Amazon Echo Dot: What the heck to do with it?

[passedpawn]

My brother sent 3 of these to my family for Christmas. We connected a phone to it, asked it what time it was, now what? I understand I can adjust my thermostat (if I get a $200 Nest thermostat), or adjust my lights (if I get something else). I'm not really interested in that though.

Seems these things are pretty popular, but I think I've missed the "why". Can anybody clue me in here?

 

[Rockn_M]

You can ask it to turn on a certain radio station or traffic in your area.

Otherwise I'll give you my address and you can send them to me.

 

[spittybug]

I toyed around with getting one of these things for Xmas but came to the conclusion that I wouldn't find much to do with it either.

Why shout across the room for a google answer if you always have your phone on you? "Wake up Moto, give me uses for an echo dot....."

I can't wait to start hearing about hacking taking place where they've been covertly turned into listening devices!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Non-integrated into a smart home, it is little more than a voice controlled internet clock-radio. Connected to a phone it is a audio only Siri (hands free auto dialer).

Plugged into the internet of everything and it is the beginnings of Jarvis from Iron Man. Personally, I am not all that interested in having my home THAT connected to the grid (thermostat, lights, locks, etc...).

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Otherwise ask it for my address and you can send them to me.

ftfy.

 

[thunderwagn]

We have Google Home (same concept) and love it. After awhile, you get really used to doing things with voice commands. We set kitchen timers. Listen to news, weather, sports. We can stream videos from youtube etc straight to the tv with simple commands. I get in the mornings, and while making coffee, I can say "hey google" and it gives all the daily info I've set it up to deliver. New, sports, calendar, commute, tech news...whatever your fancy. Anything you would ever want to search for online is instant.
It's also good for some comical relief. My 14 yr old boys seem to have an endless supply of fart and poop questions. It's great at conversions, math, all kinds of things. How many inches in a mile, how many tsp in 10 gallons. They have a question for everything it seems, and I must admit, I find it fascinating.
I think the key is just to have fun with it. Eventually it grows on you.

 

[Cyclman]

Thank you for asking this question, I have been wondering the exact same thing.

 

[TorMag]

I've had Amazon Echo since the pre release. To me, it's just an expensive gadget. Not nearly as good as siri on answering Google type questions. I get a lot of "I don't know the answer to that question" It is not really designed to be a google search type device, but more a do something device. I use it a lot for playing my Amazon Prime music, getting the weather and traffic to work, or how far to something. I can play my audible books on it, and it's most used function is "Alexis, Set 5 minute timer"

 

[akthor]

I have 2 dots and an Echo. I bought an dot and an echo for my 81 and 78 yr old in laws.

Weather, news, set alarms, timers, music. I say play Talking Heads Radio for example and it plays songs from that genre. I have smart plugs and use Alexa to turn on and off lights.

The Dot my mother in law has we enabled the Buddy Skill, if she falls she can say "Alexa have buddy notify the nurse"

 

[smurfjuice]

Aaaahhh, technology ... :beard: ...

 

[jimmayhugh]

If you're technically inclined, you can use the Echo or Echo Dot to control ESP8266-controlled devices, ala a WeMo switch, or with a DS18B20 temperature sensor. Here's a link.

 

[passedpawn]

"Elexa, turn on my HLT pump". Why not?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013V1SRY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[thunderwagn]

"Elexa, turn on my HLT pump". Why not?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013V1SRY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

The possibilities Are. Endless.:rockin:

 

[Thorrak]

I've got an Amazon Echo, and generally like it, though admittedly it's one of those devices where you have to work a bit to integrate it into your life.

The main things I use it for are:

• WeMo Integration - Turning lamps on & off in various rooms
• Checking the weather/news
• Checking train times for local commuter rail

I also designed a homebrewing app for it a few months back called Hopback. All it does is specific gravity calculations, but theoretically the device could be extended for other types of info/calculations as well.

