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Running AI is so expensive that Amazon will probably charge you to use Alexa in future, says outgoing exec
(www.businessinsider.com)
this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2023
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Alexa is more like a telemarketer disguised as an assistant. Every interaction is followed by a “by the way . Its a shit experience so I stopped using mine.
Alexa was designed explicitly for that purpose. They lose money on every Echo sold, the whole idea was they would make money selling you stuff. Turns out people would rather use their Echo to check the weather, get recipes, etc. rather than voice shop.
I just can’t see a use case for voice shopping. There are almost zero instances where I want to buy something without having a visual of that thing in front of me at time of purchase.
I could possibly see something like “buy another stick of deodorant”, but even then I want to see if there are deals or some other options and would want to check the price at a minimum.
Seems like yet another MBA idea.
Yeah it seems the execs who had the idea for Alexa never used Amazon for shopping. It's a shit shopping site full of scammy products. I'd never buy anything from them without checking out the prices reviews, etc.
It's really only good for re-ordering things you've already ordered. It will let you know that it found something in your order history and then you can decide whether you want to order again.
And this makes sense, but I’d still want to check prices to make sure that my $3 deodorant didn’t get discontinued and priced at $30/stick.
Well you think this way because you've seen what happened to Amazon in the past 10 years. 10 years ago, when they were getting ready to launch the Echo, Amazon was a great retailer that people trusted. Now a decade of sellers gaming listings and reviews, and Amazon customer service deteriorating, we've been trained not to trust Amazon's defaults.
Ha, I use mine almost exclusively as a light switch. I don't have to get out of bed to turn off my lights or turn on my fan. I'm sure they're losing a bunch of money on me
And they also have smart lights and phone apps that do the same thing.
It's a great lightswitch. Also, thermostat adjustor (my husband is very particular and changes it about a dozen times a day).
It's also good for setting a timer. But yeah, I'm not buying shit from it.
I use mine to stream spotify.
Setting all my Alexa's to UK English got rid of all marketing "by the ways." I still regret going with the Alexa ecosystem but at least for now there is a workaround for the most rage inducing part of it.
By the way, did you know that you can find out more about telemarketing with an audio book from audible on the subject. Would you like to hear a preview of that now?