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Sonos To Launch a Wireless Speaker That Would Support Multiple Voice Assistants (yahoo.com)
Sonos, a mid- to high-end speaker manufacturer, released an updated privacy policy for its speakers that almost certainly confirms that the company will release a speaker with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant built into the device in the near term. From a report: Though many devices that integrate with Alexa have been announced and are starting to come to market, this is one of the higher-profile examples and could be instructive for smart-speaker designers. The company first announced its intention to add voice-assistant integration to its speakers over a year ago, but didn't give any specific time frame for that step. And an FCC filing from the company that surfaced a few weeks ago showed that it is looking into systems that would support multiple voice assistants, so a user could potentially have the option to choose between Amazon's Alexa or Google's Assistant, depending on what other devices they own and what platform they prefer.
its been said before that AI and devops and the internet of things will all someday obsolete jobs like system administration and software development, but thats only if youre too myopic to see what all this crap really is. In 10 years ill still be a linux sysadmin because most of the office is incapable of interacting with technology at an academic level anymore. despite countless code camps and STEM horse-whipping, the average user will remain. Users dont want cloud SAAS, they dont want to learn PHP, they dont care about systemd. We're talking about the average jane doe or joe, face down in their cellphone in traffic, incapable of using a turn signal, and powerless to do so much as set the clock on the microwave. They want windows to update automatically but cant understand why it has to interrupt their facebook. And most importantly, theyre all perfectly content to log into facebook, post all their pictures, share all their personal preferences, and spend the day barking into a pastic talking tube they call "artificial intelligence."
/.ers and engineers will have the same work we always have. We will be tasked with keeping up appearances as it were. we'll still be "the cloud" and "AI" for the user because its cheaper than spending 60 years undoing user culture and challenging right-to-repair/DMCA. Sure, we'll get TV shows about hackers like mr robot and ncis, but we'll always have things like big bang to quietly remind us that society, average society, truly has no concept of any of the work we do.
all the while,
Good people go to bed earlier.
Why would I want a device listening to everything in my home? Why would I want speakers that integrate such an unwanted feature? Why would I want speakers that can just stop working if I don't go along with their new privacy policy (which no speakers should ever have or need). This product line is on my never buy list, that's for certain.
If you sell a computer that the user cannot control, and which constantly runs malicious software,
call it a "telephone" because telephones aren't threatening like computers are.
If you sell a constantly-enabled microphone that sends everything to some central headquarters,
call it a "speaker" because speakers aren't threatening like microphones are.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Signed, Ministry of Truth.