do you own a smart speaker?

I own amazon alexa and love it (mainly for the games, but music and reminders too)

I have a Google home hub and a home mini. That's really too much for an efficiency. I absolutely love the nosey technology

We have Alexa. It’s hooked up to all our multiple kindles lol but I don’t like it. I dont like noise. My husband on the other hand... Alexa what’s the weather today? Alexa play my music. Etc etc hahaha

I have Alexa but I'm suspicious of it so it sits unplugged and unused. I only have the basic package for it so it's not a big deal I don't use it

What is a smart speaker? (asks a dumb PC member)

I have no idea either... must be getting old

basically, it is a virtual assistant (think of it like a little computer that sits on your fridge, or your table, or where ever you put it), and to activate it, you speak to it

for example: my one is alexa, so I'd say alexa, followed by what I want- so it can tell jokes, play games, tell you the time, the weather, play music, give you interesting facts, look up things on wikipedia, it's basically really smart (hence the name smart speaker. lol)

it's also great if you want it to wake you up in the morning, or remind you of a certain event coming up. it does everything!

As my hearing is not very good; I tend not to go for anything speaker related. I do however see the use in having something like that in one's home.

I don't think I would want one due to privacy issues. They may iron those out eventually, but I'm not going to get one yet because I don't want Google or Amazon knowing the content of what I say. I know there is likely not someone listening in, and perhaps the data is encrypted or something, I don't know, but it seems likely that they would just sell my data in some way, either to their own partners, or to someone else, and I don't want that happening.

Yes! I have an Amazon Alexa too! I just got it this year, as a gift from work (for having been there for like 15 years, we get to pick a "gift" out of a catalog for significant work anniversaries).

But.. it's not plugged in. I haven't really figured out what to do with yet, and haven't had the time to dive in and explore. I feel kind of bad about that, I think it could be really useful. Amazon offered me a "smart plug" for 99-cents (!) - so I picked up one of those, which *should* allow Alexa to turn things that are plugged in to it on and off (seems useful for bedroom lights that are out of reach of the bed).

Really, I don't love the lights on the top of it. I kind of want those to not be on all the time, and maybe there's a way to do that, but I don't know yet.

I also have Siri on my iphone, and I *love* that. OMG. I talk to the poor thing every time I get depressed. "Siri, tell me a joke!" "Siri, do you know any songs", "Siri open this app" "Siri, can you look up..." "Siri, how many tablespoons are in three quarters of a cup?"

I just wish they could make Siri a little bit *smarter*. Like, Siri could be great for getting help with how to use your phone (especially when you're brand new to the iphone). But, alas, Siri is not that smart, and looking up webpages to answer your question seems to be the best it can do.

I wonder if the jokes on siri are as bad as the ones on alexa?

serously: today she told me a joke, why did the chicken cross the playground,

to get to the other slide

I know. sad

guilloche I think the UK skills on alexa may be a little diffrent to the US, but am around if you have any questions- I can try answer them.

I don't use smart plugs though so can't help you their

though if alexa could control my tv.. now that would be cool

Thanks Raging_Vortex. I just haven't really had the motivation to dig in and figure it out, you know?

The jokes on Siri are definitely terrible, but they make me laugh anyway, lol.

Here's one:
What did the plate say to the refrigerator?
Stay cool, dinner's on me!

I asked alexa today which did she prefer, star wars, or star tree

she replied: can't we just live long and prosper while the force is with us?. I thought that was cool