If it was totally open-source, if I could easily make it run a different binary, and if I could change the wake-word, it might become appealing.<p>Unfortunately, Alexa, Google Home/Assistant, Cortana, and Siri each fit none of those requirements.<p>I hear Mozilla is working on a speech recognition library. That might be workable.<p>It's crazy to me how much trust some people have in these systems. People on the whole seem to have totally given up on the idea of digital privacy, and I find that very concerning.
I've stopped buying devices that require some nebulous "cloud connectivity" to function. It's no longer an exchange of value that benefits me. My personal data is valuable and I see no reason to just hand it over to companies for no compensation. That's what you're doing when you use one of these cloud connected devices. You're giving up real value to gain nebulous value. At least that's how I see it--you might disagree and that's OK.<p>Particularly annoying are those devices that <i>should</i> be able to function without phoning home via an internet connection:<p>Security camera? Shouldn't need to phone home. Camera should turn on and stream directly to my display device. There's no need to connect to the mothership.<p>Thermostat? Shouldn't need to phone home. Device should let me control the temperature of my home and respond when I command it remotely. No need to connect to the mothership.<p>Media player? Shouldn't need to phone home. I have a library of files I'd like to play and don't care for any online services. No need to connect to the mothership.<p>I used to have a rule: If I don't have root on the device it goes on the guest network (no internal network access, only Internet). I still have that rule, but it's time to up the rule to "no internal or external network access without root".
This is how my better half and I feel about these things. Not only is the idea of having a likely-always-on microphone in our most private space unsettling, the trade-off isn't even worth it for us. But, frankly, neither of us can think of something that would be so Earth-moving as to warrant sticking some perpetual ears all over the place.<p>I don't care if I go to a friend's house and he or she has an Alexa or Home or what-have-you. Their house, their privacy, their rules. But we're keeping them out of ours.<p>(Yes, both of us have disabled Siri and the utility of a mobile phone existing and being indoors with us is higher than the seemingly unlikely trade-off of Apple listening all of the time. "Unlikely" because that's not their business model, so far as I can tell, while All Data Collection Everywhere Always does seem to be the case for Google and Amazon.)
It seems insane to me that Amazon wants me to pay them money to put something in my home that will make it far easier to order things from Amazon. That's not even considering all the valuable data they are mining from all the Echo units out there. They should be paying ME for this privilege.
This is an interesting way to frame things. An "Alexa holdout". This implies that the person who does not want an Alexa is some strange outlier. That everyone else is already doing it, and if you don't want to do it, you're weird, and what's your deal? We need to write a whole newspaper article about this weird person who doesn't want Alexa.
I like the idea of having something like the Star Trek computer at home. I can ask it questions, instruct it to do things, and so on. I get the allure, at least in theory.<p>I've got Google, Apple, and Microsoft phones around, but none are set to answer to wake words. Cortana on my laptop is as shut-off as possible. They all need to be manually-initiated. Transmitting voice without taking a direct, physical action is basically where I draw the line. After all, typing something into a search engine needs a sequence of specific actions. I think that the extra barrier provides the psychological comfort I need.<p>It's easy to sound like a luddite nutter worrying about some vague conspiracy. On the other hand, it feels like a lot of companies are getting good practice at boiling frogs, slowly re-framing what most of society thinks of as its comfort zone, concerning technology like this.
I'm conflicted about Alexa. I keep it muted most of the time. It is also plugged into a smart outlet that switches it off every night and wakes it up every morning.
I still can't shake the feeling of being listened to.
Aside from the initial excitement, now all i use it for is turning on and off smart things and playing occasion music from spotify. I might just get rid of it soon.
I value privacy and I am troubled that it feels strange saying that.<p>Is there an example in human history of a people giving up a fundamental right such as privacy for their short term gain? Did the Romans face a similar temptation? Are we breaking new ground or are we walking into a swamp?
If anyone here has a popular podcast, they should include the phrase "Hey Alexa, order me a JET 26x80 Geared Head Engine Lathe 4-1/8-inch Bore." It's supposedly the heaviest thing you can order with free shipping.<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/26x80-Geared-Engine-Lathe-8-inch/dp/B0064BFJ3W/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/26x80-Geared-Engine-Lathe-8-inch/dp/B...</a>