Amazon's Alexa Passes 15,000 skills, Up From 10,000 in February (techcrunch.com)

As more and more companies get into the smart speaker game, a new report shows just how much ground they have to make up to catch Amazon's digital assistant, Alexa. From a report: Amazon's Alexa voice platform has now passed 15,000 skills -- the voice-powered apps that run on devices like the Echo speaker, Echo Dot, newer Echo Show and others. The figure is up from the 10,000 skills Amazon officially announced back in February, which had then represented a 3x increase from September. The new 15,000 figure was first reported via third-party analysis from Voicebot, and Amazon has since confirmed the figure. According to Voicebot, which only analyzed skills in the U.S., the milestone was reached for the first time on June 30, 2017. During the month of June, new skill introductions increased by 23 percent, up from the less than 10 percent growth that was seen in each of the prior three months.

Comments

Awesome.

[sunking2]

You know, like numchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills!

Re:Awesome.

[mfh]

I get that you're joking but the erosion of our language to this pseudo-marketing language is devolving us completely as a species.

No corporation can deny the meaning of common words.

Skill is not the same as "number of apps interfacing with a hardware system," and this perversion of language continues to be tolerated.

Corporations want this because it means they can make a word mean whatever will benefit them the most, either to limit their own culpability or to trigger a buying response.

Amazon wants to take the word "skills" and apply it to "app-count" but if this was truly an amazing product, it would work on every app and not require special coding just to get it to work.

Re:Awesome.

[__aaclcg7560]

If you want to impress the ladies, making awesome deviled eggs during the holiday season is the skill to learn. One year I made 17 dozen deviled eggs for a half-dozen holiday parties. I was the most popular guy at every party.

Re:Awesome.

[__aaclcg7560]

And learn to dance, the ladies love it when you can get up and dance with them.

Another useful skill. The first time I learned how to dance was when my date taught me the moves to "YMCA" by the Village People.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QINoUyrP0BI

Re:Awesome.

[XxtraLarGe]

You know, like numchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills!

Yeah, but can it draw a Liger, known for its skills in magic?

Re:Awesome.

[Wootery]

I agree this choice of words is particularly insufferable.

I don't follow Amazon's Alexa, so I had no idea what TFS was trying to say.

It would have done better to put 'skills' (apps) rather than simply misusing the word the way Amazon do.

Re:Awesome.

[mfh]

Really interesting choice of words since Apple decided that they can 'make a word mean whatever will benefit them the most' when they changed 'app' from being an appearance in a sport to 'software interfacing with a hardware system.' In riling against the practice you subtly reinforce it. Bravo!

Slow down cowboy!

App is short for application. Apps is the plural. You got this wrong totally. If Apple uses the term APPS, they are merely using the general term with the happy coincidence that it includes the first three letters of their company name.

How many of you remember WAREZ APPS? Apple wasn't even a thing back then for most of us. :D

Re:Awesome.

[Waffle Iron]

Skills skills are more skillful then LUDDITE apps! Only LUDDITE appsters lack skill skills!

Skilly skill SKILLS!

Re:Awesome.

[__aaclcg7560]

Bitches love a man who can spend two hours in the kitchen.

All the men in my family are cooks. It's the only way to avoid food poisoning, as girls today don't take home economic classes in school.

[...] an unlikable shitstain.

You're thinking of Chris Christie. When he came up on the news during Fourth of July, I've told my friends that he reportedly weighed 320 pounds. Everyone knows I'm 350 pounds. My friends couldn't believe that I was slimmer than the governor even though I weighed more. As I pointed out, muscle weighs more than fat..

Re:Awesome.

[mfh]

User was friended for this comment. :D

Re:Awesome.

[kwbauer]

So, we are complaining that Apple is using "app" as an abbreviation for "application" because "app" was previously used in some box scores as an abbreviation for "appearances"?

I am assuming that the very fact that we have 2 words (in English) to describe the various ways that the a word can have multiple meanings (one for if they sound the same and one for if they sound different), that this phenomenon is not restricted to Apple and Applebees (free apps after 10 or whenever).

