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TV News Broadcast Accidentally Activates Alexa, Initiates Orders (cw6sandiego.com)
ShaunC writes: In San Diego, TV news anchor Jim Patton was covering a separate story about a child who accidentally ordered a doll house using her family's Echo. Commenting on the story, Patton said "I love the little girl, saying 'Alexa ordered me a dollhouse.'" Viewers across San Diego reported that in response to the news anchor's spoken words, their own Echo devices activated and tried to order doll houses from Amazon. Amazon says that anyone whose Echo inadvertently ordered a physical item can return it at no charge.
Meanwhile, Engadget reports that a team of Twitch streamers has convinced one Google Home device to answer questions from another, and they're livestreaming the surreal conversation.
Meanwhile, Engadget reports that a team of Twitch streamers has convinced one Google Home device to answer questions from another, and they're livestreaming the surreal conversation.
It's more like the little girl told the echo what it wanted for Christmas or something and the news caster paraphrased.
In case he wasn't though, Amazon's own voice ordering fact page says that when you attempt to order something it searches
in an attempt to find/idntify what you ordered. If a dollhouse was on the Amazon's Choice list, it would have been ordered under this policy.
What gives me pause - is it really such an inconvenience to open a browser and, like, click a single button? I'm no technophobe, but I am against the misapplication of technology. I guess Alexia and Siri and the like are OK if one is a paraplegic or otherwise unable to use their hands.
Other than my grand nieces shouting cute things at Siri to see what happens... it simply strikes me as flash and little substance.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
Consumers love this stuff though, they cannot see anything wrong with the one-button-buy-without-approval until something like this happens. Seriously how lazy do fat Americans have to be that they need voice activated Amazon purchases because it takes too much energy to use the computer?