I tried using Google Now for timers for a while, the amount of times it didn't start properly or you'd say:

"Google Now, Set a timer for..[slight pause]...<How long would>three<you like>minutes<a timer for?> [Pause, pause, pause] Three minutes. Three minutes! Three Fuck<Setting timer for>ing Minutes<three minutes>.

I am now manually inputting timers again.

Yeah, well, don't assume Siri will help you with that. <Long press Home> "What's the..."

"I'm sorry, mikestew, I didn't catch that."

Maybe if you waited more than 2.6 milliseconds for me start flapping my pie hole, you'd have something to catch.

I presume on your phone? I set echo timers/alarms nearly every day and don't think I have ever had to repeat myself. The far-field mics make a huge difference in recognition accuracy when you aren't talking directly into the device.

I like Alexa in the kitchen for shopping lists and some other tasks such as, as you say, converting measurements.

I don't actually care that much for it as a time though. The other timers I can easily set in the kitchen tell me at a glance how much time is left. Alexa I have to ask. These are small things but it means I don't default to using Alexa.

If you only have one timer going and you're watching the clock then it is a bit of a pain.

However when you're preparing a meal or making cookies and you're constantly moving and not watching the clock, just responding to it, it becomes handy. It's also nice to not have to stop and wash your hands to set an egg timer.

I was going to suggest the initial use cases for voice control are summed up as "when your hands are busy not on a keyboard."

HN isn't the best sample group for this, because for most people that's a pretty large amount of the time.

I use the timer feature all the time for kids time outs. I've got four kids, and often need multiple timers. It's perfect because I can set it from the other room while resolving whatever issue sent them away. I do wish it had an "Add 5 minutes" feature though, for every time they come out early.

Billion dollar kitchen timers

You laugh but it is a seriously good thing. I mentioned the 'side project' I had submitted that Google legal had rejected, it was combining Siri with timers and cooking facts as the ultimate kitchen timer. As the GP points out, there are a bazillion factoids you might consult while cooking and a huge win for cooking is having everything come out at the same time (co-ordinating timers) so as an app on your phone following you around in your pocket it can be pretty killer.

Given how badly people screw chicken up on a regular basis, I'm not even seeing the problem here, and I'm usually the one to shout Skynet during an otherwise reasonable discussion on AI.

Fucking up food is a sin.

Dave needs to get a food thermometer.

No. A billion dollar system that is so accessible that it's not even insane to connect a simple kitchen timer to it.

Sci-fi got it wrong with their humorous stupid robots providing comic relief while smart robots do the work. All the robots are the same smart, and getting better every day.

I could see Alexa married to a Kindle with a kickstand being a killer kitchen tool.

Same here. Dot in the kitchen connected to 10" subwoofer+satellites. Spotify/Amazon Music (kids' favourite), setting timers, listening to news in the morning. That's about it. Jokes and calculator sometimes.

I'd like it if the knowledge graph was better, for answering questions. Just wikipedia queries is a bit lame. I think Google Home will win on that one.

Oh, and I'd really, really like to be able to voice call/skype through it (presuming the array mic + software will be able to isolate my voice/remove reverberation well enough).

IM (with TTS) could be fun too

Home automation tasks also tend to lend themselves much better to voice interfaces than touch because voice commands are always available regardless of where you are or what devices you have (or don't have) with you.

I was a huge skeptic of voice assistants before the Echo came along, but being able to turn my lights on and off with a single voice command alone has been more than worth the price of entry for the Echo Dot + TP-Link Smart Switch combo I got for $60.