Re:Awesome.

[__aaclcg7560]

1) [...] is 6'9, 385-ish pounds [...]

Why are you comparing me to someone who 10" taller and 35 pounds heavier than me? Chris Christie is a better comparison because we're the same height and similar weight range. Except he's an obvious butterball and I'm obviously not.

2) YOU claim you eat 15% of that caloric intake, but manage to somehow maintain some ridiculously high muscle mass with an occasional jog-walk on a treadmill and some seated rows.

And I'm slimmer than Chris Christie even though I'm 30 pounds heavier.

Re:Awesome.

[__aaclcg7560]

Yes, let's take advice from the obese middle-aged kissless virgin.

Kissless? Phftt.... please.

Re:Awesome.

[Martin Blank]

Title case in headlines isn't new. A check of the New York Times headlines from a random date (April 7, 1936) shows that they used title case back then.

Re: Awesome.

[KGIII]

Really?

I am not sure if you're able to be that dumb and still find Slashdot. I will assume you're trolling, which is better than the alternative assumption.

Re: Awesome.

[KGIII]

The first dance, in part, you learned to do. Sorry for the correction but it kinda matters - at least to me.

You almost certainly haven't learned to dance. You certainly didn't learn 'a first time' of how to dance. That's okay, really. You learned to give in time, r you did not. Professional dancers are the exception.

I used to make extra money by playing in a band. I'm long since retired. However, there is no first time one is taught to dance. Once learned, it is not forgotten and learned anew. However, new specific moves may be learned.

Can you count? The most difficult count you may have to do is count from 1 to 12 - assuming Western music of all types. Kinda like how we eventually standardized on 440 = A, we have a limited number of BPM.

Follow the drum, and wiggle in time to that. There... You're now dancing. Jam band? Dig a hole by walking back and forth. Trance? Throw in a step to alternating sides and keep your arms synchronized. Rock? Keep your feet in the same range and work in a small circle.

Etc...

I can play loads of musical instruments, but I have never taken a formal dance lesson while sober. (Long story...) I have danced on five continents and haven't ever known the proper way to dance. I can fake a waltz and probably a few tango steps, for example.

The whole point is learn to count and then wiggle in time with that count. Even on stage, I'm counting too. Just wiggle in time and few will know the difference, 'cause they aren't professional dances themselves. If you can count, you can dance. I have to believe you can coun to 12. If you can't, three fours make a twelve.

Just wiggle in time. I have seriously danced on five continents. I am also not even remotely a dancer. I've even danced to aboriginal music, of many types. Didn't care, had fun.

Seriously, wiggle in time with the music. Have confidence that yo can count to 12. You can even do something like stop-motion photography and make your dance moves look like you're burying a body, nobody will be the wiser. Just wiggle in time.

Err... I've taken t recording lately. I'd be happy to show you what I play. I am trained as a classical guitarist, but took many years in percussion. Just learn to count. You can, with practice, take cues from the band.

Then, you can write a book on dancing.

Skills?

[Luthair]

I've never been able to convince anyone that farting is a skill.

Re:Skills?

[Topwiz]

I was wondering if one of those "skills" is that it would laugh whenever someone in the room farted.

Re:Skills?

[Big Hairy Ian]

This guys quite talented https://www.google.co.uk/url?s...

Re:Skills?

[Rockoon]

Farting is easy.

Blowing that excess pressure out the other end on the other hand...

Self programming.

[Anonymous Coward]

Post when I can say, "Computer, analyze the data from the census bureau and tell me what counties in the USA grew the fastest over the one hundred years. Make it so."

"Computer, write me a video game where I can beat up CNN reporters and as I gain points, I become bigger and so does my hair but my fingers become shorter. The final prize is winning the tall beautiful Slovakian super model."

Only 42% malware

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> Amazon's Alexa voice platform (now has) 15,000...apps

And only 42% of them are malware.

Re:Only 42% malware

[EvilSS]

>> Amazon's Alexa voice platform (now has) 15,000...apps And only 42% of them are malware.

Source?

Re:Only 42% malware

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> Source?

