Oh no ... BiL has bought DH an Alexa ....

[MrsExpo]

.... and now I am being ignored because I’m less than thrilled and just don’t “get” why we need this thing in our house. Either justify my reaction, or convince me I’ll love it (preferably with reasons .... because right now I’m appalled ...... ) Either way, AIBU?

We'd never have one for the privacy issue alone.

However, there was one like Zen (Blake's 7), I might be interested...

I would never have one but I’m curious about the shopping list thing , I assume when you are ready you ask it to give you the list and then you write it all down in which case where’s the saving ? Or can it link to a printer and print it off ?

“ Surely if one partner brings something into a two person household, that the other doesn't like or has objections to for some reason, then the the objecting partner has a right to express their reservations and reach some sort of compromise on the issue. ”

Agree OP. And this is fundamental. It is listening to you. Silicon Valley bigwigs have said, if you’ve got one in the house, you should tell guests.

@comingintomyown No there's an Alexa app. So I verbally add stuff throughout the month and then when I go to the shops I just pull it up.

@comingintomyown - the Alexa list is available on all Alexa enabled devices, so I look at it on my phone when I'm in the shop.

I got mine last Black Friday and don’t feel I use it in as wide a way as I could/should.

I mainly use as a speaker but also find very handy to set reminders (I seem to have my best ideas when hands full/dirty/wet)

But I’ve tried setting reminders for “4.30pm” rather than “in one hour” and it tells me it can’t as I haven’t a calendar set up? Anyone know how I do this? When I google it says instructions on SYNCING phone calendar to Alexa, which is not what I want to do I want a separate calendar on it —as there’s too much crap on phone calendar—

On podcasts - how do you make sure they’re free ones? And do they use up data storage space on Alexa/tablet if I use them? It’s a fire tablet which is generally fine but they’re woeful for data storage.

Ditto audiobooks

What are “routines”?

I use mine as per other posters on here. The best thing is setting the timer to go off when I want DS1 to get ready for school (pre-cv) because he argues with me but without fail will get dressed when Alexa goes off without argument.

If you don't like it you can 'accidentally' drop or spill on it. Even better if you have a pet to knock it over.

Mine does my shopping for me! Connected to my Tesco basket via the IFTTT app. Now Alexa can put things in my shopping basket, I just call them out to the Alexa in my kitchen as I'm using things I wouldn't buy weekly (ketchup, bin bags, sugar etc.) that are running low.

@SuckingDieselFella just such a waste though. There’s probably a family local to the OP who would love it for their kids to have for music etc

Thank you, I can see that would be useful

I'm fed up that my smartphone listens in- and no I don't believe the denials that it's just coincidence- too many coincidences!!!
So that's why I won't get an Alexa.

We have 5 with only 4 people living in the house 🙄 one on all the bedrooms and one In what we call the summerhouse, they get used daily, from the children’s homework to musics to asking random shit like cooking recipes and general mundane knowledge.

@pawpatrolmightypup I didn't know it could add to my Tesco basket! Just tried it now and it works, brilliant! Thanks for the tip.

I will never ever have one in the house and all smart assistants are turned off phones

time.com/5568815/amazon-workers-listen-to-alexa/

Things I love about my Alexa.
I can listen to whatever song I want to listen to while my hands are immersed in soapy water/carrying stuff from room to room/cooking.
I can ask her to do sums.
I regularly tell my DC to 'Ask the Echo' if they need help with a spelling or a sum.
I can set timers for cooking, get her to remind me of things I need to do, notify me when I have an amazon delivery on the way, read my kindle to me, answer my general knowledge questions.
All without touching a button. That is the beauty of Alexa.

@rockbird if you've checked your order out and add things to the basket (in advance of the cut off time) Alexa / ifttt bot will check it out for you so you don't even have to remember to check out again. Make sure you check the bot/integration every so often as it does have a tendency to drop out a bit!

I will never put one if those spy bots in my home! Never!

If you are unconcerned about your life being recorded then crack on. It interests me that people got all aereated about the Stasi et al doing this then literally pay for some tech company with murky motives to do exactly the same.

We've got 6 we use them -
-as an intercom (to stop shouting up and down the stairs)
-for music
-timers
-alarms
-reminders
-shopping lists
-asking random question instead of googling.

I'm so used to using her I often try and talk to her and ask her stuff when I'm driving, forgetting she's not in the car !

Forgot I use them to turn bedroom/bathroom lights on and off from in bed.

Optical “It interests me that people got all aereated about the Stasi”

Lockdown has made it clear that only a small number of us are worried about this. Edward Snowden must be wondering why he bothered.

I listen to the radio - it has good quality sound.
Morning alarm occasionally, kitchen timer occasionally, and Spotify player.
I ask it for the weather so I can dress appropriately. Mine sucks at specific questions like humidity though.
That's about it.

Of course it's not "just a speaker "!

Exactly optical if the Stasi had added some fun features people ,might have geen happy to pay to be spied on.