Amazon Alexa is a “colossal failure,” on pace to lose $10 billion this year

[hegemony]

Amazon Alexa is a “colossal failure,” on pace to lose $10 billion this year

 

 

imagine that! it is hard to monetize "hey Alexa, how far away is Uranus?" or "call Mike Hunt"

Edited November 22, 2022 by hegemony

[Krish]

only time I use alexa is "When is my package coming"...

 

I have Siri on phone which is almost crappy, google waking up at odd times to say crap..

 

Too many of these listening to us every day and none can give exactly what we want.. I for one, would like one of these devices to tell me the Lotto number, for once 🙂

[A Credit Ed]

7 hours ago, Krish said:

I for one, would like one of these devices to tell me the Lotto number

That's easy — "Siri, what were yesterday's Powerball numbers?" 

[Bad Doctor Frost]

I'm a Google house. I've had Google phones since the Nexus came out about a decade ago. I have a Google device in nearly every room (including bathrooms, that's normal...), and I was able to get my company to pay for the latest wired doorbell and Google smoke/CO2 alarms under the name of "home security." I've gotten really used to just shouting at Google to do what I want done in my house, from turning on lights to changing the temperature or listening to music. I have an Alexa that SiriusXM gave to me a few years ago but...the only thing I use it for is to tell me my notifications so the damn yellow ring goes away after a delivery.

[hdporter]

Bev was the culprit who invited Alexa in for a stay.  She's better than a pet, to the extent that you don't have to feed it and it doesn't shed hair, but largely it has an innocuous presence.

 

Still, when Bev took the initiative to buy Hue devices to control the lamps in the bedroom, living room, rec room, etc., I was thrilled to no longer have to fumble for switches.  And it's great to retire to bed and turn lighting off (or on) across the whole house.

 

Alexa understands me perfectly when I speak in a calm clear voice.  However, she stumbles with Bev.  Bev in turn treats her like someone who doesn't quite understand English and thinks that by shouting, instead, comprehension will improve.

 

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I'm reminded of an incident in 1985, pre-Bev's move in, when I was in Hong Kong and toured the mainland, acquiring the company of a young Taiwanese woman en route to Canada for business, during the day's activities.  We were both staying in the Hyatt Regency in Kowloon.  After dinner, we returned to Kowloon by ferry and, not quite grasping where we arrived vs the Hyatt's location, got in a taxi and requested a ride.

 

I give the driver our destination and he put on a face that he didn't understand.  I repeated, with the same reception.  At this point my companion emphasized our destination, calling loudly, "HI-RYAT RHEE-JEN-SHY!"  "HI-RYAT RHEE-JEN-SHY!"  We gave up in frustration and, only then, consulted our map to see if it was walk-able (mind you, we had consumed a good quantity of wine).  Turned out the hotel was just around the corner, two blocks away!  (Hence the driver's unwillingness to "understand")

 

(btw, no amusement at the pronunciation intended; just recreating the moment as best I can )

 

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Alexa fails in offering compelling reasons to use the device. 

 

I do love putting on some meditative music or nature sounds in our bedroom when I want a non-chemical sleep aid, and the fact that it pairs with a quality Bose speaker is a delight.  And it's nifty that we're audibly alerted to the Amazon shipments that typically arrive 2 or 3 times a week so that we can promptly retrieve them.  Alexa is also handy at setting up an impromptu voice reminder on the fly for something that needs attention later (or a reminder to get on the road for an appointment or flight).

 

If they priced this device at anything other than their cost, I don't suspect we'd be inclined to buy.  I've yet to hear of someone who wasn't interested at first, but later felt the device was indispensable.

 

Where I think Amazon was blind is that any device that would enhance the purchase experience on Amazon could have been a huge hit.  I would love to flexibly search and investigate items by voice, and have relevant images and data displayed to my large screen TV, another device, projected on a clear surface, or ... someday ... projected as a 3-d laser image.

 

FWIW, I do get the sense that Google has done a much better job at partnering with others to bring applications to market than Amazon.

 

Alexa is sufficiently iconic that I'm on the fence as to whether it'll be dumped, or just be considered "before its time" and they'll keep it around, to later resurrect a dramatically "new and improved" version.