Support NeoGAF

[Jesus Carbomb]

*** Promo is over ***


https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=as_li_...d89286bc64cc0899e10a6fb146f5e3&language=en_US

Just ordered mine.

 

[ILLtown]

Nice.

I dunno if it's already been mentioned on here, but you can also get a free Google Home Mini if you subscribe to Spotify's family plan and live in the US. That includes people who are existing subscribers. The offer runs through the end of December.

 

[Cunth]

I still don't understand the uses for these things, other than companies listening to what you say all the time

 

[TheShadowLord]

Nice.

I dunno if it's already been mentioned on here, but you can also get a free Google Home Mini if you subscribe to Spotify's family plan and live in the US. That includes people who are existing subscribers. The offer runs through the end of December.

d you have to pay upfront for Spotify to get the google home mini?

 

[ILLtown]

d you have to pay upfront for Spotify to get the google home mini?

Unless I'm reading it wrong, it seems you would have to pay for at least 1 month, so $14.99. You'll then get a code sent to you, which you can redeem on the Google Store to get a Mini for free.

Here's where you need to sign up: -

https://www.spotify.com/us/family/

And here's the T&C: -

https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/premium-for-family-supplemental-offer-terms/

 

[TyphoonStruggle]

You couldn't pay me to install any of these devices in my home. Privacy violation is insane.

 

[Jesus Carbomb]

I still don't understand the uses for these things, other than companies listening to you FAP all the time

FTFY

And don't knock it till you've tried it.

 

[Future]

I still don't understand the uses for these things, other than companies listening to what you say all the time

Everything Home Automation - lights, tv
Drive time Estimates (google)
Weather
Grocery List Updating
Chrome cast controlling (google)

I do the above every week. Sure you could do that on the phone, but the convenience is great if you aren't currently on your phone

 

[ILLtown]

I bought my parents, who are in their 70s, an Echo a couple of years ago. They love it, although my mum uses it the most.

They mostly use it to play music, cos I linked it to my Amazon Prime account, which I personally wasn't using for music purposes. The sound quality is surprisingly rich for such a small device (it's the full sized Echo though, not one of these mini ones). The main downside is that now when I log into my Amazon account and look at my Prime Music page, it looks like I have the worst taste in music ever. If you have more than one you can do multi-room playback, a bit like what the Sonos systems offer (but not as good, obviously).

They also use it to set timers when cooking and to get the weather forecast.

You can do a lot with them if you have the right gear. If you have the right Logitech Harmony remote, you can use the Echo to control all of the functions that offers. If you run Plex as a media server, you can control that with your voice. You can buy Echo Buttons, which are big light up buttons, and use them to play games, like quiz games. You can use it to find your phone. There's various "skills" you can add.

 

[Woo-Fu]

I still don't understand the uses for these things, other than companies listening to what you say all the time

I use it to voice-control stuff I'd otherwise have to do by hand. Now that might seem lazy, but the advantage is that you can be doing multiple things at once. Instead of looking up the weather on my pc/phone, I can be doing something else and simply ask Alexa what the forecast is. Can also keep you entertained while doing boring tasks like, oh, say, washing dishes. Decide you want some tunes in the middle of that? Don't have to dry your hands off and then go fiddle with whatever you play music on, can just ask Alexa to cue it for you.

I do find it hilarious that people are worried about privacy, the same people who carry a cellphone with them everywhere. If big brother wants to invade your privacy they're already doing it via your cellphone. For all you know it is recording everything in the vicinity all the time. Time for you to ditch all of your electronics and build a faraday cage into the walls of your house. Then you'll need some sort of vibration dampening material surrounding the house so they can't listen to you with a laser microphone. Then you'll need some way to scan your entire body to make sure you weren't chipped in your sleep or the last time you had medical treatment of some sort. If you're going to be paranoid you need to be really paranoid or you're just wasting time and energy. Lastly, the thing to remember about your privacy? Nobody but you cares about 99.999999% of it. You're beneath their notice. Even if they had the time or the cycles to monitor you they wouldn't because you're nobody. If, on the other hand, you're not just a nobody, you have much bigger things to worry about.

 

[Cunth]

It's ok I wrap my phone in foil

 

[Jesus Carbomb]

Friendly reminder to cancel your Amazon Music trial subscription if you got in on this deal.

 

[44Forever]

I still don't understand the uses for these things, other than companies listening to what you say all the time

Big brother needs to know what you are doing!

 

[Gander]

Dammit I missed this.