Alexa

It can also be used as a reminder for people who have memory issues. It remembers an appointment diary and will speak out on the appropriate day/ time.

We have the google home mini, my granddaughter uses it to answer questions (saves her mother!) on almost any subject. It can tell stories and jokes. The other day I asked it a question and it said ‘I can’t help you with that’ so I made a rude remark.....it then told me off!

Quizqueen.My thoughts, on reading your comment, goes back to the years of 'Big brother is watching you'

My DD's household consists of my daughter, a 3 year old and a 9 year old who is awaiting assessment for autism. Of a work/school day morning, the house was often frenetic, noisy and disorganised, not to say sometimes unhappy.
A fortnight ago DD got an Alexa. The timer function has worked a treat to keep the 9 year old on track with her morning routine. Shouting up and down stairs has been eliminated. And they all enjoy the music.
As a result of judicious use of Alexa, mornings have been transformed from chaotic to calm, and the general atmosphere from day to day is much more positive.
I think maybe Alexa's potential to enhance life for many is yet to be revealed.

I am still not clear what it is that Alexa can do that can't be done by smart equipment that I already own?

It sounds like it will make me more lazy about using all the features on my laptop and smartphone and I don't want to buy certain lightbulbs just because Alexa can control whether they are on or off.

Most of all, I don't want all my conversations to be overheard just in case I want to give it an order.

I can see that it may be helpful to disabled people and those who live alone but unless it can do all the jobs I hate (eg washing up, cleaning, hoovering, etc) what does it do that will significantly improve my life?

Polly the Alexa responded because her name was said in the conversation.

My youngest GS has a child called Alexa in his class. Now that would cause problems at home if they had one ?

Rohit Prasad, Amazon vice president and head scientist of Alexa machine learning, explains that Echo devices have been built with safeguards to protect against unwanted eavesdropping. The devices are intentionally limited technically, so they don’t have the capability to listen to your conversations.
Put simply, they’re just too dumb.
Alexa’s attention span, the buffer for how long Alexa stores what has been said, is only a few seconds, just long enough for the wake words (Alexa, Computer, Echo, or Amazon) that users can set. Nothing is saved on the device itself. It’s like recording on a tiny loop of analog tape: Every few seconds, the tape is rewritten.

When we have visitors, we turn the microphone off! Then Alexa can't listen and doesn't butt in. I don't have a problem with it at all.

I'd turn it off and turn it on again, that seemed to fix the weird laughter!

yikes qq don't give them ideas!

A very dangerous piece of equipment, in my opinion, the tip of an iceberg which you really have very little control over. Have none of you ever seen any Sci Fi films; it nearly always ends badly?

It's a spy in your home ( as are all pieces of smart equipment) that you have willingly invited in. It knows when you are at home or out, what time you go to bed etc. It knows your preferences so it can flood you with advertising and so on. Even the bloke who owns facebook admits he puts tape over his laptop camera and
microphone.

Putin may or may not have sent people to Salisbury to murder traitors but that will be nothing compared to your smart car that decides you are no longer relevant in the future and dumps you in the nearest river with the doors locked!

Parsleywin
I have no issues with 'gender' of this 21C technology and surprised that anyone would be so 'sensitive' as to draw attention to it.

I was at a house recently with one of tgese and she suddenly butted into the conversation - most confusing. He told me he was telling friends about the story of Alexa ordering cat food and she piped up 'do you want me to order cat food?' -he tolxd hid friends 'For God's sake don't say yes!' Of course she picked up on tghe yes and ordered it!!! He was able to countermand however. I think its fraught with dangers and we are not ready for one yet. DS has one and GC just shout commands at it all the time 'Alexa play x ' 'No Alexa stop'-I cant stand it!

www.cnet.com/news/snl-saturday-night-live-parody-ad-amazon-echo-for-old-people-senior-citizens/
This is a spoof advert for Alexa for the elderly. Apparently it responds to any name beginning with A and also will listen to long anecdotes. Perfect for DH ?

We have an Alexa. It is handy for listening to the radio, and playing music - it's wonderful to have access to an enormous music library. But what worries me is that whenever it is switched on, it is constantly listening to all the conversation in the room (in case you give it a command), and because it is connected to the internet, there is a potential for a cyber criminal to hack in to it and listen to us as well. They would probably record us and then mine the recording using analytical software that could be keyed on (i.e. listen out for), for example, conversations about our finances or other things we would prefer to keep private. My OH loves the device, and I see the benefits of it, but if it were down to me I would throw it out, and I don't think I'm paranoid.

It must be handy if you’re disabled, but I wonder if a lot of able bodied people may use Alexa and not bother to ever move from their chairs, except to bring in the shopping from the front door. Thus becoming disabled.

Watching Humans on tv certainly gave me pause for thought!

MissAdventure
Nope, at present she can only be named 'Alexa', 'Amazon', or 'Computer'!
I wanted to call mine 'Quasimodo'!

Barmeyoldbat
Try really hard to persuade your daughter that an Alexa would be great for her.
'Audible' do talking books, which would be brilliant for her in future. Their subscription isn't Cheap, but could be worth it.
Also, I don't know what her disability is, but have a friend who finds it hard to stand while kettle boils, so gets Alexa to switch kettle on and by the time she gets to the kitchen, the water's boiling! She also has electrically controlled curtain pulls, and now instead of lots of remote controls, has smart plugs and tells Alexa to open/close curtains.

Can you change Alexa to a male name?

My OH gave me one for my birthday - I hardly ever use it I am ashamed to say! The grand-children love giving 'her' commands when they are here...I must learn to make better use of her. l really didn't need an Alexa I have to admit!! But having read the above posts, I'll try and be braver and get to know her better.

Alidol, I really, really want a Senga! Brilliant!

I am thinking of getting one for my disabled daughter as her sight is slowly going and there are many tasks she needs help with. The only trouble is persuading her.

I got the Echo show for Christmas but am not using it to it's full potential yet - I never seem to have time to get to know it properly. As a member of Prime it will play music from there or as it's bluetoothed to my mac it plays music out of my iTunes library too. Also got 3 of the smart plugs to go with it and again not set them up. I've just asked Alexa to laugh - tee hee I know she links to our Amazon Fire tablets too but again never got round to doing anything with that. Roll on retirement although by then I expect she'll have grown arms and legs and be able to do the housework too!!

My daughter and SiL made the mistake of calling their son Alex. Alexa often pipes up with inane unwanted comments when they are speaking to him. It's quite funny at times, but can be annoying.

I have a great weakness for technology. Hubby and I got the first iPad before even major Journalists! I know this because my daughter is a Journalist and was working for the BBC at the time. However, this type of gadget doesn’t appeal to either of us. As far as I’m aware, everything that Alexa, and similar products, can do, our iPads can do. There is also a question about how easy Alexa type gadgets may be to hack.