ebb and flow of the waves, but this one was one continuous roar of a wave. I ended up telling Alexa "off."

Last night I went back to asking for ambient noise and let her go through her list of sounds. It was so long. Then I asked her to play ocean waves sounds and she went into a spiel about Prime members getting more options in music. I didn't want to hear about it and kept telling it to stop. Eventually I got some continuous ocean sounds.

mlewis78 · 11-02-2022, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OtinG

FYI: Amazon just expanded their free, ad free, list of songs for Prime members from 2 million to 100 million songs. That’s a 50x increase! I think they also expanded podcasts to ad free also.

From a Wall Street Journal article:

I wouldn't have known about this if you hadn't posted it. I wonder why they haven't announced it. Getting something for the crazy high Prime membership fee.

Maybe this is what Alexa was trying to tell me last night when I just wanted the ocean sounds and go to sleep.

tubemonkey · 11-02-2022, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlewis78

I wouldn't have known about this if you hadn't posted it. I wonder why they haven't announced it. Getting something for the crazy high Prime membership fee.

Maybe this is what Alexa was trying to tell me last night when I just wanted the ocean sounds and go to sleep.

They announced it in a press release.

Check out the Media Deals thread every now and then for deals and announcements about non-book media (music, video, gaming, etc).

Alexa can be quite the chatterbox and it does get irritating after awhile.

mlewis78 · 11-02-2022, 11:53 PM

Thank you, Tubemonkey.

I looked at it in the Amazon site and selected an album. I couldn't find a way to play it until I pressed shuffle, and even then I wasn't sure which song was playing. I usually don't shuffle albums. Oh, well. Maybe I should only call out albums to Alexa.

I would like this to work and cancel my Apple music. I'm not using the Apple music as much as I thought I would and have had it most of this year.

CRussel · 11-03-2022, 12:30 AM

I got an email from Amazon.can about it.

JSWolf · 11-03-2022, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OtinG

FYI: Amazon just expanded their free, ad free, list of songs for Prime members from 2 million to 100 million songs. That’s a 50x increase! I think they also expanded podcasts to ad free also.

From a Wall Street Journal article:

But try getting Alexa to play specific songs. You have to pay.

John F · 11-03-2022, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But try getting Alexa to play specific songs. You have to pay.

I just tried playing a single song, no problem.

"Alexa, play I fought Piranhas on amazon music"

JSWolf · 11-03-2022, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John F

I just tried playing a single song, no problem.

"Alexa, play I fought Piranhas on amazon music"

I asked Alexa to play a specific song. It played whjat it thought was something similar. Then I stopped and asked again and got the subscription talk and then I did it one more time and then it worked. This is not going to get people to subscribe.

I can use Apple music instead since I have Apple music free with my cell phone plan (and not limited to a year).

John F · 11-03-2022, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I asked Alexa to play a specific song. It played whjat it thought was something similar. Then I stopped and asked again and got the subscription talk and then I did it one more time and then it worked. This is not going to get people to subscribe.

I can use Apple music instead since I have Apple music free with my cell phone plan (and not limited to a year).

So when you use ask Alexa to play a specific song with Apple Music you don't have a problem?

ApK · 11-03-2022, 11:10 AM

Over the last couple days, I'd give Alexa commands that we use regularly, like "kitchen off," and rather than beeping (she's in brief mode) and turning off the kitchen lights as normal, she'll say "It's off," and do nothing. I'm about to dig into the activity to see if she's hearing something different than I'm saying, or if she has just taken up outright lying and willful disobedience.
Neither would surprise me at this point.

DiapDealer · 11-03-2022, 01:08 PM

I get that a lot. Mostly with different skill interaction, though. In those cases, I'm assuming she passed on the request to proper skill, and doesn't give a fig if the external action provided by the skill did its part or not.

On the other side of the coin... it's always sort of annoyed me that she still says "OK" whenever I ask her to turn something on that's already on--open a garage door that's already open. I'd prefer her to call out my senior moment and say something to the effect of "That light's already on, dummy".

