To ask about the Alexa Dot?

[fortunatelynot]

I use my Ipad and laptop a lot. I like to think I am fairly ok with techie stuff BUT I don't own an Alexa (and haven't particularly felt that I needed to!).

However, I think my partner (who is a techno phobe) might find one useful. He doesn't have his own Ipad etc and is always asking me to look things up and find out different things. I am therefore thinking that an Alexa would be nice for him to talk to!!

Stupid questions coming up - I know that Wi-Fi is (obviously) needed but does an Alexa have to be set up to your other devices such as your IPad and mobile? I realise that more can be accessed this way, but, I'm thinking dp would use Alexa for more basic things such as checking the weather, finding out the news etc.

Basically, can anybody give me an idiot's guide to Alexa before I get dp one and find out it is no good for him!

Thank you

You have to download the alexa app but once it's set up you don't really need to do anything on the app.
We bought one a few months ago, mainly to listen to the radio and music. You need it linked to a Spotify or other music account to play specific songs.

Here's a guide showing what it can do as long as you have the app installed on at least one device in your household - www.amazon.co.uk/b?node=12728352031

The brilliance of Alexa is you do just talk to her. So no technical knowledge required. Your DP could easily get news updates, weather forecast, set timers or reminders, listen to music or the radio just by asking.

It sounds like you do have some technical knowledge so you can do the setting up etc but after that your DP can just get on using it and not bothering you.

Thank you, yes TheListeners, it sounds perfect!!

This is exactly the reason we got Alexa, I got fed up of DP asking me what the weather was going to be like today and could I remind him to do such and such. It's been a game changer

I have one in the kitchen and bedroom, I set up on my phone but don’t use the dot from that. It’s great for timing stuff, listening to radio and will play types of music (without signing up to Spotify or Amazon music). Saturday evenings are “easy jazz” now whilst we play cards round kitchen table- one nice thing to come out of these restricted times.

I'd be lost without Alexa! Just download the app to your phone or your tablet which then hooks her up to your wifi and away you go! I use mine to set cooking timers, listen to the weather forecast, control my lights, wake me up in the morning, she tells me when my Amazon parcel is going to be delivered, local news and tells me jokes! I have three of them, different models, in my tiny house.

We had several Echoes and in the end I politely and regularly asked my DW if we could get rid, fortunately she was more adamant after a while than I was and they quickly disappeared.

The challenge here (if there is any for you or any other posters who have universally praised it) is data and privacy.

The Echo means Amazon is this extra gateway that all online interaction has to pass through, collecting data every single time you do something. Alexa knows what you are listening to, searching for, even what you send in your messages.

That's fine if you're comfortable with that, the kind of "I do nothing wrong so I have nothing to hide? 🤷🏽‍♂️" mentality.

However for me that's just another way of saying "thinking about this inconveniences me, just get me to the product so I can have an easier life."

I couldn't have a device that makes thousands of recordings of me, my DCs, my wife, stacking up over time and building a powerful data profile of our lives, handed over for free - no, actually, I pay them - so they can have this huge repository of info on me.

That's not a fair trade off for me being able to quickly ask what the weather is today.

@violetbunny

This is exactly the reason we got Alexa, I got fed up of DP asking me what the weather was going to be like today and could I remind him to do such and such. It's been a game changer

I'm fascinated how it's a "game changer" to go out and buy a £50 device to ask the weather, when one could go to a smartphone or desktop computer (what my dad does) and click on a weather app, and it takes marginally more time.

We're all seemingly happy to hand over huge amounts of privacy to be able to do something slightly faster and hands free compared to the powerful things we already have.

@JuniperFather this is what has stopped me purchasing. I like the idea, but it's just a bit too close to a spy in your house! Read many stories of conversations being recorded. I understand they can be very useful for some, but too much of an invasion of privacy for me.

Sinister spying equipment.

I like my Dots for all the reasons mentioned. It's very useful at those times when my hands are dirty and I want to set a timer or turn on music or radio without stopping what I'm doing. I also love that I can change volume on music, radio, podcasts, etc. just by speaking up.

As for the privacy concerns, I have considered that, but honestly, I think that ship has sailed for most people who have smartphones and use credit cards, search engines, and so on. At the moment, the benefits outweigh the risks for me.

We have bought in to the Alexa concept. Amazon will know lots about us, but so do google and Apple. I can live with it.

