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Amazon's Next Big Bet is Letting You Communicate Without a Smartphone, Says Alexa's Chief Scientist (cnbc.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The next big function to take off on Amazon's Echo devices will be voice or video calling -- which is a way Alexa can reduce the need to have your smartphone on your at all times, said Rohit Prasad, VP and Head Scientist at Alexa Machine Learning. "If you have not played with calling and the video calls on Echo Show, you should try it because that is revolutionizing how you can communicate," Prasad said in an exclusive interview with CNBC at an Alexa Accelerator event in Seattle Tuesday night. (The event is dedicating to developing new voice-powered technologies.) "When you can drop in on people who have given you access -- so I can drop in and call my mom in her kitchen without her picking any device -- it's just awesome." (Amazon added the ability to call mobile numbers and landlines for free onto Echo devices a few weeks ago.) Amazon doesn't have a smartphone that lets customers bring a digital assistant everywhere -- like Apple's Siri and Google's Assistant -- and communicating through Alexa devices is one way of reducing the need for a personal handset, Prasad said "I can easily drop in and talk to my kids," Prasad says. "They don't have a smartphone so that's my easiest way to talk to them. It's yet another area where Alexa is taking the friction away."
Needs are things like water, food, shelter and clothing.
This "need" for a smartphone is more accurately described as Fear Of Missing Out. And, like the monster under the bed that little kids are afraid of, is entirely manufactured in your own mind. Humans survived for millions of years without the "need" for a smartphone at all times. It's probably healthier to leave the thing at home from time to time and enjoy a walk outside, a good book, and being out of touch.
I am continually baffled by the number of people mindlessly signing up for an active listening (and soon, viewing) device in their homes.
I'm not. It's convenient. We have an Echo in the house and the shop. I have a Google Home as well that we're trying out.
I also grew up with 1984 but always assumed unless I took precautions otherwise, someone was listening. Always. Maybe it's because I had nutty conspiracy theorist friends in HS (When 'conspiracy theory' was the CIA is listening, not Chemtrail Gay Frogs).
Even if both devices were actually twice as good as they were they're not hard to outsmart and avoid. It also lets our household blend in with the noise. Amazon (and the CIA) is more than welcome to know how many times my son listens to Thomas and Friends theme song, how many kitchen timers we set and when we turn on and off the lights.
IF I was planning something it's not that hard to go off grid. You'd think users of Slashdot would know how to setup a VPS in a foreign country accessed only through TOR. NextCloud, IRC servers. Hell a shared document in /tmp that everyone just typed plans into. Just for fun I've set up hidden TOR services: IMAP mail, nginx website, IRC server, PGP keyserver. If you're not sure if you're being infiltrated setup IRL keysigning parties and setup a web of trust.
So yeah. Hi NSA. Hi CIA. Hi Russia. I know you're listening. I've always thought you were and always lived my life accordingly.
Did Orwell's 1984 stop being a basic high school literature requirement in the last 20 years?
Generation X saw the birth of the internet. They remember and understand the value of privacy. The inherent risks of dismissing privacy and security online were not well known, but as time went on, they became aware. In the early days, dismissing risk was demonstrating ignorance.
Millennials/Gen Z grew up in the internet era. They've seen the repeated hacks and attacks against privacy and security. They are fully aware of the risks and impact. The IDGAF generation simply doesn't care. The younger generation who dismisses risk today is demonstrating willful ignorance.
Not only is Privacy dead, but the demand for Privacy is as well.
I am continually baffled by the number of people mindlessly signing up for an active listening (and soon, viewing) device in their homes.
You can just see the incremental push for "new applications" which will ultimately require continuous listening, viewing and remote transcription.
I stopped trying to understand the inherent stupidity in willful ignorance. In the immortal words of Vizzini, it's inconceivable. It can be easily defined in two words today, and follows every EULA that is blindly accepted; I Agree.
Despite privacy concerns, we bought an Echo for my father-in-law who is over 90 years old and lives alone in another city. It is there so he can say, "Alexa, call whats-his-name," even if he had fallen and couldn't get up (sorry, Clapper).