ApK · 11-03-2022, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

On the other side of the coin... it's always sort of annoyed me that she still says "OK" whenever I ask her to turn something on that's already on--open a garage door that's already open. I'd prefer her to call out my senior moment and say something to the effect of "That light's already on, dummy".

That would be great, if she was right. When she tells me "it's off" she invariably wrong. Status info is only useful if you can trust it. And of course, as you know, it would require the device, skill and Alexa all being able to reliably implement status. Wish it was a global smart device standard requirement.

DiapDealer · 11-03-2022, 03:06 PM

That's why I use the dashboard of the mobile app for my Home Assistant (home automation) server for most status info. I can see at a glance whether lights are on or off, or garage doors are open or closed.

ApK · 11-03-2022, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

That's why I use the dashboard of the mobile app for my Home Assistant (home automation) server for most status info. I can see at a glance whether lights are on or off, or garage doors are open or closed.

I've found even my Hubitat dashboard status info is sometime out of sync, but more to the point, I want to use Alexa's voice control, not my hand held device.
If I wanted to use my hands, I could use a light switch like a neanderthal.

DiapDealer · 11-03-2022, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApK

If I wanted to use my hands, I could use a light switch like a neanderthal.

Fair enough.

But in my defense, I too don't want to use a light switch to turn lights on/off. I use my voice. I just mainly use my eyes to check the status of things, rather than use my voice and get lied to by a device.

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11-02-2022, 11:31 PM	#4846
mlewis78 Guru Posts: 915 Karma: 6449772 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: New York City Device: Kindle Oasis 2 (7"); HDX 8.9"; Ipad2	Per my earlier posts, I tried just asking Amazon to play "ambient sounds ocean" and it played it, but a different recording. I like the ebb and flow of the waves, but this one was one continuous roar of a wave. I ended up telling Alexa "off." Last night I went back to asking for ambient noise and let her go through her list of sounds. It was so long. Then I asked her to play ocean waves sounds and she went into a spiel about Prime members getting more options in music. I didn't want to hear about it and kept telling it to stop. Eventually I got some continuous ocean sounds.

11-02-2022, 11:53 PM	#4849
mlewis78 Guru Posts: 915 Karma: 6449772 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: New York City Device: Kindle Oasis 2 (7"); HDX 8.9"; Ipad2	Thank you, Tubemonkey. I looked at it in the Amazon site and selected an album. I couldn't find a way to play it until I pressed shuffle, and even then I wasn't sure which song was playing. I usually don't shuffle albums. Oh, well. Maybe I should only call out albums to Alexa. I would like this to work and cancel my Apple music. I'm not using the Apple music as much as I thought I would and have had it most of this year.

11-03-2022, 12:30 AM	#4850
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,323 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	I got an email from Amazon.can about it.

11-03-2022, 11:10 AM	#4855
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,402 Karma: 69116640 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	Over the last couple days, I'd give Alexa commands that we use regularly, like "kitchen off," and rather than beeping (she's in brief mode) and turning off the kitchen lights as normal, she'll say "It's off," and do nothing. I'm about to dig into the activity to see if she's hearing something different than I'm saying, or if she has just taken up outright lying and willful disobedience. Neither would surprise me at this point.

11-03-2022, 01:08 PM	#4856
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,891 Karma: 207182180 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I get that a lot. Mostly with different skill interaction, though. In those cases, I'm assuming she passed on the request to proper skill, and doesn't give a fig if the external action provided by the skill did its part or not. On the other side of the coin... it's always sort of annoyed me that she still says "OK" whenever I ask her to turn something on that's already on--open a garage door that's already open. I'd prefer her to call out my senior moment and say something to the effect of "That light's already on, dummy".

11-03-2022, 03:06 PM	#4858
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,891 Karma: 207182180 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	That's why I use the dashboard of the mobile app for my Home Assistant (home automation) server for most status info. I can see at a glance whether lights are on or off, or garage doors are open or closed.