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.

Also It’s not listening all the time

Of course it is @cakesandphotos - how does it know if you're saying Alexa if it's not listening out for it?

Well you see it's listening but it's only listening for the Alexa word so it's listening but not listening isn't it
hahaha

We have google assistant and she’s awesome. Turning lights on and off, harassing DD to get out of bed without me lieaving the comfort of the living room, turning the thermostat up and down, adding stuff to shared calendars, the list is endless. Don’t get me started on when you combine it with IFTTT.

It’s cool if you wouldn’t find it useful, no one is making you get one.

It’s cool if you wouldn’t find it useful, no one is making you get one.

I would find it useful, but not useful enough to willingly get a device that listens to my every word!

Quite a few family members and friends have it so I asked if it was any good. Most said it was a novelty at first but they don't use it anymore so I'm not getting it.

adaline You speak more sense than anyone on here.

How anyone can think this is a good thing is already being controlled. It's like IKEA. It's just a consumerist temple.
I don't own a smart phone as I honestly don't see the point. I don't get what people do on them all day. What do people need all this added shit in their lives for.
I even get fed up with Mumsnet and how it turns me into someone I don't recognise.
It happened with Facebook so I quit. I think I am very sensitive and have a fragile brain and can be corrupted very easily. I feel I see through advertising very easily too.
Sometimes I wish I lived alone in the woods. It's very strange trying to fit in in a world where you just don't understand why.

adaline You speak more sense than anyone on here.

RaininSummer you need compatible light bulbs. We have Hue.

Smart homes are the way of the future. Not saying that's good or bad, just that's the way it is heading.

Very useful for supporting elderly and infirm relatives and for disabled people though.

People aren't bothered adaline. Bad stuff is what happens to other people in other countries. Fingers in ears, la la la. Sheeple.

And don't get me started on the madness of merrily sending your DNA off to some random company for ancestry profiling.

Totally agree, OP.

I have a sealed Alexa in my desk drawer that we got from Amex or Vodafone or some such. No interest.

And don't get me started on the madness of merrily sending your DNA off to some random company for ancestry profiling.

YES. Why?

Smart homes are the way of the future. Not saying that's good or bad, just that's the way it is heading. Why is that? How much electricity do you use powering Alexia etc? Why do able bodied people not want to flick a switch? What will you do if there is a power cut?

Very useful for supporting elderly and infirm relatives and for disabled people though. Agreed.

DD1 spends a lot of time working in China (Yiwo, Shenzhen and Shanghai). They have facial recognition out on the streets and you can get a fine for crossing the road against the lights, even when there's no one around (the cameras are watching and know who you are). She had to download the gov approved version of whats app too, which is linked into the camera system.

I agree with Adaline this is all getting sinister.

DD1 spends a lot of time working in China (Yiwo, Shenzhen and Shanghai). They have facial recognition out on the streets and you can get a fine for crossing the road against the lights, even when there's no one around (the cameras are watching and know who you are). She had to download the gov approved version of whats app too, which is linked into the camera system.

Fuck!

I find Alexa good for playing music, quite - decent quality speaker that takes up very little space. We also use it for reminders and shopping lists as ours is in the kitchen. For the £80 we paid it's been worthwhile.

Smart Homes are the way of the future because so many people have been brainwashed into thinking they're a good idea - smart metres, lights you can turn off from bed, kettles you can boil via the Internet - it's easy to look at those things and just think they're useful - but it's all part of a bigger picture.

Alexa listens to your every word so it can hear when you say "Alexa" - the whole thing wouldn't work otherwise. It only lights up blue when it is required to respond to what you're saying. The same as those devices in homes in China and North Korea. Except Alexa comes from Amazon and not 10 Downing Street. For now.

I don't get what people do on them all day

Work? It’s basically a smaller desktop, far preferable for my job!

Why do able bodied people not want to flick a switch? What will you do if there is a power cut?

Well I’m presuming exactly what people who don’t have them do. Use a torch or a candle

Maybe I'm turning into a tinfoil hatter but I hate the idea of these listening devices in my home. And don't start me on people merrily sending their DNA samples off to these ancestry sites...

And don't start me on people merrily sending their DNA samples off to these ancestry sites...

Yep. It's like "hello, profile me!"

And don't get me started on the madness of merrily sending your DNA off to some random company for ancestry profiling.

I hadn't seen this comment before posting mine!

If you rely upon Alexa to do tune a radio, to create a shopping list then you can't function in a power cut.

I can tune in my non smart solar power radio and use my paper to do list to get on with life during a power cut.

I was very proud my myself during a recent power cut that. I had my bountiful supply of candles to draw on. I did think to myself (in a rather sexist way) 'I bet most men wouldn't have a ready supply of candles'.

If you rely upon Alexa to do tune a radio, to create a shopping list then you can't function in a power cut

Yes I’m loving the idea that somehow because I say “add cucumber to the shopping list” I will somehow lose all writing ability

I like ours, it's not used to its full potential but we use it for music and radio. I think it would be very useful for those with poor eyesight or mobility issues.