Amazon's Echo or Dots

3,358 Views | 36 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by cjsag94
JMac03
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AG
Do people really use these? What for?

I won an Echo at a conference 6 months ago and its still in the box. Why do I need one of these in my life? Learn me Texags.
AngelAg
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I use it for mostly mood music.
Arthur Stilwell
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You can ask Alexa to fart.
Bondag
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AG
Turn on lights, tv, A/C, change channel, switch devices, turn on fans, play music, intercom, make phone calls.
Geralt of Rivia
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S
I mostly use it to play music. Sometimes to get sports scores, turn off the living room lights, or change the thermostat temp if im feeling lazy/don't have my phone next to me.
JMac03
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AG
Bondag said:

Turn on lights, tv, A/C, change channel, switch devices, turn on fans, play music, intercom, make phone calls.
Do you have to have special types of lights/fans? Or is this just everyday lights/fans?
The Collective
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AG
Music, AC, and lights (predominantly lamps). My kids use it to listen to books on audible at night. They pretty much give dots away, because it is a convenient gateway to their sub services.
chipotle
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1. Music (pandora and my library purchased through amazon), I use this the most
2. Smartthings, thermostate mostly
3. Logitech harmony, turning the tv on and off, sometimes requesting main channels ("turn on fox, turn on ABC")
4. Calendar, "What's on my schedule today?"
5. Weather
Arthur Stilwell
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JMac07 said:

Bondag said:

Turn on lights, tv, A/C, change channel, switch devices, turn on fans, play music, intercom, make phone calls.
Do you have to have special types of lights/fans? Or is this just everyday lights/fans?
For everyday lights/fans, you have to hardwire the Echo directly to your circuit breaker. There are tons of how-to videos about it on Youtube.
Bondag
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AG
Wemo makes light switches and plugs that are compatible
Al Bula
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AG
I play music in the kitchen or office and use it for an alarm clock in the bedroom. Or a kitchen timer. Connected a few Smart home things to it.

Largely useless otherwise. Nothing I could not do with my phone.
BostonAg74
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I have a friend who had one of those devices and she said that her family was having a discussion about buying furniture one night (in the same room as the Echo) and the next day, ads for furniture were popping up all over her computer screen. She took the damn thing out that morning.
Burdizzo
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AG
Useless until it makes me a sammich
rhoswen
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AG
Mostly for lights, I have 4 Kasa Smart Plugs and 3 have lamps plugged into them and the other has the string lights on the patio. I also have a kasa smart switch for the patio light.
We have it connected to the OurGroceries app too so when we notice we need something, we tell Alexa to add it to the list.
Timer comes in handy when you're cooking and your hands are wet/dirty.
Weather, music, random trivia, pirate jokes, fart noises.
Ginormus Ag
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AG
Home automation. I'm pretty lazy, but it's kinda awesome.
Ginormus Ag
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AG
Btw, It would be pretty sweet if Alexa was compatible with Texags.
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by user
Drawkcab
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Ginormus Ag said:

Btw, It would be pretty sweet if Alexa was compatible with Texags.

"Alexa, block SoupNazi2001 on TexAgs."
Drawkcab
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"I'm sorry Drawkcab, your cheap ass does not have any stars and cannot block anyone."
Krazykat
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AG
Oh, sure! Like I would pay for and willingly put an NSA listening device in my house. Sheesh!
Claude!
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The only Dots I want are of the Dippin' variety.
Builder93
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AG
BostonAg74 said:

I have a friend who had one of those devices and she said that her family was having a discussion about buying furniture one night (in the same room as the Echo) and the next day, ads for furniture were popping up all over her computer screen. She took the damn thing out that morning.
I've had family members experience that same thing.

I met a guy who knows a lot about the internal workings of these devices and he said he will never own one. He said they are listening all the time.
Bondag
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AG
Forgot about the alarm clock. Alexa snooze. Don't even have to slap at it.

