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Original poster

Are other people starting to hate Alexa too?

86 replies

Givemestrengthorvodka · 03/04/2023 19:28

Is the tide turning on amazon Alexa? I just hate it, I hate having to speak everytime I just want to play a song or turn the radio on. Today she hasn't been able to play the Titanic soundtrack or Greatest Hits radio...its just annoying. 1st world problems I know but think I'm going back old school and getting my cd player back out

OP posts:
Spendonsend · 04/04/2023 08:13

PlainSkyr · 04/04/2023 06:52

Those of you that love it, aren't you worried about the fact that every word you speak in your house - to Alexa or to each other - is being listened to and probably recorded on a database somewhere?

Surely you'd know that in order to follow your commands the device listens to EVERYTHING and you can't say for sure who is listening to that data and whether/how it is stored?

It does give me passing concern if I am honest.

ladymaiasura · 04/04/2023 08:16

sanityisamyth · 03/04/2023 19:46

I love all of mine. Although she's struggling to play the Harry Potter quiz now for some reason?

My daughter was getting very annoyed that the Harry Potter quiz wasn’t working yesterday!

I like mine for audiobooks, music, timers etc. Couldn’t care less about her listening. As a pp said, phones do that anyway and we are surrounded by them all the time. Can’t imagine why someone would be motivated to trawl through the masses of data available to find my conversations. I’m not really that interesting…

Littlethingsmeanalot · 04/04/2023 08:28

PlainSkyr · 04/04/2023 06:52

Those of you that love it, aren't you worried about the fact that every word you speak in your house - to Alexa or to each other - is being listened to and probably recorded on a database somewhere?

Surely you'd know that in order to follow your commands the device listens to EVERYTHING and you can't say for sure who is listening to that data and whether/how it is stored?

Can you imagine the storage and manpower required for that. 😂

honesrly I’m no master criminal, if they want to hear me chatting inane shit then quite frankly they can. I feel sorry for the poor sod who’s listening. Not sure what yoire getting up to that that would be a problem, even though I’m sure logically you know it would be impossible and a mammoth task to undertake

we like ours, however I have a Spotify premium account so play my music from that, I also have Alexa enabled Bose speakers.

generally I use Alexa to control my heating, play songs or put the radio on, or to tell me the date, weather forecast, outside temp etc

for us she’s a handy tool. However at a friends recently rhey were trying to play music from Amazon music and don’t pay an additional subscription, and everything was Alexa saying they needed to pay more. I found it a bit odd as they are very comfortable and could easily throw a few quid at a music streaming service, they listen to music a lot, it would drive me nuts. Each to their own.

Porkandbeans1 · 04/04/2023 08:34

DH set ours up. He has a strong accent, she listens perfectly to him. I have a slight accent but I'm definitely easier to understand and she ignores me.

As for the listening and storing conversations issue, I can't say it bothers me. I talk about the most mundane stuff.

zen1 · 04/04/2023 08:37

DH won an echo dot in a raffle several years ago. It’s still in its box in a cupboard. I’ve never wanted my life linked to Amazon.

ExtremelyDetermined · 04/04/2023 08:37

We use internet radio / podcasts / spotify etc with our phones and earbuds or a bluetooth speaker. Walk to another room to speak to each other, add things to shopping lists on phones manually, it's no bother at all. We really hated ours.

bigbluebus · 04/04/2023 08:44

My MIL (in her 90's and severely visually impaired) loves hers. She uses it for weather forecasts, podcasts and just about anything she wants to 'google' as it's so much quicker than logging on her desktop computer. She doesn't have/couldn't manage a smart phone so it's brilliant for her. We originally bought one when she came to visit so she could easily turn the bedroom lights on and off in the night and listen to the radio. She loved it so much she bought one for herself and BIL set it up for her.

kittenkipping · 04/04/2023 08:53

I love ours. The whole house depends upon them though so when there's a power cut it's a nightmare as it takes about 20 minutes for everything to connect up again.
But she does music, audiobooks, podcasts, timers and reminders, announcements (made my screeching across the house family a lot more civilised) weather forecasts, turns lights on and off, turns the kettle on before I get out of bed, turns the heat on and off, takes the shopping list down, she has routines set for turning lamps on and off if we are on holiday. She's essential for our house, and used over 50 times everyday.

Listening to us? Carry on. I pity any poor sod who has to listen to my two drone on about Minecraft and dinosaurs tbh .

Riapia · 04/04/2023 08:58

Is there an Alexa rescue centre?
Mine needs rehoming, want her to go to a caring owner.
She’s beyond my control, needs a firmer hand, possibly.

thecatsthecats · 04/04/2023 09:09

Mamette · 03/04/2023 19:45

I find it annoying and I don’t even have one. I hate voice commanding things. What’s so hard about pressing a button 👵🏼

Handy when you have messy/floury hands in the kitchen, but yes, I don't generally like having to say "Alexa skip" every time a song comes up I don't want.

Also all the bloody backchat these days.

