Re:Amazon Echo
by elektronjunge on Thursday November 06, 2014 @12:55PM
(#8568495)
> I'm reminded that Apple started its move into mobile devices with the iPod (established against a popular yet muddled market of MP3 players) with the brilliant low-friction addition of the iPod Touch (for a tiny bit more get the browser, email, etc), which then led to merely slapping a cell phone module on & creating a plus-sized version.
Huh? The iPod had been popular for years before the introduction of the iPod Touch. The touch also came out after the iPhone. One of the reasons for the success of the iPhone was that the iPod had proved to consumers that apple could make good consumer devices, and that many had music and movie collections locked into the apple ecosystem.
your recollection of events is very different from mine - The iPhone was available months before the iPod touch. Apple started with an expensive device and removed functionality to make the entry level device. They did the same with the iPod - they started with the expensive version and then made the mini, the nano and the shuffle as entry level versions years later.
This device is probably not meant to sell, but to be an experiment and research project. I'd guess they're more interested in what questions people are asking rather than what content people are consuming.
Amazon's prime interest is probably in getting their foot in the door to the virtual assistant space. They can't do it in the phone market yet, because they lack the market share of Google, Apple, and MS. So they try the living room instead.
I think the real place this device will shine is in "homely" environments: kitchens (music and getting questions answered while you cook?), study areas for your kids, maybe even hobby rooms. It's definitely a bit on the steep side, but knowing Amazon, I wouldn't be surprised if the $99 sticks around longer than a "limited time" and the $199 becomes a thing of the past early next year.
Wouldn't consider it at $199, impulse buy at $99.
Re:Amazon Echo
by toomuchtodo on Thursday November 06, 2014 @12:25PM
(#8568214)
Seconded! I always expected my Nest thermostat and Nest protect smoke detectors to turn into Google Now endpoints, but Amazon beat them to it.
Just requested my Echo invite!
I use the crap out of the "OK Google" functionality of my phone, I send voice text messages more than typed by an order of 3 to 1. I am very excited for this.
Mine always sends text messages incorrectly as it doesn't add + at the beginning of a number; I have a number beginning with 07 or 447 for mobile here in the UK, yet it doesn't correctly set this.
The SMS app works fine on the same phone.
At $199 it's too pricy for most, given the untested/unfamiliar niche. At $99 (select Prime members), some of is might give it a chance. I'm reminded that Apple started its move into mobile devices with the iPod (established against a popular yet muddled market of MP3 players) with the brilliant low-friction addition of the iPod Touch (for a tiny bit more get the browser, email, etc), which then led to merely slapping a cell phone module on & creating a plus-sized version. This device, however, isn't (corrections welcome) building off anything people are already familiar with, save perhaps "bluetooth speakers".
Will be interesting to watch. I assume Amazon's prime interest is gathering more about what content people actually consume, and (if implemented well) observing shopping lists. I'm intrigued by the casual simplicity of "add _____ to my shopping list", something I could get used to fast.
ETA: you're right, iPod Touch came out shortly after iPhone. I was enthralled with the former at the time, while the latter was far enough out of my price range I didn't even bother paying any attention to it.