Google Home

Except not.

Not all Internet of IoT Things things are created equal.

I agree with this.

Present day Amazon is a bit like WH Smith in the many stages were you have to verify if you wish to continue with the purchase or opt for a special offer, related items or a prime account.

Anyone that doesn’t agree with me is obviously wrong, but could be due to the fact you’re conditioned through years repeated use

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It’s a pain in the arse, and I bet if you’re not savvy enough loads of people are caught out every day by subscribing to Prime or something. Bastards.

Seems to be working for them though. The successful business bastards.

It’s a bit of an odd one really Wza. (to be clear, I’m writing with the perspective of someone who’s worked in voice for a decade or so now)

Long post hidden for those who aren’t interested; click if you’re deathly bored :slight_smile:

Summary

Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri and such like aren’t really up to much on their own. We know this because not many people use them as the main way of using their phones, and as you’ve pointed out yourself, the AI is a bit rubbish. I still get my commute coming up on my phone even if I’ve put an all day event in my calendar saying I’m somewhere else.

The devices (Google Home, Echo, Apple Home Pod) are nowt more than interfaces into Alexa, GA, Siri etc. There’s some decent technology going on in terms of directional listening, noice cancellation and suchlike, but not much more than that. All they’re doing otherwise is giving you a way of accessing a not hugely functional bit of AI.

What IS good about them (and in particular the Google version) is the quality of ASR (voice recognition) going on. Having worked with ASR, they’ve pushed the boundries of what is possible a long way, very quickly, and they’re all giving developers everywhere the ability to tap into that - something that you used to have to go to Nuance for and pay hundreds of thousands in licencing and server costs to set up for yourself.

However, most developers don’t understand how to build voice user interfaces that are useful or usable, because everything we’ve done with technology until recently has been visual and precise (we give users a limited toolset to do what they want - for example, to save something you can click the save button, use the file menu or hit ctrl + s). We’ve all experienced it with telephone systems, when (for example) it takes 15 steps to book a cinema ticket because it only prompts you for one bit of info at a time (and half the time it mishears you).

Voice is not a precise interface and developers/designers without experience in developing specifically for voice are notoriously bad at building systems for it. However, it can do great things.

Take that cinema example again. I could build an Alexa skill that can book you a cinema ticket in a few seconds. Obviously you’d need to set it up with some details initially - preferred cinema, seating arrangement, membership/payment details - but once I’ve got that it’s really simple

“Hey Alexa, ask Cineworld to book me a ticket for Toy Story 4 on Thursday after 7pm.”
“Okay, I can get your usual seat for a 7:15 screening in Leicester Square. Is that okay?”
“Yup”.

Away from home? Override the default cinema in that initial question.

“Hey Alexa, ask Cineworld to find me a screening of Planet of the Apes tomorrow evening near Colwyn Bay”
“The nearest Cineworld is in Llandudno and will be showing The Wrath of the Planet of the Apes at 8:30 tomorrow. Would you like me to book that for you?”
“Yes please”.

Note that even though the wording of the question was unclear (it didn’t specify the cinema, OR the correct name of the film, the stuff behind the scenes worked out the intent of the user)

Now, we obviously have mobile apps and websites that can do this kind of booking, and it gives you more control if you do it yourself - maybe you don’t know what you want to watch or at what time of day, in which case voice is a horrible UI for imparting that amount of information. Leaving aside the point someone made above about accessibility though, using voice for moderately complex tasks if the app/skill is designed properly can be much quicker and often simpler cognitively for a user. Moreover, it doesn’t tie you to any device… If you’re in the kitchen baking and you remember something you meant to do, then just speaking is much easier both cognitively and timewise than washing your hands, finding your phone, unlocking, finding the right app, completing your task and going back to you baking again.

TL:DR It’s not necessary for most people and it’s not that useful at the moment because many “skills” don’t understand use cases or VUI properly, plus it will likely never take over entirely (as already said, it’s dreadful for browsing) but there are a lot of potential use cases where it will shine in the future.

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Also, it’s becoming less and less clear whether you’re buying from Amazon or some non-company operating out of an office in Hong Kong. And it’s listings are absolutely flooded with shit knock-off copy products, with shitty (or no) filters for weeding them out of search results.

