To not see the point of Alexa?

[abacucat]

Unless you are disabled, switching lights on or off is no big deal. And everything else is simply what you can do on a laptop or tablet. I don't see why you would spend money buying another gadget that doesn't do anything new.

I'd rather have Alexa than a husband, far more useful.

And no adeline, I cant just switch on the radio as I don't own a DAB radio and Planet Rock doesn't broadcast on FM in these parts.

There are other radio stations out there! I don't have a digital radio either and still manage to get the news I want without the inane chatter. The choices aren't "Get a Dot or listen through your laptop".

How do you know someone can’t just switch it back on? People have reportedly hacked into people’s cameras on laptops and switches them on.

That's why you cover the camera on your laptop with a sticker if you're not using it. Even Mark Zuckerberg does it.

I mean, theoretically people could switch it back on, but that's why you check. The same as you should check all your privacy settings every single time your phone has an update of any kind, because it can reset your settings to default when it updates things.

They however need people to want them because the more people who own them the more access the government potentially have to your data in the future. Access to your every word, access to your every action. It’s not happening yet but it will.

YY I agree with this. At the moment they're just fun gadgets, they hook you in by showing you nice adverts of families benefitting from Alexa, from Alexa playing fun kids music and reading bedtime stories, or using the shopping list function to help busy, working parents. But they're still listening to you all the time and using that information for something. At the moment it might just be to persuade you to sign up for some kids shows on Prime, but in the future, who knows?

People's homes will be wired up so that they need Alexa to turn on their lights, kettle or TV and then what happens when they're hacked, or the government takes over and can hear/control everything you do in your own home?

It already happens in China - it's not so far-fetched to think it might happen here too. The government has control over the internet and picks up key words which could signal that someone is planning to rebel or protest. Alexa could take that kind of thing even further and control your conversations too.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-41523073

@BarbaraofSevillle

Mner: "Alexa, I'm bleeding profusely from my femoral artery, call an ambulance!"
Alexa: "People like you are the reason the NHS is in crisis! Take some paracetamol and call your GP in the morning."

Too much technology! I hate the idea of Alexa too.

I just find the whole thing baffling. I can't imagine anyone reading 1984 for the first time actually desiring a device with the capability of a telescreen being imposed on them, yet here we are with people actually and enthusiastically paying for the privilege of being spied on. Combine this with the snowflake tendency to vilify you for having non-woke thoughts or opinions and it all sounds pretty familiar.

Currently Amazon/Apple/Google are all determined that government won't have access to that data but you can bet they will eventually.

I'm happy not to be part of the sheeple senseless sheep people following the flock just "because" epidemic but sadly I don't think it will protect me from their stupidity in the long run. Long reign Oceania just in case!

I was at a friends house recently when he was preparing a buffet for a large number of people and then the next day a full on breakfast. He used Alexa to set up a timer for everything and with reminders for when to start cooking individual items so that everything was ready together on time.

It was pretty efficient and was the first time I thought about getting one.

Adeline there are other stations out there, but none I want to listen to. Surely if the dot enables me to listen to the station I like then it's succeeded in its job.

It works for me where a standard radio wouldn't and I'm more than happy with that.

People were terrified of trains, telephones, televisions in the past. New technology brings out paranoia. Personally I choose to embrace tech, you don't and thats fine.
I'm fairly sure the Government has better things to listen to than DH and I discussing who's put what up the loft and what did you fancy for tea tomorrow night.

I have a fear thing of robots so the thought of having one in my house freaks me out a bit.

I'll switch my own lights / tv / music on and off thanks.

And I fully get that this will probably return to haunt me in 20 years when I have a telepathically controlled fridge which microwaves dinner for me when it hears my rumbling tummy

He used Alexa to set up a timer for everything and with reminders for when to start cooking individual items so that everything was ready together on time.

You can do that on your phone. You don't need Alexa to do that for you!

We have google home in most rooms and a smart home generally. I love it, so convenient. Yes, I can turn the lights off manually, but in winter when I'm carrying cups of tea up to bed it's really nice to be able to stay in bed and turn the kitchen or hall light off, rather than traipsing downstairs. We also set it up so that lights turn on at certain times, giving the illusion that we are home and we can turn them on and off when out and about. Same with the heating. We only heat the rooms we use, so I can have DSs room at 10 degrees all day and heat it up for the half hour before bed time without also heating our room, which won't be used for a few more hours or the spare room which won't be used at all that day.

It has saved us a fair bit of money.

I agree, seems pointless to me.

I don't see why you would spend money buying another gadget that doesn't do anything new

Really...you don't see why people would buy a gadget they want...?

