All those with an Amazon "Alexa" device who don't have a dishwasher!

My parrot now shouts Alexa Louder

I will come home one day to her playing the radio at full volume!

cavewoman I doubt if a burglar would be interested in your house, obviously controlled by your parrot!

Tara my cat knows when it is time to get up when she hears the Alexa Dot alarm go off.

Alexa, of her own volition, has told me weird things about America.

If there is an actor on TV called Alex that can also waken her.

I can’t see anything creepy about the Alexa at all . I use “her” for news updates, music (for whatever mood I’m in) and listening to the radio ( digital signal can pick up every radio station). You have to program her to enable shopping / ordering so no fear that she will order anything I mention . The DGC love the bedtime stories and her corny jokes .

DH likes the thought of an Alexa, (and so do I to some degree), but we haven't yet taken the plunge. By the way, do you have to programme her to do all these clever and wondrous things?

I would like to know how these things work know nothing of them.

You and me both Anniebach

It only takes a short time to sync the Alexa with your internet but it’s really easy and straightforward and the Alexa prompts you as you do it . If I can do it anyone can ! Programming light commands etc. Takes extra-bits of “kit” if you want to use it for that.

Auntieflo the set up process is easy. Download the Alexa app to your phone and sign in. You don't have to do anything complicated, it's all voice controlled. With the Alexa app you get a long list of Alexa skills as they are called. All you have to do is say "Alexa, enable 20 question" and Alexa will say something like "20 questions enabled, would you like to open it now?" It's that simple. My DGC like the magic door stories.

Warning: Keep Alexa and your parrot in separate rooms.
youtu.be/IvnW89osj0g

What happens if you don't have an i phone? Just broadband and a normal tablet or laptop?

I find the reports of Alexa laughing mysteriously in the middle of the night rather off-putting.

I don’t have an I phone either

There was a story on the news fairly recently of a couple who had been discussing laminate flooring, their ‘device’ recorded their conversation and either emailed or text their conversation to various friends! Don’t know whether it was Alexa or Google......

I don't have any of those - but I think Alexa should sing to the dishwasher...

i have an alexa dot echo and am enjoying it immensely. i have made playlists for all my favourite music (downloaded via the alexa app on my mobile or tablet). with over 400 songs on one playlist - 29+ hours! - all i have to do is ask it to shuffle my playlist and off it goes.
my grandaughters love it as they try to find obscure songs for it to play - the younger one found it invaluable for rehearsing the dances for the musical she was in at school.
i don't use it for much else than playing music but i know that i can - thanks to the helpful emails which are sent now and again.
maybe i'll experiment with it and see what i can do.
it's never laughed out loud ir started talking to me although sometimes it does react to the wake word if it's spoken on the tv.

Seems to me that the main function of Alexa is to part you from your money. Get a life peeps!

...wake up in the middle of the night and can't be bothered to turn over to look at the time on the clock radio so ask Alexa the time...'
Why? Why want to know the time if the clock radio is primed to wake you up?
Too msny people can't be bothered to do anything nowadays, they want it all automated to switch on and off and give weather readings, poetry, shopping lists, reminders, music blah blah...without having to do owt but sit in a chair. Funny, that so many people say they are busy busy busy but with all the time saving appliances in most houses, where has all the spare time gone? When I think of all my mum did, the 4 mile walks to and from school and cooking a hot lunch for 3 children before the walk back to school, cooking from scratch, making our home a wonderfully comfortable, welcoming place to be, washing by hand AND changing into a fresh dress and doing her hair and make-up before dad came home at 6.30.
We often changed our clothes twice a day yet there were no piles of dirty washing or ironing waiting to be done. Even the curtains were washed and changed with the seasons.
I remember her polishing brass stair rods up 2 flights of stairs and donkey-stoning the step daily when we lived in Devon.
Nowadays, if you ask a robotic voice to answer a question, play music or act as a reminder...that's called exertion.

Alexa is great if you live alone. She can be quite good company. She can tell you how to spell difficult words, decipher the correct weights when cooking, tell you weather locally or anywhere and one of my favourites is to ask her to play truth or dare. I have learnt so much from her.

marieeliz and annieb you just download the Alexa app to your tablet. I didn't have a smartphone when I first got the Echo, which was a Christmas gift from family btw. I installed the app on my Amazon Kindle fire tablet to get me going.

GabriellaG I think like that too. When I read thus post last night I thought whats wrong with a clock? Also when I want music I like looking thr7 my cd collection and choosing something. Maybe I'm just old/oldfashioned ?. I too wonder how we are so busy - doing what? (Although I admit a lot kore women are working now)

Wonderful for disabled people but for the able bodied who can't be bothered to look at a clock or switch off some lamps...... I despair. No-wonder we have an obesity problem!

Thank you MiniMoon.

If you have an Android phone or tablet Alexa will run fine. Nine out of every ten mobile devices sold worldwide are on Google Android. We are all Google here, two phones two tablets at home. They are in my opinion as good as anything Apple produces at half the price.

Nice one GabriellaG !

I love music and find that there is nothing Alexa doesn’t have in her vast library . Alexa might be brilliant but she can’t do the housework for me GabriellaG but she does keep the music flowing while I do it . I really can’t see what it’s got to do with walking miles to the shop or polishing Brass stair rods