Alexa - What do you use it for?

[Capt Lightning]

I was given one of these devices some years ago and it sat in it's box unopened until just before Christmas when I donated it along with some other bits & pieces to a charity shop. That's how much I used it!

 

[Lewkat]

Having items such as Alexa in my house gives me the creeps.

 

[Pappy]

I use ours to check the weather quite a lot. I also use it to announce anything setting off my Ring cameras. It is also connected to my Amazon account and I can order through it or it will announce when I receive an order. Very useful in my household.

 

[dilettante]

If I wake up in the night I can ask what time it is. Saves fumbling around for my glasses and clearing my bleary eyes to read the clock.

If only it could report what I had been dreaming about!

 

[Colleen]

I don't have Alexa or any other AI devices. I'm perfectly capable of turning on the radio if I want music or setting the alarm clock or turning on/off my lights. If I want to know what the weather is, I look outside haha. The only thing that's programmed in my house is the garage door opener. It's on my phone and has been useful. Other than that, I don't see a need to have anything like Alexa.

As a matter of fact....I just went "old school" and had a landline connected to my WIFI. I don't carry my cell phone around with me all day and never take it upstairs with me at night, so my Step-daughter was here the other day and suggested a landline. I have one cordless phone upstairs and one downstairs.

 

[vintageMo]

I just got an Echo Pop as a gift but I'm not sure if I want it or not. I don't like the idea of something always listening to myself or my company's conversations. Can you tell it to mind it's own business?

 

[dilettante]

I just got an Echo Pop as a gift but I'm not sure if I want it or not. I don't like the idea of something always listening to myself or my company's conversations. Can you tell it to mind it's own business?

It should have a Ø button to mute its microphones.

 

[birdy]

I just got an Echo Pop as a gift but I'm not sure if I want it or not. I don't like the idea of something always listening to myself or my company's conversations. Can you tell it to mind it's own business?

You have to turn it off. It's nosy.

 

[Ken N Tx]

 

[CallMeKate]

Having items such as Alexa in my house gives me the creeps.

Oh, me too! I could tell a story, but I think I already told it here some time ago. Well okay, let me abbreviate it... friend of mine had one. He was alone in the house and in the middle of the night he heard Alexa say "I'm sorry I can't do that."

 

[horseless carriage]

Having items such as Alexa in my house gives me the creeps.

"Amazon executives want you to think that Amazon Echo, (Alexa,)are there to help you out at the sound of your voice. In fact, they’re all about snooping on you and your family in your home and gathering as much information on your activities as possible,” so says Mr. John M. Simpson, of the Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy and Technology Project Director, in a news release.

He goes on: “You might find them useful sometimes, but think about what you’re revealing about yourself and your family, and how that information might be used in the future."
The patents reveal the devices’ possible use as surveillance equipment for massive information collection and intrusive digital advertising.

Why do they want your personal information? To add to the profile that your credit/debit card spend has already given them. To that you can add text messages and email.

George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 is a work of fiction, but much that is depicted in it reflects the realities of today, not a pleasant outlook at all.