Thw faux naivete is tiresome.

Personally I choose to embrace tech, you don't and thats fine. I'm fairly sure the Government has better things to listen to than DH and I discussing who's put what up the loft and what did you fancy for tea tomorrow night.

My house has plenty of tech, just not tech that can listen to everything I'm saying at any given time!

Have you read 1984? Do you know that there are already countries out there who's internet is controlled by the government? That the government in places like China already use what you write online against you? With Alexa, could very easily extend to conversations you have in your own home.

You might think your conversations are incredibly mundane but Alexa's recordings have already been used in America as evidence in a crime. I don't want my conversations recorded, thank you. Like you I don't think we talk about anything interesting but I still don't potentially want the government to hear my private conversations. People moan at home about the government, their local MP, how shit the Prime Minister is - I want to be able to do that without repercussions.

Countries like China (and more extremely, North Korea) already control what you can/can't say about the government. It's already happening. It's just not happening here yet.

DH also uses it to find out if his train is running on time, whilst simultaneously doing his hair and to listen to music or radio 4 in the shower, and then transfer it to our bedroom. Yes he could carry a portable radio through the rooms, but google home is just easier.

I also like that when I take DS to bed, I can say "ok google, it's bedtime" and it dims the lights, turns off the heating in his room and says good night to him, or enjoy the story or another one of the pre-programmed phrases we added in. I then say night night google and it turns off the main light and puts on the night light.

Alexa's job is to soften you up for this scenario

The children are much happier to engage in homework if they are doing their spellings with Alexa and can ask Alexa something rather than all the hassle which goes with getting the laptop set up for them. They enjoy it!

Genius. Definitely going to look into getting one now.

Fuck no. I've read 1984. Starting to think Orwell was either a prophet or a time traveller with all the fake news and thoughtcrime suddenly a thing in our society.

I imagine they will become as ubiquitous as phones and the Internet though and enmesh us all even further.

Alexa's job is to soften you up for this scenario

If you are being serious this is really funny, I suspect your not though.

Do you feel the same about facial recognition to unlock phones, or maybe all those photos you take were the camera can spot faces, as some enlightened folks on here like to peddle that your phone is constantly recording you so that it can send you a targeted add, it may as well send up all your photos as well.

Well what are we going to do when all the libraries have closed for good and the only books we have access to are rewritten or doctored ebooks?
When TVs spy on us and broadcast dumbed down reality tv shows and propaganda?
Schools teach in such a way that stifles creativity and critical thinking?
I think we re already part way there...

Alexa and I don't get on..

I was at my friends house, prepping for a party. My friend was in raptures over Alexa ("I love her" ) anyway, friend put some music on and then had to nip out to buy supplies, leaving me with the sodding robot the decorating to do. Tried commanding her to turn the volume down, she turned it up! It got progressively louder as I pleaded with her to turn it down, until I couldn't take it anymore and left the room shutting the door behind me. Friend comes back and even she can't figure out how to adjust the volume. So we have at this point, Taylor Swift blaring out at 7,543,129 decibels and then I get the blame for messing it up.

If you are being serious this is really funny, I suspect your not though.

Why is it funny? It's already happening! The Chinese government is already using facial recognition on its CCTV. It's not a myth or a scene from a sci-fi film, it's real life.

Facial recognition on a personal computer or phone is different, primarily because you're giving the phone permission to use it and can disable it whenever you want.

There are already places that control your movement via CCTV. Read up on China's Xinjiang province. It's already using that technology to send people to "re-education camps". It's controlling the wifi and what people speak about in their private homes.

If you lived in China or North Korea, would you buy Alexa?

The Chinese government is already using facial recognition on its CCTV. as is the UK, and has been for a while. Anti terrorist measures innit.

as is the UK, and has been for a while. Anti terrorist measures innit.

Yep. Thankfully not to the same extent as China (yet!).

But it's that mindset that so many people have of "You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide" that scares me. Lots of people in other countries aren't doing anything wrong either, they're just not following the government line 100%.

I have just bought 4 echo dots (good Black Friday prices). 2 for upstairs and 2 for downstairs. I have dithered over Alexa for months but I don't have a lot of workspace in my kitchen and thought the echo dot would provide me with music etc and wouldn't take up a lot of space. Also, my sister loves her echo dots and tells me you can talk through them to the children upstairs which would be useful instead of me shouting continually and asking them to come downstairs for their tea.

I am now reading some of these posts and wondering if I have made a mistake. Shall I send them back?

China's Social Credit System: An Evolving Practice of Control
Posted: 22 May 2018
Rogier Creemers
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3175792