Anyone got Alexa

We only have one Alexa in the kitchen and I find it/her incredibly useful not least for her timer. When cooking, no need to touch a physical timer, just say 'Alexa, timer, one minute thirty seconds' or whatever and I know she will deliver - on time!

We use 'her' mainly for the radio but there are also free music streaming services too (although one can be £4.00 a month for a vast catalogue of every type of music).

I enjoy wishing her 'goodnight' and she will respond with a variety of messages.

Does anyone think that Alexa sounds just like Winifred Robinson, the BBC radio presenter? I am told that Alexa's voice is completely artificial but she really sounds like WR to me!

For a while, we had a voice which sounded like Cliff Richard. I actually found it very creepy. It was as if he was in the room with me.

I go to bed later than my husband and I can whisper to Alexa and set the alarm. She whispers back to me as well and I always say thank you. It always puts a smile on my face when I climb in to bed when I think how ridiculous it is. It plays me music but if I ask it for traditional English folk songs it plays Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and any country and western song it knows. I have told her to educate herself on English culture but she didn’t reply so I just play my own playlists through it.

BlueBelle

We agree Maw I just can’t imagine anything I can’t already do perfectly well strangely enough I m still capable of turning a light on or off and a kettle Soon everyone will just sit still all day and call out orders ???

Now if it cooked and served a meal for me or gave me a cuddle when I m sad I might consider

I'm with you BlueBelle. I love new technology but I personally think it shouldn't come at the expense of doing things physically (unless/until you can't, and then I can see that Alexa could come into its own). My remote controls are put away in a box. I can Google all the information I need. I have playlists for music via apps on the iPad.
My daughter recently got one - it's brilliant for making different fart noises when the grandchildren play with it .....

We like ours. We have 3 , kitchen, lounge, bedroom. Good for timing things, finding out the weather, various music, podcasts and the shark song ???

bluebelle you sneer at people, sorry for you, you obviously like to stir things up, for your fun. Don`t sneer at me please, I have a lovely life and chose to get my alexas, to play a great variety of music. You have not answered the OP. You sidetracked to suit your own agenda in what appears to be a miserable empty life. Don`t you know that life is about caring, sharing and being nice to people

It constantly monitors your conversations. Personally I have no intention of allowing my home to be used like that by big brother.

You can put a stop to Amazon employees listening to your voice recordings. In the Alexa app, go to Settings > Alexa Privacy > Manage Your Alexa Data. From here, select Choose How Long to Save Recordings > Don't Save Recordings > Confirm. Next, scroll down to Help Improve Alexa, and switch the Use of Voice Recordings to off.

Sorted!

Marydoll it is a bit of a killer for debate, isn't it? I get quite rattled by the aggressive nature of some posts replying to quite innocent comments - perhaps because it is easy to be rude and unpleasant when you can't actually be slapped in response!

Yes we have her

Rosina, I find the negativity quite depressing, especially when tainted with sneering comments, which is totally unnecessary.
We can agree to differ, without resorting to unpleasantness. ?

Not heard the Shark song on Alexa, have now, love it. Forgot Alexa's name one day, couldn't turn her off

I have an Alexa in all rooms, and have it for lighting too.
I set my bedroom lights to come on and the radio to come on when it's time for me to get up.
My kitchen lights come on and go off when needed and I change the times regularly.
I have an Amazon music subscription so I can also play absolutely any music I request.
I'm a geek and I love things like that. ?

Alexa is great as far as I am concerned as our DAB radio switches off as soon as we put on the kitchen lights! What I call these 'new fangled LED light bulbs' interfere with radio signals. We are in a pretty bad reception area anyway but manage to get excellent DAB reception upstairs .... no LED's! So our solution is Alexa. Only problem we have with her is BBC radio 4 goes off for a few minutes around 8am and then around 1pm but usually only for about 5 mins..... possibly when there is a surge of people tuning in for the news. Funnily enough at these times we just ask her to play Times radio to cover for the loss! Also she is good at instantly converting lbs to grams etc when in the middle of a new recipe. My 4 year old grandson loves asking her to play songs and then sings along with her, hubbie also listens to his favourite music while cooking up dinner! She is a mine of information, takes up little space and will shut up when required! Go for it!

Nope, not for me.

As a bit of a technophobe - are they easy enough to set up? And I’ve seen the Dot ones for sale very cheap - are they as good, or not the same sort of thing? What sort of price is reasonable? Thanks

I don't use my Alexa very often, but occasionally she decides to join in if the television is on or something!! She must be feeling neglected.........................

Tina49

As a bit of a technophobe - are they easy enough to set up? And I’ve seen the Dot ones for sale very cheap - are they as good, or not the same sort of thing? What sort of price is reasonable? Thanks

You need the Alexa app on a mobile device and there are simple step by step instructions online.

Roughly £25 for an Echo Dot.

Had mine for 5years a dot bought for bedroom ,now have a total of 5 , a show 5 plus 4 dots you download the app to phone ,tablet, kindle, and let play time begins, jokeing aside we have a routine every night at 10 o clock she says " Pete tablet time , every morning at 8am turns on with world service low volume Monday - Friday , to slowly wake me up. Tutorials very good, best prices I have found Amazon,
Or QVC

Tina49 I’m a massive technophobe and I’ve managed absolutely fine!
It is really easy if you already have an Amazon account, as when you buy it they will link it to your account and you literally just plug it in, and then she tells you what to do!
No problems at all!

I'm with @NanKate on this.

I'm disabled and have 3 "dots" in the lounge, kitchen and my bedroom. All my light bulbs are smart, I have various items plugged into smart plugs, smart thermostat etc and I can control them all either by speaking to Alexa or on my phone.

To those who are convinced that she's listening to you, she has to be listening out for her name but nothing is recorded. I think you'll find that Sainsbury's or Tesco know more about you (via loyalty card usage) than Alexa does.

Couldn’t live without mine. I have six echo show screens - small ones in the bedrooms and larger in downstairs rooms. With voice commands, among other things mine controls my heating, sets reminders, timers and alarms, adds items to my shopping list and transfers to my phone. Alexa can read to me from the Audible app, play almost any piece of music I want, play video from YouTube, read the news, get factual info from the web. Convinced yet ? It also has a drop in and intercom facility wherever you place a screen. Mum is elderly and very frail so so this is ideal for keeping her safe, as I can monitor and talk to her from most of the house - and when she visits the loo in the night she can turn on the lights before she gets out of bed. And yes, it can remind your DH to take his tablets !!

I found the set up really easy. I don't know if anyone has mentioned Alexa skills. They are like apps on your phone or tablet. There are loads of them. I have 20 Questions, Pointless and Aircraft Radar to name a few.
Aircraft Radar my Dad would have loved. I just ask Alexa to ask Aircraft Radar what is flying nearby and she tells me all the planes, helicopters etc., their height, direction, where they are coming from and going to and their call signs. I think I must be a bit ofca plane spotter.
There is a full skills list on the Alexa app.

Anyone else had the disturbing experience of 'her' chipping into a conversation, as we did once, with " I don't know that person" - 'she' gets switched off now except when DH is listening to morning radio.

It’s just embarrassing and annoying when you’re at someone’s house and the kids demand some dreadful song at full volume. I’d never get one, think it makes people lazy.