Do I have our evasdropping corporate overlord's names correct?

and I bet you never bitch about lsu on here

I got mine when they were $99. Would i spend $180? Probably not. I haven't used it for very much. The wink integration is a neat trick, but with everything automated, i haven't had to issue voice commands too often. Others use it all the time for wink commands. The tasker project is cool for the ability to actually unlock the schlage. The alexa integration is an added bonus.

Now, once i get my living room automated, i could see me using alexa a lot more to control the lighting and fans.


Eta: you can pick one at HD when you go look for the 1/2 off gocontrol stuff...more and more people are finding them discounted

I have an echo and I like it. MrsWafer is pregnant so now she can turn things in the living room and kitchen off and on without having to get up (or call to me to get up and do it). I have it set up with a smartthings hub.

Like it so far. I ask it about the weather every morning too.

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When and how are these frickers listening?

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The device always listening and the cloud it's connected to always listening have to be 2 separate things. Even on a home network where data usage isn't a concern, they have to have a list of code words they trigger, otherwise the mountain of data is too big and full of noise. Also, I think it's important to know their motivations.

Amazon want's to sell you stuff, so they probably are/will be listening for brands and products.

Google wants to sell you to advertisers, so they care about a lot more like what you're watching, who you talk to etc.

I'm not sure Apple and Microsoft know what they want out of you. Their primary business is selling an ecosystem that knowing more about you doesn't help other than providing a good experience. For example, in the newest version of iOS that dropped a few months ago, they have a "Siri Suggestions" screen that lists contacts and apps. Most of the time it lists recently used apps, but there are occasions where a combination of time and location (even within my house) seemed to change what apps are suggested. It was actually pretty cool that my Sleep Sound app was suggested when I went near the bed around bed time to charge my phone. I wasn't going to sleep yet, but nice try Siri.


Amazon and Google probably have the most desire for personal knowledge about us, but they also have the most motivation to hoard and protect that information. So while they might end up being the most creepy, they probably are the ones worth trusting the most with that information. The real threat to our privacy isn't the company we know is listening to us, it's hackers and governments finding a way to access that data.

Like in the snowden docs where the NSA was laughing about how they intercepted deliveries of Google servers, installed their snooping devices and sent the machines merrily on their way to corrupt the entire Google farm?

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How is this stuff any different than having your cell phone on you at all points in time?

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if you have an ipad, a couple of PCs, an echo and any type of android device that's 4x as many different 'clouds' capturing everything you say in private and storing it where da feds could be listening.

way worse than getting online and posting a death threat against a government employee IMO because who really worries about what you say in the privacy of your home or jokes you crack.

but of course, i'm an old man worrying about nothing here.

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Like the Chinese play jokes by putting pee pee in our cokes?

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So glad I stopped drinking softdrinks