Siri/Echo/Alexa and Google Home

Atlantis

Well Known GateFan
So I just came across this yesterday by watching a show on TV and they were showing the new amazon echo and it's kinda creepy that it reminds me of Haal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I for one think its a bit stupid but they have something similar on Star Trek with the computer. It hasn't taken off here yet but do you guys think this will be a flop like google glasses?



 

heisenberg

Earl Grey
So I just came across this yesterday by watching a show on TV and they were showing the new amazon echo and it's kinda creepy that it reminds me of Haal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I for one think its a bit stupid but they have something similar on Star Trek with the computer. It hasn't taken off here yet but do you guys think this will be a flop like google glasses?



lol I just posted this on the chat window. :p.
 

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
This won't be a flop. It is the future. Right now these things are still in their infancy but they will advance quickly over the coming years. I played around with a UE MEGABLAST which has Alexa integration. It's just fun talking to a speaker trying new things with it. Still very limited for now, but you can ask Alexa to sing happy birthday which is kinda fun and you can ask it to rap for you and it'll do a rap about itself being the baddest AI in the cloud and such. I tried asking it to sing 99 bottles of beer but it didn't know that one unfortunately. You can also ask it to tell you a joke, but the jokes are a bit lame. I haven't had any experience with Siri or Google Assistant. I was hoping to have a Google Pixel 2 by now but the fucker O2 asswipes rejected my application for the phone contract for whatever undisclosed reason.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
So I just came across this yesterday by watching a show on TV and they were showing the new amazon echo and it's kinda creepy that it reminds me of Haal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I for one think its a bit stupid but they have something similar on Star Trek with the computer. It hasn't taken off here yet but do you guys think this will be a flop like google glasses?




No! I have an Echo Dot (the mini version of the Echo with all of it's Alexa functions) I have had it for more than 8 months, and have enabled skills on it to add calendar entries to my Google Calendar, set my home and work addresses (to give me a travel estimate), maintain a shopping list, etc. You can set timers or alarms or reminders by voice easily, and with most smart modules you can control outlets and switches and some whole devices.

I made a thread on these devices. I think that the Google Home mini is going to be better for me.
 

Tripler

Well Known GateFan
I can see Alexa or Google working for my daughter as she lives a pretty hectic lifestyle being in the movie industry . Xmass is coming and I could surprise her ...
;)
 
Last edited:

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
That Giorgia Cam AI experiment is pretty awesome. I could do that all day. :)
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
I can see one of these working for my daughter as she lives a pretty hectic lifestyle being in the movie industry . Xmass is coming and I could surprise her ...
;)

The Amazon Echo and Dot have an audio out jack which means you can connect it to your stereo system or more powerful speakers (or PC speakers). The Google Home or Mini has no audio out but the speaker onboard is WAY better. The Google Home has more capability in terms of being an assistant though. I believe either of them will talk to smart devices and smart plug and switches. Both cost the same.

http://www.gatefans.net/gforums/threads/google-home-mini.28618/
 
Last edited:

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/amazon-reveals-alexa-sales-2019-1?r=US&IR=T

100 million unit sold? I call bullshit. There is no way 1/3 of americans have bought this piece of junk.

LMAO, it is actually more than that. And many Americans, such as myself have bought multiple units. I have FOUR Amazon Echo Dots, plus a Fire Tablet and a Fire Stick. We love these assistants here. It isn't just a talking box, it is a controller of smart home devices, a calendar, alarm clock, shopping list builder, task scheduler, and it becomes many more things as Skills are added later. Don't knock it until you have tried it. :)
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Here it is a year in with Alexa, and it has become such an integral part of my lifestyle I cannot imagine not having Alexa and my Echo Dots. I have one in my bathroom, one on my work desk, one in the kitchen and one next to my couch in my "living room". In my normal speaking voice, I ask it what time it is, or what the temperature is, or to be a timer for when to take the clothes out of the washer or food out of the oven. I can also ask questions about days, calendar events (or put events on my calendar). It will also allow making calls or listening to voicemail or reading email but I don't want to use those skills. Alexa is controlling all of my smart devices which now means all of my lights. It controls my heater, my TV, and reminds me to do mundane things like take my vitamins, take out the trash, move my car on street sweeping days, change the litterbox, etc.
 
Last edited:

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Over my dead body that I am allowing HAL9000 in my house. I have seen enough science fiction movies to see the warnings.
Whatever! I love mine. Couldn't do without them now.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Dude seriously, you allow this thing into your house to collect information and remember, information is power, and when they have absolute power over you, he can control you and do what it wants you to do and can reprogram the human brain. Even star trek sees this.Imagine your big brother telling you, well jimmy, it's time for bed what does the father figure or big brother do? Takes the controller away from you first, gives you a warning, then resorts to nastier and nastier things and then eventually he either takes away those privileges or destroys it.Then eventually you either lose it or you keep quiet and don't do anything because your fun time has been taken away from you.


Um, no not by a longshot. I live in the United States. That alone insures that nobody is going to have "absolute control" over me or anyone else in the US. Things are just not like that here. Nothing I am doing is anything I would hide from anyone. I pay my taxes, work a good corporate job, have no criminal record and am a military veteran. I have nothing to be afraid of. I absoluely LOVE having a digital assistant which can remind me of tasks, alert me of deliveries, weather conditions, create my shopping list for me, and do mundane things like turn on lights and appliances by just speaking to them. Where you sit in fear of technology, I celebrate it and use it to help me. Again, all a matter of choice. You choose fear, I do not.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
and you assume that the US empire can go on forever right? Right now they are testing a superstate in smart cities across the globe - running small scale testing and then bang when we go global connected, since you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. You realize how naive and foolish this statement sounds?

I don't assume that the US will go on forever because nothing goes on forever. And, I do not think about it. You said "Right now they are testing a superstate in smart cities across the globe". Who is "they", what is a "superstate", and why should I be concerned with it?

The sun will become a red giant, and will burn up all of the inner planets and evaporate the oceans. One day. Why should anyone living today be worried about that? You CHOOSE to live in a state of constant fear. I refuse to live that way.
 
Top