Amazon launches cost-cutting review focusing on Alexa

[frahse]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I think Amazon has been subsidizing Alexa unit heavily in an attempt to capture 'smart home' and 'personal assistant' market share, since the beginning. Alexa-powered devices like Echo are cheap and probably don't generate much if any profit. And Amazon has a bewildering lineup of these things. They can easily cut that lineup in half.

The value to amazon is in the user data, selling other smart devices (security, 'smart' appliances) and potential to Sell Stuff By Voice. But I don't think demand for those products is growing very robustly except with geekier folks. (Smart TVs are the exception: it's impossible to by a TV that isn't 'smart', whether you like it or not. It's definitely more convenient to search for content via voice, and in some cases, to launch playback of something, but that doesn't need to be very smart.)

I'm a geek myself but don't have much use for 'intelligent assistants' or 'smart home' devices . We went through a phase talking with Echos but the novelty wore off. I never ordered anything from Amazon with a voice command, or had any desire to put one in every room of the house.

We've replaced them with HomePods, but barely talk to them, and have exactly one smart light switch (set up as a timer; I've never asked Siri to turn it on or off).

But AI/ML is a thing worth investing in for its own sake, and has a broad range of potential applications. I don't see Amazon laying off a bunch of their engineers.

I got a few smart "switches" (with deals) and have never installed the first one.
I have acquired maybe 7 or 8 Alexa smart speakers. One failed.
I also have 1 smart google speaker.

And that doesn't include the Smart/Fire TVs or the Alexa on mobile phones.

But 5 Billion per year must be going to fund some war effort. I hope we are winning this one.

[frahse]

I just remembered that the Echo that died was for a guest room and guests are coming Monday, so I just replaced the Echo for $6.55. (I don't know how they manage their prices but HURRAY.) It will be here tomorrow by 10pm.

What to say except I love Amazon!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by frahse

I just remembered that the Echo that died was for a guest room and guests are coming Monday, so I just replaced the Echo for $6.55. (I don't know how they manage their prices but HURRAY.)

With three weeks of support, guaranteed

[ZodWallop]

I know it's a naïve view, but I'm glad that Alexa/Assistant/Siri didn't just become ways to separate folks from more of their money. I'm happily contributing to the problem, with my seven Google speakers that are used almost exclusively for those non-monetizable things like checking the time or weather or playing music, etc. For that purpose, they are great.

I wonder if with the downscaling of Alexa, Amazon will save money by needing less behind the scenes processing/server power?

I'm guessing Google Home/Nest is in a little more secure position, as Assistant is built in to every Android phone, so supporting their other devices seems less burdensome, so long as those devices are not being sold at a loss.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Google does too. I have an Amazon one (my only Alexa) that I was given as a gift. I would SO much rather have a Nest Hub. But I don't want to be an unappreciative jerk.

FWIW, every virtual assistant has what the vendor proclaims to be a smart speaker.

For those with privacy issues, Home Assistant can integrate with most hardware that has a virtual assistant integration.

MyCroft gets no love, but a very few dedicated users/developers have managed to get MyCroft to replace the virtual assistant in abandoned virtual assistant hardware.

One of these, one might be able to buy a device with Alexa / Alice / Other Voice Assistant integrations, hook it up to your installation of _Home Assistant_, and use MyCroft for vocal communication, and never activate Alexa / Alice / whomever.

[Uncle Robin]

This amusing post via Mastodon seems relevant here:

Okay, so let me tell you about my doorbell, from a #networking perspective.

[Quoth]

Relevant?
https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/...iled/?td=rt-3a

The answer is simple: voice assistants were never designed to serve user needs. The users of voice assistants aren't its customers – they're the product.

And
https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/...sistants_fail/

[andyh2000]

I don't recognise the 'nobody uses voice assistants' point of view in those articles. We use both Google Home and Amazon Alexa hardware devices all the time for lighting and heating control, occasionally for other IoT type purposes and many times a day for answering general knowledge questions, checking spellings etc. Maybe they weren't designed for incurious people who just stare at Love Island.

Andrew

(edited to add: yes, I know I'm a snob about reality TV...)

[Renate]

I have all systems under control and I have no need to speak to an internet entity that wants to monetize me. Ok, I might conceivably add a voice input module (locally) that would turn on the heat when I say, "Tea, Earl Grey, hot".

[Quoth]

You could do voice control of heating or volume 20 years ago without an Internet connection. Those are trivial.

[mrscoach]

My parents were doing voice control television volume almost 50 years ago 'child, go turn up the tv'.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by mrscoach

My parents were doing voice control television volume almost 50 years ago 'child, go turn up the tv'.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Quoth

You could do voice control of heating or volume 20 years ago without an Internet connection. Those are trivial.

I was actually working in voice recognition more decades ago than I'd care to state (more than two).

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by Quoth

You could do voice control of heating or volume 20 years ago without an Internet connection. Those are trivial.

Voice recognition is trivial. OK.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Quoth

You could do voice control of heating or volume 20 years ago without an Internet connection. Those are trivial.

I do remember twenty years ago considering a purchase of your popular and widely available home voice control system