Also has routines so if I say "goodnight" it turns off all the lights in house, turns off TVs, turns on bedroom fan and sets a/c to 72
JMac03
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AG
Sounds like my new in box Alexa will be for sale
Arthur Stilwell
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I'm surprised BombayAg hasn't made an appearance on this thread yet.
Burdizzo
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AG
Builder93 said:

BostonAg74 said:

I have a friend who had one of those devices and she said that her family was having a discussion about buying furniture one night (in the same room as the Echo) and the next day, ads for furniture were popping up all over her computer screen. She took the damn thing out that morning.
I've had family members experience that same thing.

I met a guy who knows a lot about the internal workings of these devices and he said he will never own one. He said they are listening all the time.


Ours has been unplugged for months, but when it was still plugged in I was messing around with it and asked, "Alexa, do you work for the CIA?" Damn thing went on for about 2-3 minutes spitting out Amazon policy of what information it was allowed to record and store.

Obviously someone had asked this question already.

The South Park episode with Eric Cartman triggering all the Echos was pretty enlightening too.
swc93
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AG
Quote:

I met a guy who knows a lot about the internal workings of these devices and he said he will never own one. He said they are listening all the time.
Awesome; I know a couple friends that have them. I'll make a mental note to whisper bad things to their Alexa's next time I am over.
rhoswen
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AG
I forgot, I can make calls from her too.
IIIHorn
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Drawkcab
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Got an Echo for my birthday yesterday. Guess it's time to get some smart electronics to make use of it.
Fairview
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AG
Builder93 said:

BostonAg74 said:

I have a friend who had one of those devices and she said that her family was having a discussion about buying furniture one night (in the same room as the Echo) and the next day, ads for furniture were popping up all over her computer screen. She took the damn thing out that morning.
I've had family members experience that same thing.

I met a guy who knows a lot about the internal workings of these devices and he said he will never own one. He said they are listening all the time.


I got two dots for free at Work conferences and gave them to the kids for music. Two weeks ago I went into my daughters room in the morning and asked how things were going. She said she had a nightmare the night before and woke up with a headache. Out of nowhere Alexa says "would you like me to play some relaxing music?"
Sumlins Pool Guy
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I'd say I use it for music and then to have it read books from audible to me while I fall asleep at night. Also occasionally to listen to the ticket in the mornings.

But the No 1 thing it does is

"Alexa, order dominos"
DropDemNuggetz
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AG
Builder93 said:

BostonAg74 said:

I have a friend who had one of those devices and she said that her family was having a discussion about buying furniture one night (in the same room as the Echo) and the next day, ads for furniture were popping up all over her computer screen. She took the damn thing out that morning.
I've had family members experience that same thing.

I met a guy who knows a lot about the internal workings of these devices and he said he will never own one. He said they are listening all the time.
At this point, do people actually care about this? Obviously, nobody wants their privacy invaded, however I'm to the point now where I expect it's happening through multiple technology avenues, and by multiple groups of people (government, corporations, foreign countries, etc). While I don't like it, there is zero anyone can do about it. Y'all may as well get rid of all of your shi* and go live in the woods if you're that worried about it, because not owning a portable speaker is missing the forest through the trees.
cjsag94
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AG
I am really close to purchasing a couple of these..for only 1 reason. 14 year old daughter up in her room all the time and we want the Alexa intercom feature so we can stop yelling back and forth between downstairs and upstairs to a teenage kid in her own world.

None of the other features are important to us. Use Chromecast audio for music, have remotes for tv.
JMac03
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AG
cjsag94 said:

I am really close to purchasing a couple of these..for only 1 reason. 14 year old daughter up in her room all the time and we want the Alexa intercom feature so we can stop yelling back and forth between downstairs and upstairs to a teenage kid in her own world.

None of the other features are important to us. Use Chromecast audio for music, have remotes for tv.
If you are in BCS I'll sell you a new in box echo for half of what they are on Amazon
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