Hey Alexa, start my car...

[redneck]

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc-20y_vA-U

'Hey Alexa, start my car':

Ford announces plans to have 20 million vehicles equipped with Amazon's smart assistant by 2020.

Drivers of Ford vehicles will soon be able to talk to their cars, demanding anything from a nearby cheeseburger to a weather forecast.

The car firm has joined forces with Amazon to implement the technology firm's personal assistant, Alexa, into its cars over the next three years.

The alliance comes as many of Ford's rivals, including General Motors and Mercedes-Benz, have introduced smart assistants in their vehicles.

Besides wasting fuel, this will make people even lazier.

Plus.

Evidently people don't understand that this thing listens to everything, and I mean everything...

As if Smart phones weren't bad enough...

For me, the captain just about sums it up...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZaB3JBOtAA

>

[redpoint5]

I like it, but then again I'm 35.

It may listen to everything, but it doesn't transmit and store everything. Without saying the keyword "Alexa", it doesn't pay attention to what you are saying.

Nobody is forcing anyone to own a smart phone or an Alexa enabled car, so what's not to like about this?

My neighbors already start their extremely loud truck in the morning and let it "warm" for 10 minutes every day, even in the summer. The type of people that want to warm up their cars are already doing it, and those that don't, won't.

[ksa8907]

I think having truly "smart" electronics in a car is the only way to stop texting and driving. The reason people can't tell their phone to send a txt is because the software is clunky and doesn't work well.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I like it, but then again I'm 35.

It may listen to everything, but it doesn't transmit and store everything. Without saying the keyword "Alexa", it doesn't pay attention to what you are saying.

My wife bought an Echo for "me" (read: "whole family") for Xmas. I didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't want it...

When I initially set it up, I installed the Alexa app and noticed that it had a number of recordings already showing for my account. A few months back, my son purchased a new Kindle for himself and it is apparently an Alexa device. None of us had previously realized that, so we weren't using the keyword at all. However, it had about 20 recordings from his device. I think words that are similar enough will trigger it, or possibly if it hears the trigger word on a TV commercial or something. At any rate, it was a significant number of recordings that were totally unrelated to trying to use Alexa.

I certainly have misgivings about it, but not quite enough to tell my wife and family that we need to turn it off.

[ThermionicScott]

Originally Posted by darcane

When I initially set it up, I installed the Alexa app and noticed that it had a number of recordings already showing for my account. A few months back, my son purchased a new Kindle for himself and it is apparently an Alexa device. None of us had previously realized that, so we weren't using the keyword at all. However, it had about 20 recordings from his device. I think words that are similar enough will trigger it, or possibly if it hears the trigger word on a TV commercial or something. At any rate, it was a significant number of recordings that were totally unrelated to trying to use Alexa.

Heh, I've noticed that too. Once in a blue moon, an Echo commercial will come on and wake ours up. Or someone will say something close enough to "Alexa" that it thinks it has been spoken to. Interesting thing to have around...

[wdb]

We got one at Christmastime. I have it linked to our TV/stereo remote control (Logitech Harmony) and can have it play the stereo for us with a voice command. But I find us using the device itself for music as often as not; "Alexa, play Leonard Cohen/Johnny Cash/Christmas/James Taylor music". We can also say "Alexa ask for a fart."

I get the invasion of privacy thing but to be honest I think it's more a matter of the device exposing just how much invasion there already has been, rather than adding much more to it. If I have any misgivings it is that it is *always* listening and that could be exploited by nefarious/nosy types.

[vskid3]

Lets not forget that there could be unwasteful uses for this, like telling an EV to preheat/cool or to start charging.

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by wdb

I get the invasion of privacy thing but to be honest...

I think of it as less 'invasion' and more 'obsolescence'. Since it it's one of those things that enabled the Enlightenment, I think that is short-sighted technologically.

Imagine a world where Al Gore had listened to John Gilmore and commissioned Bitcoin instead of surrendering Internet to the credit card companies. I can. It's full of geodesic domes.

Edit: I met John Gilmore once. If you doubt his creds — from the link:

He co-authored the Bootstrap Protocol in 1985, which evolved into DHCP - the primary way local networks assign devices an IP address.

[Cd]

Oh cool ! I was actually going to ask you folks that have a Prius if you can have commands like this using the Prius voice recognition system.
I just got back from vacation with my parents.
My dad now has a 2008 Prius.
I noticed it has voice recognition, and this got my interest peaked.
After looking over the manual though, the only thing that seems to work with voice recognition, is making calls via browntooth, or yellowtooth or whatever.

( Essentially just converting the car into a rolling phone )

I'd love to know that he can turn the temperature up or down, or turn on other things just using voice. He found the touch screen quite hard to do while driving.

I did see the buttons on the steering wheel, but I don't think you can do anything like I mentioned.

Getting back to Alexa, I would have thought that you could choose from a list of names.
What happens if there is a person in the house that also has the same name ?

[ksa8907]

I made the observation a while back, even if everything every person on this planet ever said was recorded, what good would it do? It would take someone or possibly software to sort through it.