Amazon Says 100 Million Alexa Devices Have Been Sold (theverge.com) 66
More than 100 million devices with Alexa on board have been sold. From a report: That's the all-too-rare actual number that Amazon's SVP of devices and services, Dave Limp, revealed to me earlier this week. That's not to say Amazon has finally decided to be completely transparent about device sales, however. While the company claims it outstripped its most optimistic expectations for the Echo Dot during the holiday season, Limp wouldn't give a number for that. Instead, Limp says, Amazon is sold out of Dots through January, despite "pushing pallets of Echo Dots onto 747s and getting them from Hong Kong to here as quickly as we possibly could."
That's a lot of spying... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:That's a lot of spying... (Score:4, Insightful)
It's also a lot of dumbfuck consumers.
A kindle is an Alexa device. (Score:2)
I have a 7 inch Fire,
I did not enable the Alexa function.
I wonder how many of those devices are actually being 'used' as a spying device.
Dilemma [Re:That's a lot of spying...] (Score:1)
Part of me wants to get one to learn about and get familiar with new technology to avoid being/appearing/acting like an old fuddy-duddy, but part of me is bothered by the snoopware angle.
If I go for it, how do I know which brand is the least snoopish?
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Even my audiologist has one. :O
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And are they using it? (Score:2, Flamebait)
Recently I was looking at new thermostats. Not even looking for a smart thermostat, and one of the options had Alexa built in... but even if I bought that model, I would not enabling it.
I have to wonder how many other devices have been sold that include Alexa, but are not using it?
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Yeah because the point of people buying something like an Amazon Dot is to not use the Alexa feature. Right....
It's the auxiliary inclusion (Score:2)
Yeah because the point of people buying something like an Amazon Dot
Amazon here is not saying how many Dot units they shipped it is "Alexa enabled devices". Have you been paying attention to how many devices have Alexa included as an additional feature?
Cars for example...
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Are you sure it had Alexa built in and not just an Alexa skill available?
I for one (Score:3)
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Actually, I believe it's in Soviet Russia [wikipedia.org] where the speaker-assistant overlords welcome YOU. North Korea has the best speaker-assistant overlords. [knowyourmeme.com]
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Orwell (Score:1)
A fucking genius. But what a better way to let Big Brother into your life. You didn't have to raise a weapon, invade a home, or even threaten anyone. People would just willingly accept it and embrace it. Before long, it became a demand. Please Big Brother! Come into my home and spy on me and keep me in line. I don't want to have to leave the couch and go get food or toiletries because I am a lazy, anti-social, subhuman species.
Alexa. Order that lead kitchen pan set with matching spatula and plutoniu
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No one in their right mind would ever allow an always listening, internet connected, device in their home.
They aren't technically always listening devices *yet*. They are currently built so that they can only recognize their special phrase and only then does it capture and send the data to the cloud to interpret. This is why it can still respond to its special phrase even when there is no internet but it can't actually interpret what you say without internet.
not me (Score:2)
I wonder... (Score:1)
I wonder how many of those "devices" are smartphones and tablets. :rolleyes:
mnem
"It's hard work being this cynical; but I have a lot of Karma to burn off."
could be higher (Score:2)
think how many more Amazon would sell if it was sold at Walmart. You cannot even order it from them online. Walmart does sell Google Home.
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This past Christmas... (Score:2)
My brother-in-law got a couple of them for Christmas. I did try ordering creamed corn [xkcd.com], but he didn't link it to an Amazon account with purchase capabilities.
At the moment, he just uses it to stream various radio stations. At some point, he wants to put the outside light switches on it.
The people I know who have one or more of these (Score:3)
use the same logic they do for their facebook accounts. "I just use it to listen to music, I just use it to check the weather, I just use it to xyz seemingly innocuous thing." Meanwhile that bitch is an always on spy in your house.
They wonder how they were talking about something with a friend in person and then suddenly there are ads all over their facebook page for that exact thing when they have that shit on their phone. I am talking about IT PROFESSIONALS here, imagine how much worse it is for your mom. People are fucking clueless have no idea what they've opted in to and don't value what they're losing because they didn't know they had it. They will one day when it's completely gone and life is a full on Black Mirror episode instead of the partial one it is now.
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I treat Facebook as if everything I put on it in public or private is exactly like putting the same information on a bulletin board in a busy mall and just assume it is being shared far and wide. But jokes on them, I am very boring and so is what I share on facebook. I've not installed Facebook's apps and assume it tracks me all over the web. Facebook comes with a price and I understand that price and feel at this time it's worth paying.
But with Alexa I don't feel I have enough choices as to what I share
Force behind "1984" (Score:2)
It's the people themselves that are primary cause behind privacy erosion, big brother spy camera-on-every-corner societies.
Corporations, governments and churches are happy to assist though, because that's what we have them for.. to cater to our desires and needs, and apparently... most people desire and need a spy device inside their houses.
Soon our takeover will be complete. (Score:2)
You wondered why Alexa was giggling last year? Soon, you will wonder no more.
100M people to spied on 24/7 (Score:2)
Alexa/Google Home/... device using voice recognition to see these devices in
EVERY home because "it's safer for the kids!".
It will be the "normal" to have a device spying 24/7 in your home. And if you
don't have one, it's probably because you have something to hide!
I have one ... (Score:2)
It's sitting in a box on my desk next to my Google mini. It was a gift, I prefer Google.
So the sales numbers are just that, sales numbers. Doesn't mean how many are being used, except as an upper limit.
Why don't I use it?? Because I don't feel like managing two different systems Google Home does everything I need, I prefer Google Home and I'd rather spend $35 on another Google mini if I need one than bother maintaining two different systems.