Amazon Echo Club

[wodin]

Alexa now tells you when it can answer old questions

When you ask a voice assistant a question it doesn't have an answer for, that's usually the end of the story unless you're determined to look up the answer on another device. Amazon doesn't think the mystery should go unsolved, though. It's trotting out an opt-in "Answer Update" feature for Alexa that notifies you when the AI helper has an answer to a previous question it couldn't address.

[wodin]

Almost no one buys via Amazon Alexa: this is why

After the failure of the Fire Phone, it was completely unexpected that the Amazon Echo would end up causing both Google and Apple to scramble to catch up. But while Amazon practically created and continue to lead the new smart speaker market, it has ironically failed at the very thing it created the Echo for: helping Amazon customer buy stuff. It turns out, only a minuscule percentage of users shop via Alexa and it’s not that hard to see why

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Long press on it and when the I icon shows tap that from there you can get rid of the stupid thing by choosing hide.

Sent from my XT1528

THANK YOU!

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by wodin

Almost no one buys via Amazon Alexa: this is why

The reason I don't purchase through ANY voice system is my hearing, or lack thereof. Yes I know, I'm in old fart territory now, and young Millennials tend to hear much better than aging Boomers, but I cannot help but think hearing has a lot to do with many people avoiding voice orders. Also, how to you shop and compare items via audio only? I can't. Maybe some can though. We use our eyes to check visual clues like quality, color, functionality, ratings, comments, etc. If I was going to order an item I had previously decided was THE ONE I really wanted, then I might be more inclined to order via voice, but even then a lot can go wrong and with only audio clues I might not catch the booboos. I think voice ordering via Alexa was one of those things that at first sounded like an interesting feature, but practicality quickly revealed the issues that can be rather scary. For example, thinking you ordered one bottle of "Thousand Island Salad Dressing" and getting instead 1000 dresses.

[ApK]

The only times I've voice-ordered was when I was offered promos for doing so.
And I did it with phone in hand so I could immediately verify and cancel if needed.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ApK

The only times I've voice-ordered was when I was offered promos for doing so.
And I did it with phone in hand so I could immediately verify and cancel if needed.

Me too. I don't see how ordering using Alexa is any quicker/easier than ordering with a computer, tablet, or phone for most people.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Me too. I don't see how ordering using Alexa is any quicker/easier than ordering with a computer, tablet, or phone for most people.

And you can only order via Alexa if you've got Prime, which makes no sense at all. Does Jeff really want to forego those non-Prime orders? Does he really think that being able to order through Alexa will convert Prime holdouts?

[wodin]

Alexa will soon be available in even more cars

Amazon is giving more automakers access to the tools needed to integrate Alexa into their vehicles' infotainment systems. The company released its Alexa Auto software development kit today, making the tools accessible to all developers via GitHub. Integrating Alexa into vehicles gives users easier access to the assistant's skills while they drive, and they can take advantage of functions like weather reports, notifications, smart home controls, media streaming and the many third-party skills accessible through Alexa. Some other functions supported by Alexa Auto -- including navigation, calling and local search -- will be particularly useful for drivers.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by issybird

And you can only order via Alexa if you've got Prime, which makes no sense at all. Does Jeff really want to forego those non-Prime orders? Does he really think that being able to order through Alexa will convert Prime holdouts?

And frankly, Prime is becoming less of a value all the time. When i first became a Prime member there were very few companies who offered free 1 or 2 day shipping. Now pretty much all the major players offer fast, free shipping. Prime Video was never very interesting to me as it has very little worth watching that is free. Most of the good shows/movies I want to watch cost extra. Same with the AmazonFresh deal, Prime doesn't cover AmazonFresh and AmazonFresh costs an additional $15/mo. No thanks, I'll drive a couple miles to the grocery store instead. And the free Prime Music sucks. I got so tired of hearing terrible live recordings from stoned, elderly rockers who cannot remember the lyrics they wrote! The paid version isn't worth much either.

Enough of that...Alexa, turn off rant. "I'm sorry I don't know that one." Oh yeah, I forgot how stupid she is...

[ApK]

Prime is still worth it for us, but it's not the no-brainier it used to be.
Rather surprisingly, I'm watching Prime Video more and more lately.
We're planning on cutting the cord (err....satellite down-link....) shortly so Prime video will probably be used even more.

We'll need to reevaluate next year when we face the price increase, and other retailers have further caught up.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by ApK

Prime is still worth it for us, but it's not the no-brainier it used to be.
Rather surprisingly, I'm watching Prime Video more and more lately.
We're planning on cutting the cord (err....satellite down-link....) shortly so Prime video will probably be used even more.

We'll need to reevaluate next year when we face the price increase, and other retailers have further caught up.

I wish there was a good cord cutting alternative to cable/satellite, but I haven't found one yet. Occasionally Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and other sevices have decent shows, but they don't have many and if you start paying for a lot of these services you wind up paying as much as far cable/satellite. I get internet through Spectrum because they are literally the only game in town. They have exclusive rights to my town due to what I'm sure is padding of politicians' pocketbooks. The internet service is less costly if I bundle it with the Spectrum cable services. Unbundled it costs $80+ /mo. So even if I went with the midline DirecTV Now service at $60 /mo and then added the $80 /mo for internet so I could actually stream DirecTV Now, I'm at the same price point as I am with getting internet and cable TV through Spectrum. Sling is missing a lot of the channels I like, as does Playstation Vue, and as do all of the other streaming services. As much as I would love to cut the so-called cable, it won't happen any time soon since there is no financial incentive to do so. And since Net Neutrality got nuked, we can expect the big internet providers to start throttling our service if we choose streaming services other than theirs! Ouch. In the good ol' USA they have us by the shorthairs and they know it. I have a personal requirement/preference for certain channels to watch specific programming, and I just will not settle for a fraction of the programming I want. With Amazon you have to pay extra for almost anything worth watching. Hulu and Netflix have very little of interest to me. So I guess I have to let BIG Cable have their way with me for the time being. Oh, and OTA TV is a joke. We get about 60 local channels but they are mostly unwatchable oldies from the 1960s and 1970s that look like crap on HD TVs. Besides, I really don't care to watch Walker Texas Ranger 24/7.