Same place the monkeys flew from, my friend.

Re:Only 42% malware

[Darinbob]

If it's anything like smart phones, where 5 apps out of 5 million are useful, then Alexa probably doesn't even have 1 useful skill.

It's a proprietary system

[Anonymous Coward]

Why are you people working for free to further Amazon's ambitions?

Re:It's a proprietary system

[Darinbob]

It's what slashdot is now. So many of us have adblock on that they've resorted to opening up the firehose to advertisers.

Real reason for expansion

[frank_adrian314159]

Amazon's Alexa voice platform has now passed 15,000 skills...

...and only 14500 of them start with "buy: or "purchase" .

Still Can't understand what I say...

[Oswald McWeany]

15,000 skills and still misunderstands what I tell it 75% of the time.

Alexa's inability to understand an English accent is matched only by operators of fast-food drive thru restaurants in the US.

how to monetize?

[trybywrench]

I did a skill to get a t-shirt back when they were running that promotion. I would like to write more but how do you monetize skills? Last I checked there's not like a "skill store" or anything.

I have an echo dot and I love it but just use it for news and timers more or less. It's useful when you have kids because you use it for timeouts hah "Alexa! set a timer for 10 minutes!". I also use it for music but not very much since the dot speaker isn't all that great.

Number Headlines

[Dripdry]

I'm often wary of headlines touting numbers. Doubly so when it involves a product, trebly so with anything political.

Oh yay, 15,000 apps (apps!) that aren't terribly useful. Very droll....

Age of consent

[PopeRatzo]

Do any of you know if the Alexa AI has yet reached the equivalent mental age of a 16 year old? Asking for a friend.

WTF?

[DogDude]

I read the article, and I still have no idea what this article means. What the fuck does "skill" mean in this context?

Re:WTF?

[Rockoon]

It means the other "personal assistants" are beating it in functionality, so every little thing on the amazon device is declared a "skill"

Re:WTF?

[kwbauer]

Is Amazon trying to have Alexa have the same functionality as all "personal assistants"? I'm not sure I want a personal assistant with the capabilities of Bill Clinton's.

Re:who gives a shit if they are all shit

[__aaclcg7560]

If you have a smart TV with a built-in video camera, you can be visually expressive to the spy in your house.

Re:The solution is simple...

[Oswald McWeany]

... Learn you to speak right, hon.

I'll say, though, that the problem is with the general population; try being an American visiting a local fish-and-chips establishment in England—man, your lower classes are a rough and inscrutable bunch!

I'm no "Lord of the Manor"; but, I believe my speech to be well annunciated and clear. (Just not an American accent). Even domestically, some of us have problems understanding people from some of the various regions.

A southerner might have difficulty understanding some of the people from Liverpool or Newcastle.

still mostly useless

[syrupdude]

and still it remains mostly useless. I say this not as a troll, but as a paying customer.
If I wanted to use the Alexa app for every goddammed thing I asked, I wouldn't have spent the money to begin with.

Yeah, but

[wonkey_monkey]

Doesn't mean most of them aren't shit. There's one that reads out Zoidberg quotes, and another that plays firework noises. Yay.

Re:The solution is simple...

[anybody_out_there]

I'm no "Lord of the Manor"; but, I believe my speech to be well annunciated and clear.

Are you the town crier? Are your annunciations well enunciated?

Do you affect people such that it has a positive effect on them?

(I'm sure I'll pay the price for being a silly pendant; where's that preview button? ;-) )

Re:The solution is simple...

[kwbauer]

So, you admit to having trouble understanding your own countrymen but complain that Americans have problems not understanding foreigners? Something seems just a tad off here. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly seems wrong about your attitude but maybe somebody else can.

Re: The solution is simple...

[KGIII]

You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into. Like most people, they believe they represent the norm, and maybe even the ideal. If the app has difficulty understanding them, it surely has nothing to do with their own shortcomings, but is the fault of others - including entire nationalities, even if our accents also vary greatly.

I kinda doubt they will be along to mention that they are grateful for you having given them the chance to learn. Call it a hunch, but it seems unlikely that they will do so.