Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Amazon Discounts its Echo Smart Speaker Range Yet Again
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I know many people here find it difficult to see how this will actually be useful. If you just have the Echo then it's more a convenience thing, but still pretty convenient. I love walking into the kitchen in the morning to make breakfast and asking for the news. I love playing music when we have guests over (great speaker).
However I also have a Sensi, and WeMo switches and plugs so I also control the lighting which again is convenient and fun. If I am carrying a bunch of groceries in I can ask her to turn on the lights. When I'm in bed (have an echo dot in the bedroom) I can ask her to turn off all the lights.
Yes I can do everything with my phone but my phone's a huge distraction too. This way I stay in the moment at home, not pulled in to work emails or Macrumors.
However I also have a Sensi, and WeMo switches and plugs so I also control the lighting which again is convenient and fun. If I am carrying a bunch of groceries in I can ask her to turn on the lights. When I'm in bed (have an echo dot in the bedroom) I can ask her to turn off all the lights.
Yes I can do everything with my phone but my phone's a huge distraction too. This way I stay in the moment at home, not pulled in to work emails or Macrumors.
Nothing is sent over the internet until you wake these things up with their name.
And then what's transmitted is stuff like "whats the weather" or "play my favorite music" or "reorder that tube of hemorrhoid ointment"
If you want something to worry over, think about how constantly carrying a phone with you always gives away your location to the carriers. Or that using a credit card or Apple Pay tells the banks if you're getting a motel room and liquor in another town during work hours
Or you can just pay cash and use pay phones.
Last edited:
Same. I bought an Echo Dot just for fun and, while it's insanely convenient, it's not all that useful beyond a few things. I love the hands-free asking about the weather, setting a timer, playing Spotify songs {but only if they're in english} and asking the time. That said, if mine suddenly broke I probably wouldn't replace it. My phone could do all of this,
Maybe smarthome people get more use out of it, but I'm not really into those things.
There are lots of things we did without that we now rely on, so that aspect doesn't concern me. The privacy aspect, however, does and I don't understand how people can be so complacent about companies free access to this.
Personal data that can affect your getting a job, a loan, medical insurance and more are all being accessed without companies needing to tell you or validate that the information is accurate. There are companies right now advertising how, for a fee, they will help remove inaccurate information from your credit profile. There is no legal requirement that the negative reports being compiled have to be accurate nor is there a simple process for a person to fix inaccuracies. That information, compiled about you, doesn't belong to you.
if the laws were set up that people owned the rights to personal information stored or gathered in the background by electronic devices and that you could allow or deny their use at your discretion then I'd feel less anxious about devices like Echo. I think a person should own the rights to information about themselves and can decide whether or not to let someone or some company have access to it.
A few friends have these and seem to enjoy them. I don't think I would be interested in them without more connected devices that I just don't have yet because I am to cheap to buy them at their currently outrageous prices. Nest, Ring, Rachio IRO, Ryobi garage door opener (just installed, had a universal liftmaster wifi connected to the old opener before) all purchased at deep discounts, Rachio was purchased used. Even at the discounted prices I paid for said items they all still seemed overpriced.
Got one as a gift but not cool with Amazon recording everything said in my house at all times, so I returned it.
Only sometimes? Do they spin a wheel each time someone clicks a link before deciding whether to pay you or not?
Siri is a sexy British guy for me. Wish he was real as I've been single too long.
I like my Echo, give it a chance if you can.
Privacy is a gimmick nowadays; there is no privacy.
Can't wait till this isn't a "thing" anymore. Do we want to get so lazy we can't turn on TV, lights, heat, AC, etc., all the while with a company knowing every little thing you do, all your habits, etc. Not for me.
Honestly, it's one of those subtle things that you don't miss until you have it. It's very seductive to be able to say "hey Siri.." to turn on the lights as you walk into a room or to lock the door when you leave the house. But it's also practical too. My nightstand lamps are now on the far side of the table since I don't have to manually turn them on/off anymore, leaving the stuff on the table less cluttered together.
I'm with you on the ordering stuff part (Alexa, order paper towels), but I welcome the day I can ask Siri in an easy sentence to play XYZ via Airplay on my upstairs A/V reciever and it actually works.
But I think Amazon is going to secure its place in people's homes first and tie themselves to Amazon's ecosystem. Apple is late to the ball here.
It will be different for everyone, depending on their existing devices and configuration, but for me, Alexa has been life-altering.Why? Because I have tons of IOT wifi-connected devices. Forty hue bulbs, lamps, and lightstrips. Two Nest thermostats. Several bluetooth speakers. You get the idea.
I now have either a full-size Echo or Dot in every room, and I use them to control the room lights, set timers (in the kitchen), play audiobooks in my bedroom, play music (everywhere), set reminder alarms, add things to my grocery list, and check the weather before heading out or getting dressed.
Even if I had none of this infrastructure, I would still put one in the kitchen. The ability to set timers while I have my hands full cooking is unparalleled. And it plays music, too.
If you haven't tried one of these, I recommend giving it a go. You might find, as I did, that it is so great you want to go back in time and give your younger self one.
Companies already know. Certainly Google knows your search habits. Unless you only watch OTA TV someone knows your TV viewing habits. The grocery and drug stores know your buying preferences. The power and gas companies know your usage habits. The local cops and DMV know driving habits, public transports knows which bus and subway you ride. I could go on and on. TSA knows when and where you fly. Visa knows what I buy. Privacy is a mirage these days.
I don't see it as "lazy" but improving personal efficiency. I can now grab my groceries from my trunk and go directly in the house because my August lock knows I'm home. Before I had to unlock the door then grab the groceries. When I'm out on a night run my living room light turns on when I approach the house on return so I don't have to leave the light on the whole time or walk into a dark room. My Ecobee lets me manage my HVAC on the fly without getting out of bed in the middle of the night but also lets me adjust if I'm out of town and a cold snap happens and I need to boost it up a couple degrees. So maybe it's a privacy tradeoff but at this point so what. The only true way to have privacy is to disconnect 100% and move to the mountains and live like an 1800's pioneer.
As part of its Black Friday Deals Week, Amazon lowered the price of its Echo family of smart speakers, before returning them to their regular prices. Now Amazon has discounted the devices again for a limited time in the U.S. as part of a "Holiday Deals" promotion.
The full-size Echo speaker is $40 cheaper at $139.99, while the smaller Echo dot is available for $39.99 instead of its regular price of $49.99. Amazon Tap, the company's portable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled speaker, has also seen its price reduced from $129.99 to $89.99. The Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Amazon Tap all have voice-activated assistant Alexa built in.
MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may sometimes get paid if you click one of the above links.
Article Link: Amazon Discounts its Echo Smart Speaker Range Yet Again
It's not even available until December 27, so a push to get things into people's homes is kind of moot.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Until a silent software patch changes that. I'm talking about more general terms - conditioning consumers to not think about the ramifications of speckling their homes with always-listening microphones is not a good thing.
Sorry misread your issue. I also thought alarms, lists, and timers, once set did not require wifi. Something to look into.
Not including their massive and highly profitable cloud computing operation, of course.
And if you order an Echo Dot via Alexa, is only $32 and change. Should have it before the week's out so I can take it to Mom when I go visit next week.