Wife wants Echo- but all we have is iOS/OSX in the house

[BuffaloTF]

To me this is a really disturbing thread......what ever happened to simply walking over to a light switch on the wall or a lamp on a table and....gee, just reaching out and turning the thing on manually? You know, flicking the wall switch, pressing the lamp's switch......????

You could just replace the light-switches so you could do both... rather than the lights themselves which requires you to leave the switch On at all times. Also, anyone that gets water in their basement may appreciate knowing if there's water on the floor because their sump pump has taken a dump, rather than staring at it during rain storms or a snow melt to monitor it.

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Separately to the OP and others. You can use the Echo, couple it to an actual Hub to communicate to things, AND Siri all at once. Some things talk over Wifi, which is where your Homekit comes in (it only does this and Bluetooth LE, exclusively). Others require the Hub. The Echo does both, so you aren't tied down to 1 solution as Wifi talking doesn't "link" it exclusively to 1 thing. Have the Echo talk to the Hub and to Wifi, and Siri talk to the Wifi and Bluetooth LE. Homekit is going to be awesome for door locks... approach your door and it automatically unlocks for you off the BTLE. But the Echo makes more sense for your interior stuff, or garage door - as you can set different triggers for different tasks and do groupings. And right now it looks like the Wink Hub 2 is the best available to partner with an Echo.

You can also pretty much trigger anything with the Echo by running an IFTTT (If-This-Then-That) script as they're officially a supporter of it. Otherwise, as a platform it is more open than the Google alternative - which is shocking.

 

[rockyromero]

You can use the Echo, couple it to an actual Hub to communicate to things, AND Siri all at once. Some things talk over Wifi, which is where your Homekit comes in (it only does this and Bluetooth LE, exclusively). Others require the Hub. The Echo does both, so you aren't tied down to 1 solution as Wifi talking doesn't "link" it exclusively to 1 thing.

CES has many products connecting to Amazon Echo.

It may corner the connectivity market this year.

➰

 

[kiranmk2]

CES has many products connecting to Amazon Echo.

It may corner the connectivity market this year.

➰

Indeed - I think think this should be really concerning for Apple. Despite having the lead in AI with Siri they have stagnated and been out-innovated by Amazon. Even Google are playing catch-up. Given how readily Alexa connects to devices and services from all providers how could Apple compete - especially when they probably wouldn't allow anyone to built Siri into their device without paying Apple $$$ for a specific chip and/or microphone setup as seen with Lightning and Homekit.

Amazon don't really have an ecosystem to support they way Apple and Google do;Prime is all about locking people into buying goods from Amazon rather than ensuring people watch Prime Video or use the music service. All the money spent on the Grand Tour and other Amazon Video exclusives is merely a way to make people splash out on Prime. Then once someone has paid $99 for the year they are more likely to buy goods from Amazon.

 

[576316]

Apple user here. Get an Echo. Don't wait out for Apple to enter the market, because it'll likely only be disappointing anyway. Take Apple off the podium you clearly have them on, and get an Echo.

 

[afd]

No one worried about Amazon suffering a data breach?