Let me start by saying this: I love Amazon.com. I've been a Prime member for years and I order a ridiculous number of things from them, from pantry items to electronics.

But they're failing at consumer electronics.

The Kindle ereaders have clearly been their best devices, but ever since then they've gone further and further downhill. The first Kindle Fire was the worst tablet I've ever used, and that includes the first Archos Android tablet that didn't have the Google app store on it and a screen that was hard to read. I do think their Fire tablets have gotten better, but even with good hardware they still don't make sense to me. In the Venn diagram of Android apps, there's a circle for apps in the Amazon App Store that is nearly completely surrounded by the circle of apps in the Google Play Store. So why not just get a Nexus 7 or 9 and call it a day? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Then they did the Fire Phone, which made even less sense to me and apparently didn't make sense to anyone else because Amazon has taken a giant loss on it.

Now I just happen to notice an add on their home page for the Amazon Echo, a cylindrical tower that's designed to sit in your home and listen for your voice commands. It then does searches and plays music and add stuff to your to do list blah blah blah. It's basically a $200 Google Now/Siri device that you can't move.

It seems like Echo was designed and built before Amazon saw Google and Apple adding the ability for people to initiate voice commands on their phones hands-free. Yes, iPhones and most Android phones need to be plugged in when doing this, but so does Echo. I'm sure that Echo was also designed before Amazon lost a ton of money on the Fire Phone.

I don't mind that Amazon is trying to do new things in the consumer electronics space, but they sure seem to be missing the mark and designing products that nobody needs or wants. If I'm going to have a $200 monolith in my home, I'm going to start with the Sonos Play:1 and start a usefull home speaker system, not a device that does less than what my phone does already.

Can someone explain the appeal of this device to me?

To someone like me, whose life does not revolve around his smartphone, it's kind of like having Siri with a built-in stereo system available any time I'm in the house, without having to dig a phone out of my pocket and navigate to the app, without having to pay for data minutes, and especially without having to pay $600 for a phone plus hundreds of dollars more in annual contract fees.

Special bonus: Without having to deal with iTunes. Ever.

So, for me, it would make sense, and as an existing Amazon Prime user, it's just $99.

Will I buy one? No, probably not. I already have all the music I want, and since I already know everything, I don't need a Siri clone.

tanstaafl.

Apparently it is not stereo, but some sort of monophonic 360 degree sound.

With a 2.5" 'woofer'

Still comes with an app and a remote control.

Needs the smartphone to stream music sources other than the few included.


The part that really puts me off is the idea of a device 'constantly listening' to everything that is said in my house.

Not to mention confusing for a household with human (or pet) named Alexa.

Would one Amazon echo unit actually be enough? How many different room situations were shown in the demonstration video?

Ignoring the $100 invitation discount, five units doesn't seem unreasonable to have good coverage (even with the 'far field' eavesdropping technology), especially in the sprawling McMasions that have become so widespread. $1000 for the system - wonder how well it would actually work across multiple units?

I was wondering the same things. Even if you weren't in a "McMansion," you would need a few of these things to cover the areas shown in the video. That family had one in the kitchen, in their living room, and in the master bedroom.


First of all: data minutes?

And none of that is necessary. You can pick up a Moto G for $180, never put it on a data plan, and it'll be capable of everything this thing can do and much more. Plus it has a screen and can be taken anywhere you want. And there's no reason to use iTunes.


There's a short moment in the echo promotional video that sums up the main issue I have with this thing: dad runs in from outside to ask the Echo how tall Mt Everest is. If I want to know that, I can stay outside, press the power button on my phone, and without unlocking it I can say "OK Google, how tall is Mt Everest?" I believe Siri works similarly now. If you already have a smartphone, this thing serves no purpose at all.

I'll just leave this here:
http://www.afr.com/p/national/amazon_and_the_case_of_the_missing_RaTZUQ62PNuA1Mnz01ugaK

Just out of interest how is dealing with criminals who operate on this scale different to buying "I didn't know it was stolen, it was just cheap"-Empegs in the pub?