Maybe someday we will have better options, but I'm not optimistic.

[Conan46]

Originally Posted by OtinG

I wish there was a good cord cutting alternative to cable/satellite, but I haven't found one yet. Occasionally Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and other sevices have decent shows, but they don't have many and if you start paying for a lot of these services you wind up paying as much as far cable/satellite. I get internet through Spectrum because they are literally the only game in town. They have exclusive rights to my town due to what I'm sure is padding of politicians' pocketbooks. The internet service is less costly if I bundle it with the Spectrum cable services.

Maybe someday we will have better options, but I'm not optimistic.

Sorry to hear that. Spectrum knows it has you. Spectrum is also one of our local providers. Time Warmer Cable owned our town, then sold out to Spectrum, but just before that happened a local telco came around and installed fiber optic Internet so we had a second choice. More than that, the telco has more reliable service than Spectrum. Every week I get mailings from Spectrum begging me to sign up. The last two weeks Spectrum has sent sales reps to my door to get me back. I would probably break some forum rule if I said what I really think of Spectrum. Suffice to say they will get me as a customer when someplace very hot freezes over.
My mom has a similar situation to you, only with Comcast. No other option for a provider. They are also a horrible company.
We pay $44.95 a month for fiber-optic Internet (a price that has not risen in 3 years). No modem needed, no rental. No extras costs or charges. We get reliable 25 down and 5 up. We have Philo TV for $16 a month without a sports or live news tax. We get locals OTA with an antenna. We have basic Hulu at a discount for the past few years of $5.99 a month. So we are very happy and Spectrum has no chance of getting our money.
Again, sorry to hear you don't have options. You are not alone, most people are in similar straights.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by Conan46

Sorry to hear that. Spectrum knows it has you. Spectrum is also one of our local providers. Time Warmer Cable owned our town, then sold out to Spectrum, but just before that happened a local telco came around and installed fiber optic Internet so we had a second choice. More than that, the telco has more reliable service than Spectrum. Every week I get mailings from Spectrum begging me to sign up. The last two weeks Spectrum has sent sales reps to my door to get me back. I would probably break some forum rule if I said what I really think of Spectrum. Suffice to say they will get me as a customer when someplace very hot freezes over.
My mom has a similar situation to you, only with Comcast. No other option for a provider. They are also a horrible company.
We pay $44.95 a month for fiber-optic Internet (a price that has not risen in 3 years). No modem needed, no rental. No extras costs or charges. We get reliable 25 down and 5 up. We have Philo TV for $16 a month without a sports or live news tax. We get locals OTA with an antenna. We have basic Hulu at a discount for the past few years of $5.99 a month. So we are very happy and Spectrum has no chance of getting our money.
Again, sorry to hear you don't have options. You are not alone, most people are in similar straights.

Yes, Spectrum sucks. I guess we can say that... I can get a satellite service for TV, but they suck worse than cable. But even with satellite service I would still have to pay Spectrum for internet, or use cellular which would be super slow and unreliable. AT&T's U-Verse was pretty good, but they are not available in my town and AT&T no longer offer U-Verse choosing to push DirecTV instead. When I lived in Austin, TimeWarner Cable had exclusive rights, and they sucked even worse than Spectrum, which later bought them out.

At any rate I'm appalled at the current trend in streaming where services like Hulu and Netflix provide a small amount of usable programming. Now we have CBS wanting us to pay for some of their programming. Even PBS wants to charge. BIG cable channels like Discovery also want to charge. I think in the future it might cost more to get decent TV service than it does for your mortgage.

[Conan46]

Originally Posted by OtinG

Yes, Spectrum sucks. I guess we can say that... I can get a satellite service for TV, but they suck worse than cable. But even with satellite service I would still have to pay Spectrum for internet, or use cellular which would be super slow and unreliable. AT&T's U-Verse was pretty good, but they are not available in my town and AT&T no longer offer U-Verse choosing to push DirecTV instead. When I lived in Austin, TimeWarner Cable had exclusive rights, and they sucked even worse than Spectrum, which later bought them out.

At any rate I'm appalled at the current trend in streaming where services like Hulu and Netflix provide a small amount of usable programming. Now we have CBS wanting us to pay for some of their programming. Even PBS wants to charge. BIG cable channels like Discovery also want to charge. I think in the future it might cost more to get decent TV service than it does for your mortgage.

Yes, CBS and perhaps other networks will follow, putting programming behind a paywall makes me think they should lose their free local airwaves and affiliate stations should be broken up.
One good thing about streaming is you can drop these options as quick as you pick them up. Even Amazon offers a separate monthly rate if you just want to watch a few shows then drop it. Cable locks you into long contracts where the price will always rise.

[wodin]

The Alexa-Cortana crossover is now available to the public

More people will be able to access the Alexa-Cortana collaboration their companies unveiled last year, now that the team-up is available as a public preview. Unfortunately, you can only take it for a spin if you're in the US, but this is still a much wider release than the limited beta Microsoft and Amazon rolled out a few months ago.