Topic: Free Amazon Echo Dot / Echo Show

[Graeme]

Saw this one on HotUKDeals yesterday.


If you create and publish an Alexa Skill before 30th November, you get a free Echo Dot. If you can get 75 people to enable it, you can have a free Echo Show.


Now I’m fairly technical, but very little coding experience, however I was able to create and publish a Skill in about an hour with some tutorials. Full details here....


https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/echo-dot-or-echo-show-absolutely-free-for-creating-an-alexa-skill-3311798

[WhoHe]

Was thinking of getting my wife one simply for music but from what I have read you need an Amazon account to stream music, can anyone confirm this ? We have no smart devices apart from TVs so not sure what she would do with the voice control bit either.

[CraigDS]

Think you need an Amazon account to set it up full stop. You don’t need a Prime account but you get more music if you do.

[Zlen]

I’m amazed that people willingly bring these devices in their home. It’s just wrong.

[Graeme]

I’m amazed that people willingly bring these devices in their home. It’s just wrong.

Why?

[Graeme]

Was thinking of getting my wife one simply for music but from what I have read you need an Amazon account to stream music, can anyone confirm this ? We have no smart devices apart from TVs so not sure what she would do with the voice control bit either.

You can use it as a Bluetooth Speaker and stream anything from your phone. It use it to play my Spotify music.

[CraigDS]

I’m amazed that people willingly bring these devices in their home. It’s just wrong.

Nah it’s fine mate, I have a tinfoil hat I wear when in the house so it can’t do any harm.

[Zlen]

Why?

Whatever convenience you get out of it is hardly offsetting opening a direct, one way channel into your home for an unregulated tech giant. I’m finding it strange that people care so little about power they are giving these companies.

[Graeme]

What power am I giving them?

[Zlen]

Biggest one available at moment.
Data.

[CraigDS]

What power am I giving them?

Wonder if he has any computers/phones/tablets in his house - all of which have microphones on them. A lot of modern TV’s too.

They’re all listening to us.

I’ve taken up just using sign language at home now to communicate with my missus.

[Graeme]

Biggest one available at moment.
Data.

What data are they getting exactly?

[CraigDS]

What data are they getting exactly?

My Alexa can’t even understand when I tell her to turn the lamp on, so fuck knows what she thinks me and the missus are saying when we chat to each other.

[Graeme]

Probably just assumes you're complaining about your landlord again, and subsequently turns herself off.

[rob1966]

Probably just assumes you're complaining about your landlord again, and subsequently turns herself off.

It is obvious Alexa is grassing them up when they slag the landlords and estate agents off.Why do you think he gets so much shit dealing with them?

[CraigDS]

Probably just assumes you're complaining about your landlord again, and subsequently turns herself off.

Alexa or my missus? 

[WhoHe]

You can use it as a Bluetooth Speaker and stream anything from your phone. It use it to play my Spotify music.

Thanks for the info.

My daughter came in late Saturday and my wife was listening to YouTube in the kitchen on her phone, daughter felt sorry for her so suggested to me that an Echo (or mini) could be useful. She would never subscribe to pay for music and I believe the Echo speaker is not much better than a phone speaker so all in all cant really see what benefit it would to her (we have no smart devices), she is also a luddite when it comes to tech. I understand you can get radio apps (TuneIn for example) that can be voice controlled so maybe the novelty of that might be OK.