"Alexa, play xyz"
"OK. If you like, I can follow up with the top ten facts about xyz artist, and play alternative blah blah blah. To hear more"
"Alexa shut fhe fuck up"

We switched off the extra chat feature but it's come back.

They've ruined BBC news too by adding so many extra options to chat in the middle.

Mind you, I'm not over the fact that kindles went touchscreen. Bloody travesty that was. The button version could be used in both hands, AND was lighter.

TrenchVagina · 04/04/2023 09:12

Avarua2 · 04/04/2023 07:40

Mine doesn't understand my regional new Zealand accent 😬

You know you can make her have the same accent? That might help.

Sarvanga38 · 04/04/2023 09:14

I was a late adopter, but I love mine. She isn't used for much beyond radio, music and timers/alarms, but is brilliant for all those.

I swap radio stations a lot depending on time/day, so she's great at whichever I want at that time, and I love being able to play any old music I fancy at that moment.

easterbunnysbum · 04/04/2023 10:01

You need to go that far back? I just type what I want into my phone (I use the amazon music included with Prime) and play that way. Never fancied Alexa, always listening.

User639762456 · 04/04/2023 10:23

I don't use Alexa much, but Apple Siri is similar so I play Apple music through my HomePods but often I just choose from my phone and transfer the music I want through as it's easier than constantly asking. In the car I only use CDs and radio, I never stream music as I prefer a CD there.

User639762456 · 04/04/2023 10:25

Do new cars have CD players as I don't think I could buy a car that didn't have one

MeinKraft · 04/04/2023 10:32

I like to play white noise for my toddler but sometimes forget until she's nearly asleep and the app doesn't always work properly. She always chooses that moment to start offering free trials of things.

Me (whispering) Alexa, play rainforest sounds
Alexa: you have asked me to play RAINFOREST SOUNDS. Would you like a free trial of AMBIENT NIGHT SLEEP SOUNDS. It has a higher sound quality and repeats all night.
Me: Alexa, no
Alexa: ok. If you change your mind just say Alexa give me a free trial of AMBIENT NIGHT SLEEP SOUNDS or find me on the Alexa app
Me: Alexa, no, shhh
Alexa: I can hear you are WHISPERING. Would you like to turn on WHISPER MODE
Me: no.
Alexa: ok. If you change your mind just say Alexa use WHISPER MODE or find it on the Alexa app. Now, here's AMBIENT NIGHT RAINFOREST SOUNDS

WeeOrcadian · 04/04/2023 10:49

We have Google homes, they're like a third arm for me. Between stories / music from Spotify, timers, broadcasting, news, radio..... Her skills are endless. She's a permanent fixture for us.

ForestRun · 04/04/2023 11:13

I have the echo dots and an echo show in the front room. It let's me video call it to check in on my dog whilst um out of the house. It also alerts me to any loud noises etc.

RaraRachael · 04/04/2023 12:47

Avarua2 · 04/04/2023 07:40

Mine doesn't understand my regional new Zealand accent 😬

My friend had the same with his unusual Scottish accent. He wanted it to play Radio 4 and just about had steam coming out of his ears when his wife suggested saying "Radio fawh" and it worked 🙄

Towmatertomato · 04/04/2023 12:51

I got rid of them after a couple of months when I found out how much background sounds they record and store. This was after I set it all up to delete all data. I now stream my music on Spotify through my TV and have a stereo alarm that charges my phone and connects to it via Bluetooth so streams music via that.

Towmatertomato · 04/04/2023 12:53

User639762456 · 04/04/2023 10:25

Do new cars have CD players as I don't think I could buy a car that didn't have one

No. It's all hook your phone up to the Bluetooth and stream these days

JulieHoney · 04/04/2023 12:58

I hated her when she first arrived, but that was probably the kids endlessly shouting over one another to play Taylor Swift! No, The Weekend! No, Taylor Swift! No, Drake! No, TAYLOR SWIFT...

Now about 8 years on, she's my pal who sets timers and reminders, reminds me the date, plays The Archers, converts imperial to metric when I'm up to my elbvows in dough and can't remember the conversion rates, announces dinner to the kids' bedrooms and is generally useful.

Tarkan · 04/04/2023 13:05

I love ours but definitely don't use them to the best of their abilities.

Our living room one caused huge hilarity the other day when DH asked me something and I replied "uh-huh" and the next thing I know the Alexa says "shuffling songs by A-Ha". We hadn't even said anything to make it turn on.

Lorrymum · 04/04/2023 13:10

Towmatertomato · 04/04/2023 12:53

No. It's all hook your phone up to the Bluetooth and stream these days

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Yikes, I don't have a mobile phone. We will just have to sing loudly when in the car!

skilpadde · 04/04/2023 13:17

Yes, Alexa (and Siri and so on) struggle so much with my Scottish accent that I now use NFC tags for automated processes at home.

Once set, up, you just scan them with your phone and they'll perform multiple steps like turning lights and sockets on/off, adjusting volume, starting the robovac, sending text messages and so on.

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