 

[dmtaylor]

My family has three different versions of the Echo, including the Dot. We use them to listen to music, manage shopping lists, get weather updates, occasionally to buy stuff from Amazon... that's pretty much it. It's a nice-to-have, nice gift idea, but do you really need one? Nah. They're not terribly expensive though, and if you spent a lot of time with one and turned it into your best friend, you could do more with it, if you wanted to. But nobody probably does that, at least definitely not in my house.

 

[RedlegEd]

I have 2 dots and an Echo. I bought an dot and an echo for my 81 and 78 yr old in laws.

Weather, news, set alarms, timers, music. I say play Talking Heads Radio for example and it plays songs from that genre. I have smart plugs and use Alexa to turn on and off lights.

The Dot my mother in law has we enabled the Buddy Skill, if she falls she can say "Alexa have buddy notify the nurse"

Thanks @akthor ! My daughter bought us one of these for Christmas. Much like others in this thread, I was wondering what other things this might be useful for, but the Buddy Skill is really cool because my wife has physical challenges and this would really make a big difference. Thanks again. Ed

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Honestly, these thing really shine on their convenience value for the disabled. What appear to be trivial actions to most are a quality of life near miracle for many disabled.

 

[Homercidal]

Friend of mine's wife got a Dot from her boss. They do the usual check temp, weather, sports, etc and ask it to tell jokes.

He said they asked it to give the mass of the Sun in grams.

Took a while.

 

[afro_lou]

Never thought about brewery integration! That would be a fun and very cool way to use one of these.

But be careful

(Linked because nsfw)

 

[jcav]

My brother sent 3 of these to my family for Christmas.

That's awesome you have a really nice brother! Good idea use it as a brewing assistant and turn on your pump. Heck maybe teach it to tell you when to add your hop additions too!

John

 

[TheMadKing]

I use it for a brew timer sometimes, alarm clock, music player, it can perform basic math problems, and answer questions based on wikipedia and things like that. Some of the skills are fun, beatbox is pretty funny, bartender is useful, and pickup lines are hilarious. but I too am struggling to figure out what to do with it beyond that.

Mostly it just sits there listening to everything I say. A smart home seems like a cool idea, but right now its a cobbled-together mish-mash of parts that don't always play nice and are overpriced. I can see that it's the future, but currently it's just a gimmick IMO

 

[RevKev]

Never thought about brewery integration! That would be a fun and very cool way to use one of these.

But be careful

(Linked because nsfw)

I died a little bit. Thank you hahaha

 

[BadLiver]

My iphone can do pretty much almost everything it can do plus it's not recording 24/7. That's what I don't like about Alexa. I think its' cool but I just think it's too invasive.

 

[CU_tony]

I have the google home, same-ish idea but it integrates with my google eco system at home.

I love being able to ask it generically for "music" and it knows me well enough to play something interesting through my stereo. Also its never been easier to spin up something to watch on the chromecast, all I have to do is ask for _____ and it's normally smart enough to get where I need.
There are still some kinks to work out though, like I cant ask for a specific season or episode (yet) nor can I remove an item that Ive added to a shopping list through the voice commands, I have to use keep.google.com or the home app to modify those.

I only got it for christmas but I am loving it so far. I cant wait to see more features rolled out and maybe someday Ill start investing in other smart things that arent attached to the TV.

 

[brew703]

Had the Echo for about a week and decided it wasn't worth the money. The concept is great however all the "extras" are too expensive (switches, bulbs, thermostats).
The Echo does sound pretty good when playing music but I didn't like that it wasn't portable and way to many "I don't know the answer".

But the possibilities are endless if you are willing to drop down some coin.

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

I use it a lot in the kitchen. Great for timers, new, weather forecast, traffic, sports scores. Sometimes Alexa is brilliant and sometimes she's not too smart.

I find it interesting that she knows the average penis size and really funny that her answer to that question has changed over the last year. Apparently she has done some additional sampling. SWMBO loves that and asks her about once a month, usually after a few.