Thinking about this has reminded me of what I think was my earliest Amazon irkage. Years and years ago, probably pre-Y2K, Amazon started to have adverts embedded in their product listing pages. Not just _‘if you like this then you’ll love this’ ribbons, but random advert shit that you’d find on news sites or wherever. Nah, mates. You’re a retailer. Make your money from selling the product. Don’t have the fucking cheek to advertise random shit to me as well to claw a few pennies back. (See also: adverts on Sky TV when they’ve already rinsed you for a subscription.)

All of my gripes have been covered up-thread. (And I do recognise, appreciate and laud how these devices would improve life immeasurably for a number of folk).

But I just want to reserve a special mention for the loathesome, awful, self-aggrandising adverts these devices have brought about.

“Alexa, order flour.”

No, fuck off. Pick up a pencil and write it on your shopping list you pretentious lazy windbag.

I hope they ended up with Wholemeal instead of Self-Raising. Or even better, a simple bouquet of dandelions.

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been listening to the radio loads since i got mine
probably the consumer good that has most improved my life

She’s guessing what you thought of: ’ Alexa - play Akinator ’

Had to go REALLY obscure to win against her.

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Some very considered input that goes way beyond ‘I like my new toy’.

But…

Life isn’t like that. (Or, at least, I don’t want it to be. And even if I did, ya just know this will be limited to the big chain cinemas.) These little ‘widgets’ are solutions to things that aren’t really problems. (Not for the individual consumer making a purchase every now and then, anyway. I can see why companies seek to streamline processes.)

Ah, the classic. Reminds me of how internet fridges were the future.

Quite.

I’m sure this undoubtedly clever stuff will eventually find it’s feet, but it feels like that’s a long way away from voice controlled Spotify cos you’re doing the washing up.

Mate. If you like radio, you should check out television. Sound AND pictures. And the pictures move! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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It all depends, doesn’t it… I used cineworld as an example, but there’s really no reason that someone can’t write an over-the-top universal app that would work with every cinema out there rather than just a single chain. Likewise, each example is small on it’s own, but together they can add up to a much bigger whole. Not will, but can. I mean that specific user journey would save maybe a couple of minutes a month for someone; not worth it’s while on it’s own at all. Being able ask if my train’s on time and listen while brushing my teeth would only save about 15-30 seconds a day, again, not worth it. Combine a dozen or more and maybe the difference can be justified for someone.

And that’s the point really, same as with your smartphone… out of the box, it can do a few things, but everyone customises their own one with the apps that are useful to them. Some people will find they really don’t have enough use cases that justify one, and that’s absolutely fine. Other people will make their lives harder because they’re determined it’s the next big thing and they’re trying to do things they shouldn’t do with it and while that’s really fucking stupid, it’s also okay.

You’re better than dismissing the underlying message based on the specific scenario mate. Disappointing.

Agreed. Personally can’t understand the fuss about that kind of thing and anecdotally a lot of people still seem to have problems getting a feature that’s being promoted so heavily to work.

All good.

(The internet fridges thing was just a comment about understandable/relatable/human but largely dead-end examples. I’ll withdraw it on the basis of not wanting it to detract from conversation that’s been otherwise interesting.)

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thanks thewza

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Totally agree - but Alexa will start doing this once it’s properly taken off.

“Alexa order flour”
“Would you like Prime?”
“No”
“No, you don’t want to miss out on the benefits of Prime - good choice”
“What…”
“Would you like to put this on your amazon credit card?”
“I don’t have one”
“Let me fix that for you. OK, flour ordered, Prime subscription started and your amazon credit card account is open”.

Asking Alexa to cancel Prime will probably signal a drone strike.

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Had to look up what a dash button was.

A specially-made smart button you can install in your home for the sole purpose of ordering bottled water is a pretty succinct illustration of why we’re all doomed, huh

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I could just about understand them if they were free, but the idea of paying a fiver for the privilege of owning one?

I think my favourite bit is this.

Another Twitter user reported that Alexa began laughing in the middle of an office conversation: “I asked why she laughed and she said, ‘Sorry, I am not sure.’”

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Having had to deal with Amazon in my job i loathe the company and its insidious ways beyond belief and truly believe that if i did come into possession of one of these pointless little boxes would look to re-enact the photocopier scene from Office Space.

The aforementioned

I’m now off to re-read ‘Walden’ by Thoreau…