# Amazon's Echo, in-house "Siri"-like device - love the concept or totally freaked out? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 9, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400 "2016-03-09T13:03:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/21 "2016-03-09T21:35:31Z")
I haven’t had problems with getting it to play music I want. However, I don’t usually go for song names, because then I will get just one song. I will tell her to play a whole album, and I haven’t had her fail on that yet. As to foreign words in general, she is unable to understand Japanese characters in song titles but she’s understood japanese so far. For example, if a song title says 術 I am out of luck. But if it says “jutsu” in roman letters, I can request “jutsu” and have it work despite it not being an English word. But I also wouldn’t expect her to know many foreign words yet as she’s been limited to the USA thus far for a reason: they’re still working on the voice recognition. Also, a trick I learned is when you play an album with a difficult song name, you can tell her to skip tracks until she gets to the song that you wanted but couldn’t get, and then ask her, “Alexa, what song is this?” to see how it’s verbally stored in her data banks. If she zonks out entirely on reading it back to you, you can’t request it verbally. If she tells you, then you know how she expects you to say it. Sometimes it’s a case of too many similar song names. In which case it’s helpful to give her more information such as the artist name or album name as well. “Alexa play Only a Fool Would Say that by Steely Dan” or “Alexa play Only a Fool Would Say That off the album Can’t Buy a Thrill” instead of just the song name alone. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/22 "2016-03-09T22:20:55Z")
A good place to post my favorite voice-recognition glitch story: I asked Siri to play radio station KALW. She played ‘I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo’. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/23 "2016-03-09T22:24:17Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > I also wouldn’t expect her to know many foreign words yet as she’s been limited to the USA thus far for a reason: they’re still working on the voice recognition. But can you give _your own device_ specific new words? Foreign, idiosyncratically-pronounced, or just specialized or obscure–a voice-recognition system isn’t much use to me if I cannot build its understanding of my own voice and vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/24 "2016-03-09T22:53:01Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > The entire concept of interacting with a computer using my voice is misguided. Unless you have a disability or something, it is extremely inefficient, with zero privacy. > > And I’m not talking about privacy from corporations, governments and hackers, here. Though that’s certainly a concern. But could you imagine saying “Echo, search for ‘teenage anal sluts’ please”, or “Echo, find me a doctor that specializes in leaky rectums” out loud, with anyone else in your home? It doesn’t even have to be gross. What if you want to buy your wife flowers as a surprise for her birthday? You don’t ask for that stuff out loud, but how often are you searching for that anyways? And it kind of sounds like, why would you ever talk on the phone rather than text? Could you imagine talking to your wife and letting her know you need to find a doctor who specializes in leaky rectums out loud while in public? Some things work easier with voice control. > [@](#): > > Not to mention, I’ve _never_ had voice recognition work for me. Not on automated phone systems, not Siri, not on Android. They’re just worthless. Does everyone else live in a eerily silent bubble? Wherever I’m at, there’s always music, wind, dishwashers going, kids talking in the background, etc, that makes voice recognition worthless. Very strange. How loud are your dishwashers, or heck, wind? I’ve had Google Now work quite easily, even in public. And the multiple microphone array is one of the big selling points of the Echo - even with relatively loud stuff in the background, the amount of microphones is supposed to be able to pick up you saying “Alexa”. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/25 "2016-03-09T23:07:40Z")
I’m pretty sure Black Mirror had this. Well, except it was controlled by a surgically removed piece of your consciousness that was psychologically tortured into subservience. But still. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/26 "2016-03-09T23:28:22Z")
I feel no fear at all about something like Echo/Alexa. If I used it, I’d make sure to look into the privacy policies and general security or parental control features, but I’m not particularly afraid that it would enable unauthorized listening at all times. I already have a ton of devices that could potentially be misused that way. On the other hand, Echo is solving a need I don’t have. I have never used Siri or Google’s equivalent despite multiple iDevices and an Android phone. I just have zero interest in talking to my computers or having them talk to me. If I want music, I have no problem tapping on a screen to activate it. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/27 "2016-03-10T00:04:25Z")