 

[akthor]

Your phone and laptop are recording sound AND video too. Well at least if the Fed and the NSA want them too.

My iphone can do pretty much almost everything it can do plus it's not recording 24/7. That's what I don't like about Alexa. I think its' cool but I just think it's too invasive.

 

[Thorrak]

I use it a lot in the kitchen. Great for timers, new, weather forecast, traffic, sports scores. Sometimes Alexa is brilliant and sometimes she's not too smart.

I find it interesting that she knows the average penis size and really funny that her answer to that question has changed over the last year. Apparently she has done some additional sampling. SWMBO loves that and asks her about once a month, usually after a few.

Pretty sure they've just incorporate the new standard measurement scale...

 

[DasBierBaron]

It's great for music if you have Prime. That's mainly what I got it for.

 

[lnyswonger]

I wrote an article on this awhile back which may be useful. A lot of uses for it at this point.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/homebrewing-amazon-echo.html

 

[Jayjay1976]

I don't have one myself (yet) but here are a few things I can't wait to try out.

Hey Alexa, set a timer for 20 minutes.
Hey Alexa, remind me to order more cascade hops on Friday.
Hey Alexa, how many grams are in 7 ounces?
Hey Alexa, play "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix.
Hey Alexa, play the Jamil show.
Hey Alexa, call the fire department!

 

[Jayjay1976]

My iphone can do pretty much almost everything it can do plus it's not recording 24/7.

Are you sure?

My wife has an iPhone and sometimes, out of nowhere, Siri will answer a question that one of us asks aloud.
Gives me the creeps.

 

[ifnotuthenwho]

Are you sure?

My wife has an iPhone and sometimes, out of nowhere, Siri will answer a question that one of us asks aloud.
Gives me the creeps.

If you have the “Hey Siri” option on, your phone is listening to every word you say.

 

[Scturo]

I got one, and like mentioned works great with Prime to play music, build play lists. I can control my Fire TV without a remote. And checking traffic and weather is nice.

I’m not too worried about it being hacked. My understanding is that someone would have to physically install a hacking system onto your Dot. And even if someone is able to listen in on my Dot, they’re probably pretty bored by now.

 

[passedpawn]

A year later, the 3 Amazon Echos are in a drawer and gathering dust. I'm not a Luddite, I like tech, but these things don't really do anything new for me.

In addition, somebody this year gave me an Amazon Fire TV thingy that has voice recognition built into the remote. I'm an Amazon Prime member, but I don't have any use for this thing either. I turned it into a tap list controller (see www.taplist.io) for the taps on my back patio. The manual for that Fire TV thing explains several times that you can order pizza from the remote. Odd.

At some point I'll figure out how to use these things for some useful hardware control (e.g., turning the lights off). I have to clap twice for that right now

 

[seilenos]

We got a few of them when they were half-price on Cyber Monday.

They are scattered through the house and we use them as hands-free intercoms. Much better than yelling up the stairs.

 

[str1p3s]

setting timers for mash and boil on my phone was a minor annoyance that i'm glad is gone. i'd have to stop what i'm doing, find my phone, make sure my hands are clean, bring up the timer app and set the timer. then to check the time, i'd have to repeat. obviously not that big of a deal, but annoying. now i just have to ask while i'm doing something else.

i also play pandora on brew day on it, use it when trying to calculate strike water volumes (alexa, how many cups in .37 gallons?), and even while shaking the carboy to oxygenate the wort instead of counting off one mississippi, two mississippi... in my head

my daughter loves playing music on it and asking alexa silly questions. i might get her her own so that i can talk to her in her room upstairs without yelling up there too.

i've thought about getting a smart outlet to pair with it to turn my pump on and off, but my fear is something like "alexa, turn off pump" and she responds with "i don't have the answer to that question" as my pump is running dry until i can get over there and unplug it.

 

[MaxStout]

Give them to friends, then stop over to troll.

 

[Homercidal]

Been watching too much TPB lately. I'm afraid of what Alexa might order if I had one.