We use Alexa most for:
Weather
Kitchen timer
Shopping list
Spotify speaker
Smart home stuff - lights etc
Video calls with the grandparents (obvs on the ones with screens)
Answering stupid questions
Jokes
Maths games for DD

DH bought me a dot. I left it in the box for a week because I wasn’t interested. He set it up on his iPad & now......

Alexa add pasta and fairy liquid to shopping list
Alexa set timer for 25 minutes
Alexa what’s the weather like in X tomorrow
Alexa how old is.......
Alexa set a reminder for 21st August at 3pm to order contact lenses
Alexa is ..... still alive?
Alexa I love you (she sings)
Alexa play radio 2
Alexa play songs by .......
Alexa announce to bedroom dinner is on the table (teen bought his own as he loved my one and they are linked)
Alexa tell me a joke

I LOVE Alexa. I sometimes go to ask her things when I’m in work and realise she isn’t there!

He doesn't have his own Ipad etc and is always asking me to look things up and find out different things. I am therefore thinking that an Alexa would be nice for him to talk to!!

My DH asks me to ask Alexa stuff. When he's in the same room as Alexa.

Thanks to previous poster I’ve just told mine I love her and had the very cheerful song played :)

@JuniperFather

I'm fascinated how it's a "game changer" to go out and buy a £50 device to ask the weather, when one could go to a smartphone or desktop computer (what my dad does) and click on a weather app, and it takes marginally more time.

Well apart from the fact that the Alexa is considerably cheaper than the alternatives they are also keeping track of everything you do on them.

If Amazon wants to know that I need a timer set for 10 minutes or that I want to know what the weather will be like tomorrow I’m just not bothered. They already know everything I’ve bought from them for the last 15 years, the music I listen to on their app and the films and TV I own/stream on their apps!

We are an Alexa house. We have an Echo and a couple of Dots upstairs. We also have it linked to our central heating thermostat and lights in the kids room.

We use it for loads of things and find it much better now you can link it to Apple Music and have it set as the default music library. I don’t find Amazon Music as comprehensive as Apple for the stuff I like.

Re the privacy concerns. I’ve set mine up to purge the recordings on a cycle and it’s a 10 second job to delete them - you just tell Alexa to do it

Thanks everyone.

That is really helpful. I think he will love it as he is always asking various things to look up plus he can ask it to play music.

I use mine as an alarm clock and kitchen timer as well as for music. It's really handy. I also check with her before feeding my dog new things.

I recently got plugs which are handy - I have problems with pain so not bending to turn off lamps is great. Uou can also use them for remote timers when youre away and pick a different time each night it you want.

Timers, routines (turns lights on and off when I'm away), music, weather, news, reading books.... and the list goes on of what I use them for. (I say them because we now have three echoes and three dots in the house.
Dc also has an Alexa controlled light bulb in their room.
Can you tell I like them?

I have three dots and one show 5, I have only ever bought them in the sale never paying more than £29.99 for a dot. The sales are very regular.
Kitchen dot I use timers ( I like that you can multiple timers at one time), play radio, play audio book, play other music on amazon music, check new headlines.
Living room dot, controls all the side lights as I don't like central light in the evenings, music, audio book.
Bedroom show5, alarm, play radio and audio book, watch news headlines ( I like to watch the bbc news headlines before I go to bed) and controls small lights.
Office dot listen to music and audiobook.
What I really love is that I have them linked in groups so when I am alone in the house doing jobs my audio book is playing everywhere so I can go about the house listening to it.
I have chronic health conditions and teaching behind furniture etc to switch lights on is painful Alexa saves me this pain at least four times a day, sometimes pressing buttons is also painful again this is saved.

I use mine as a radio & sound system more than anything else- oh, and the weather! DP got me mine as gifts. We turn them off if we're having an important conversation.

I like hearing her sing if I tell her I love her! She also sings us happy birthday, and she keeps me sane during daily physio/rehab exercises - playing trivia hero makes it all go faster. We also like making her talk like Pikachu!

My DH is a complete and utter technophobe. I got Echo dots so that he could:
Use the Sonos system with Spotify (I do not recommend the speaker on a Dot at all for actual music. An Echo is better.)
Change the thermostat settings on the Nest heating system
Change the colour/temperature of the Hue lights in the sitting room & kitchen

This was the simplest and cheapest way to enable him to operate these house elements. I had tried other controllers and he was unable to remember how to use any of them. My DH is a world leader in his own field but cannot make technology work for him at all!

He utterly loves Alexa and natters away with it about all sorts of things. This is the one interface that ANYONE (who can speak) can use.