The Fella won one in a raffle at some nerd convention we went to about 6 months ago. We love it. We’d probably never buy one (last time we looked they’re going for about $180), but for free it is awesome. We use it for a timer or alarm sometimes. We sit and get it to play music for us (I have a prime account, there is a shit ton of music on there). He’s put on some app where you can ask Alexa questions and she responds like a therapist. “Alexa, I think I’m crazy.” “Hmmm, do you know anyone else that feels that way?”. And the shopping list thing is so. damn. handy. As you’re going about your day “Alexa, add toilet paper. Alexa add shampoo. Alexa add vacuum bags. Alexa add hot sauce. Alexa add grapefruit juice.” Then you get to the store and think, “What was it I needed?” Get on your phone and boop boop there’s the stuff you needed. (I said day, but it keeps it until you take it off, so it can be over weeks) Occasionally, something on the tv will sound like it’s name and she’ll suddenly say “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand your question”. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/28 "2016-03-10T11:00:59Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Yes, there is. It’s part of the App and feedback functions. Reporting a problem to Amazon via the feedback feature (which I was already aware of) isn’t really the same thing as being able to teach the device specific new words myself. What I’d like to be able to do is type a word into the app, then pronounce the word, and have Alexa remember the new word and the correct pronunciation. > [@](#): > > Now Amazon may not have any music in their libraries by the particular artists you are requesting, and that wouldn’t necessarily be the software not understanding you. They do have the music I’m requesting. I can always get it to play what I want via the app (i.e., without voice commands). I’ve also used the workaround that **Macca26** mentioned: asking “Alexa, what’s playing?” which will reveal whatever wacky, incorrect pronunciation that the device is expecting. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/29 "2016-03-10T13:53:17Z")
I like mine, but Amazon really needs to work on its data base. I will often ask it questions and it won’t know what I’m talking about. Where as I can ask OK Google the same question and it provides answers no problem. I’m also loving the new update they just made a couple of days ago to their device controls. Used to be when I asked Alexa to turn off the lights, it would say “Okay” every time it did so. Now when you ask it to do so it just gives a high pitched ding or low pitched ding depending on if you’re asking it to turn the lights on or off. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/30 "2016-03-10T14:12:15Z")
It doesn’t freak me out, but it’s also not something I’m likely to use. The technology is certainly interesting, but I have Siri and while it’s amusing to play with, I’ve never found it to be useful. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/31 "2016-03-10T14:23:24Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > You don’t ask for that stuff out loud, but how often are you searching for that anyways? And it kind of sounds like, why would you ever talk on the phone rather than text? Could you imagine talking to your wife and letting her know you need to find a doctor who specializes in leaky rectums out loud while in public? > > Some things work easier with voice control. The leaky bum stuff was exaggerated for effect. And you’re right, there are very few situations where I find talking on the phone to be superior to text, email, or some other text-based system. I don’t need other people listening into my business. > [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Very strange. How loud are your dishwashers, or heck, wind? I’ve had Google Now work quite easily, even in public. And the multiple microphone array is one of the big selling points of the Echo - even with relatively loud stuff in the background, the amount of microphones is supposed to be able to pick up you saying “Alexa”. I’m not sure. I thought this technology would be a lot better by now. But any time I want to use voice recognition (like testing the “Siri, what is one divided by zero” thing that was popular on Facebook for a minute), I have to go find a secluded space and tell everyone around me to shut up, or else it just says “sorry, I didn’t get that” over and over. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I’ve seen other people try it, and honestly I think they just tolerate repeating things more than me and don’t realize how much time they’re wasting trying to teach a robot English. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/32 "2016-03-10T14:54:09Z")
I recently got an Amazon Fire TV with the voice search remote. You have to hold the button down the entire time you’re speaking, so no “always listening” going on. (And if Amazon tried that, the remote batteries would be running out in no time.) Since the Fire TV is connected to my TV which is connected to my stereo, I could call up and listen to music that way. (There’s a preliminary Kodi add-on that uses it to search your own media library.) On the one hand, it (and Google voice search, etc.) do a really good job and it’s a _lot_ easier than typing. On the other hand, even around **Mrs. FtG** I feel like an annoying jerk using it. It just feels rude. But I guess the social embarrassment problem will go away for most people, like how you get people talking loudly about very personal stuff on cell phones in public now. Fun Fact: Some Amazon Fire TV tech support people think it’s pronounced “Alexia”. YATIHTCTSO: Yet Another Thing I Have To Correct Tech Support On. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/33 "2016-03-10T14:56:25Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > The entire concept of interacting with a computer using my voice is misguided. Unless you have a disability or something, it is extremely inefficient, with zero privacy. The Echo isn’t a PC. It’s not something you sit down in front of and converse with. It’s more akin to home automation, and it’s extremely useful. We use it as a kitchen timer all the time - I can just speak to it from anywhere in the kitchen, without having to wash my hands or even put down the pot lid. It’s also very efficient for certain tasks - it’s quicker to say “Alexa, whats’ the weather today?” than to take out my phone, unlock it and tap on the weather app. It’s _much_ faster to say “Alexa, play the White Album” than to look for it in my music player app. > [@](#): > > And I’m not talking about privacy from corporations, governments and hackers, here. Though that’s certainly a concern. But could you imagine saying “Echo, search for ‘teenage anal sluts’ please”, or “Echo, find me a doctor that specializes in leaky rectums” out loud, with anyone else in your home? It doesn’t even have to be gross. What if you want to buy your wife flowers as a surprise for her birthday? If you can keep your mouth shut in front of your friends or spouse, you can do the same in front of Alexa. > [@](#): > > Not to mention, I’ve _never_ had voice recognition work for me. Not on automated phone systems, not Siri, not on Android. They’re just worthless. Does everyone else live in a eerily silent bubble? Wherever I’m at, there’s always music, wind, dishwashers going, kids talking in the background, etc, that makes voice recognition worthless. Amazon Echo’s voice recognition works better than anything else I’ve tried. It’s not perfect, but good enough to be genuinely useful. Perhaps it’s the quality of the microphone? The Echo has 7 microphones, and probably does a lot of fancy signal processing to cancel out noise. I think my smartphone only has 2 microphones for a very basic noise cancelling. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/34 "2016-03-10T15:07:11Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > I listen to classical music almost exclusively, and I’ve found that the Echo often doesn’t understand what I’m requesting, particularly when foreign names or words are involved. I noticed that too, I couldn’t get it to play music I know I have in my music library, e.g. “Alexa, play Mozart Symphony number 25”. I think it’s not set up to respond to the composer name rather than the artist name, and/or you need to say the exact track name. I suspect “Alexa, play the Symphonies Number 25, 26, 27 album by Harnoncourt” might have worked. > [@](#): > > If you’re concerned about eavesdropping, you can turn the microphone off, but that sort of defeats the purpose of having an Echo. Or you could get the new Echo Tap, which is a battery-powered portable version of the Echo. Being battery-powered, it doesn’t listen all the time, you have to “tap” the button before speaking to it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/35 "2016-03-11T18:20:31Z")
I don’t own one, but I thought I’d post a link to today’s [Minneapolis Star-Tribune](http://www.startribune.com/next-great-gadget-isn-t-by-apple-google-or-microsoft-it-s-from-amazon/371794651/) article. They call it the “Next great gadget” and it gives a good overview of its capabilities and shortcomings. As a programmer, I’d be interested in seeing how to make new “skills” to customize this. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/36 "2016-03-11T18:58:25Z")
I wonder how many have renamed theirs “Jarvis”? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/37 "2016-03-12T05:00:24Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > But any time I want to use voice recognition (like testing the “Siri, what is one divided by zero” thing that was popular on Facebook for a minute), I have to go find a secluded space and tell everyone around me to shut up, or else it just says “sorry, I didn’t get that” over and over. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I’ve seen other people try it, and honestly I think they just tolerate repeating things more than me and don’t realize how much time they’re wasting trying to teach a robot English. Do you have an accent? Or mumble? Or is it Siri? I just said “Ok Google” to my phone with the TV on and it recognized my voice the first time without no issue. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/38 "2016-03-12T06:12:47Z")
My father-in-law is visually and mobility impaired. What sorts of things would this be useful for for a guy like him. He isn’t particularly tech savvy, but he does use a computer to run his business. He just has to use ZoomText to blow up his screen REALLY big. You and I might be able to scan an entire spreadsheet, but he has to blow it up so large that only one cell is on the screen. It takes him a long time to find the info he is looking for. Once set up, is Echo pretty much done. One problem my FIL has is that he can easily bump a button and change settings. Since he doesn’t know what he has done, he doesn’t know how to fix it. If I set it up, connected it to his wifi, then put it on a counter someplace where it can hear and be heard, but not knocked into, would it be pretty much maintenance free? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/39 "2016-03-13T06:59:49Z")
Question: Could it work like a security system? If it hears someone in the room can it ask who it is? Could you tell it to automatically call you wne it hears someone? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400/40 "2016-03-13T08:02:28Z")
I’m fascinated by it, but at the same time I don’t think I need it. I barely use my phone apps as it is, so having the same thing that’s voice activated probably won’t be used any more frequently. Having said that, I am poor, in a rented home sharing with others, and have no control over any of my life while I go through this patch of misery. If I was more self-sufficient and had my own home, perhaps I’d find uses for it. It doesn’t scare me, except in how amazing we’ve reached this futuristic lifestyle so quickly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazons-echo-in-house-siri-like-device-love-the-concept-or-totally-freaked-out/748400.md?page=3)