Alexa responding to thank you.

Kitty it is surprisingly cheap and useful. I frequently see a "celebrity" mentioned on TV so I will ask Alexa who that person is. I will be doing that tonight for Strictly because I only recognise two.

She is also a good mathematician so has made me lazy.

Ask her how many sleeps to Christmas that is funny

I love my Alexa and her little sister Echo I mostly bought them for playing music though.

I have to say Thank You too. It's just in my genes. Do far she hasn't said You're Welcome.
I don't understand someone's comment about her being American- she has a very nice Southern English accent or can you programme it? Maybe she knows she is in Surrey here!

Hi guys, I am Blind and so, therefore, I have to use assistive technology in order to use the computer, I have used the Echo Dot since it's release, in fact, I was on the beta team way back in 2015, *sorry that's what I do for a living, I test review products for many different companies to assess their `usability` by VIPs - VIP = Visually Impaired People, I currently testing the latest G TECH
Alexa is great, I use it for everything from turning on lights to `Alexa turn the kettle on` ( I have an APP KETTLE as well)
At 9 am each morning Alexa says "Good morning Bob time to take your meds" which for `forgetful folk` is a real Godsend - how many times back in the day did your parents say, "ooh I forgot to take my pills"
Whenever I am cooking and I need a `Timer` for whatever I just ask her to set the timer.
A truly wonderful piece of equipment

won't have the thing in the house! It's another creeping spy as reports of conversations being recorded and listened to show!

willow, to get the weather for your area you need to turn on your location. You need the Alexa app on your phone. Go to settings and location and take it from there.

Can't say ours has been that friendly but she is a dreadful busybody and will respond if someone on TV speaks to their Alexa! ??

Our Alexa has taught our non-verbal grandchild the names of all the animals and the sounds they make. He only really started communicating properly with us when he realised that Alexa would play his music if I asked it to. Needless to say, I know every lyric of the Go Jetters theme tune now but it was worth the hours of repeats to get him to sign "Again." Frankly, Big Brother can watch on if it gets our boy to interact and communicate.

I am Blind and so, therefore, I have to use assistive technology in order to use the computer will you listen to yourself woman? IT IS NOT A SPY!
you say, "haven't you watched all the sci-fi films!" do YOU know what sci-fi stands for? It's science FICTION my dear lady - it's FICTION NOT TRUTH.
Do you realize how much it would cost to randomly spy on each Alexa user?
Get a grip! It's disturbing to think that a rumour started years ago by some of us product testers is still being taken seriously

I would not have one of these creepy intrusive devices in the house!

I won't have one as I live on my own apart from "Cat". The thought of a random voice from somewhere inside my home freaks me out. Each to their own though.

I think the assistance provided to VIPs is invaluable

Oh I just love my Alexa lol I’ve never said goodnight to her though, will try that, our grandchildren love her, never asked her to fart either lol

I agree with quizqueen that your conversation could be monitored. You are allowing the technology into your house that has the capability to do that. It may seem harmless and fun but it has the potential to be more than that.

We love our Alexa. Use it mostly for music but have had some good ideas on here for future use. Thanks everyone ?

Quizqueen, I totally agree.

I was shocked one day when a friend who'd been visiting me messaged to say her phone had suddenly started to give suggestions to something we'd been discussing during her visit. It couldn't be a coincidence as involved something she wouldn't ordinarily have looked up on her phone. We are being monitored by ask these gadgets. We're refusing to have a smart meter, are quite happy with the service as it is. I make sure mobile phones are off at night and there's no way I'd have an Alexa or whatever it's called in my home, I value my privacy, such as it is these days. How do we know who's listening to what the phone picks up on?

I feel sorry if someone has to listen to the conversations that go on in our house as they’re really not that interesting!

We’ve hardly used ours since we got it a year ago; we got it to miaow which confused our two cats.

You’ve given me some great ideas to try. Thank you

i dont have an Alexa as i live alone in a quite small house. I do however use the one in my daughters if i am baby sitting. I always say thank you if i have asked her to switch on the tv and it happens. She has recently stared saying your welcome.

Ours has started to whisper, that is, if you whisper to her which freaked us out. (our granddaughter was asleep that's why we whispered!)

It has to be a personal decision weighing up privacy against convenience. But Amazon does listen to recordings, in theory to improve speech recognition, but I would not be happy to have one. If I need to turn on the lights, play music, watch TV or find out the weather I can use two feet and get a tiny bit of exercise.

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/amazon-is-listening-in-to-your-alexa-recordings/ar-BBVQxoF

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49502292

I must be a bit of a technophobe because I have no idea how they work . I assume you need a good internet connection? How do you get it to switch on the lights - do you need special light fittings? (See told you I was a technophobe!)

I don't think Amazon (or whoever) have people sitting around listening to conversations but I do think it possible that computers are programmed to monitor requests, questions etc.

We have an Echo Dot speaker, but I only switch it on when I want to listen to the radio or do a quiz. It’s great for receiving obscure radio stations.
It annoys me though, that it won’t let me listen to my own music; I have to buy from Amazon. I object to giving my custom to them because they have such a monopoly. No wonder the high street shops are closing down...

I play my music via Spotify. We also pay for that so we dont get ads but I can play any music (including my playlist) on it so long as i specify that it's on spotify.

Alexa drives me bonkers!, I’ve unplugged her.
If I want the weather I look outside..... for anything else I ask Siri.... much more reliable. Never fails to answer my question
succinctly and without saying ‘ I do t think I know that’

My dgc love asking Alexa how many sleeps until Christmas. Alexa is friendly with Santa and he joins in witha Christmas cracker joke. I only got it because it came free with my phone but we have had lots of fun with it. If you had told me 20 years ago that I would have a robot in my living room....!