Can't wait to tap it to ask for news to be read me! /s
Seriously, I don't get these things. Fill me in -- what does it do that phone/tablet and nearby wifi sound system doesn't?
absolutely nothing.
Its tech going backwards. The last 20 years was about tech going portable then mobile and wireless. Now they want to push something that you have to plug in and keep in a fixed area. LOL
It doesn't replace the phone or watch, it complements it. Not everyone wants to wear a watch 24x7 and the microphone in a phone needs to be smaller than you can get away with in a dedicate device. Everyone has different needs/wants but consider for a minute that these are just gen 1 devices. Longer term, they could be listening constantly and will proactively offer you suggestions/reminders depending on the context and how you set it up - plugged in permanently is useful in this case. You're talking to your wife about how you need to go to the mall and it listens then sends some discount vouchers to your phone for a product you had talked about buying. You're talking about where to go for dinner, it suggests some well-recommended place you've never been. You talk about putting winter tires on your car but forget, it reminds you. Sure, a phone could do this but not if it's in a bag or on the other side of the room.
That sounds absolutely horrifying to me.
It's inevitable. We already give Apple and Google our life in the cloud and now they are listening for key words - Hey Siri, Hey Google. If a computer has access to all of your photos, why not your personal conversations? Perhaps you won't want it and millions of others will opt out but consider how many people give up some privacy to Google for convenience, I can see it happening within the next five years. 1984 but the government doesn't need to force it on anyone.
It's not inevitable that corporations have always-on mics in our living rooms that record or utilize private conversation for advertising or marketing coupons and that this will become mainstream. Not at all.
Also, these articles always state that the Echo is very successful. Amazon doesn't release sales data, and there are no other retailer supply channels to study since it's direct fulfillment from Amazon. So what are they basing this on? Surely not just the tech echo chamber, right?
1) thus far this order fulfillment is the most pronounced example given in this thread. I don't own one, so I'm not privy to the countless other value-adds. What would be another compelling example (the original question was what value-add Echo offered over Siri/Google devices)?
Why not try doing a modicum research. You don't like the many examples given and you've assumed "that's it." It's like being asked "give me examples of what an encyclopedia offers" and then not liking the specific data you're given. I will NOT list every fucking feature and 3rd-party Skill that is offered. You don't have to like Amazon, Echo or Alexa, but try to be a little open minded before you pooh-pooh an entire device and it's entire ecosystem because "it doesn't do the one thing you came in knowing it couldn't possibly do.
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It's not inevitable that corporations have always-on mics in our living rooms that record or utilize private conversation for advertising or marketing coupons and that this will become mainstream. Not at all.