Egypt4u

Amazons Echo and Echo Dot are without doubt this years most popular present. Right now you can't get one anywhere. Amazon restock 'Dots' on 8 Jan and 'Echos' on 12 Jan. In our family alone I know about one Dot (for Louis) and two Echos (me and a grandson) but there may be more under a Christmas tree.
Alexa won't marry me, she insists "Let's just be friends"

I love mine and I have two of them so regardless of where I am in the house I can talk to my lovely talented friend
If you have a Star Trek fan in your house ask her "Alexa what is the Prime Directive?" she will babble on for so long you will have to tell her to stop but it does impress 'Terkkies'

The latest 'Toy' to take my fancy is building myself a 3D printer from a kit, it is something that has grabbed my attention from an engineering standpoint, but I need to do a bit more research before I commit to buying anything.

H I am not familiar with the latest developments in 3D printing. Some years ago I saw a device that replicated items using a paper material so the products did not have any practical use.
When I was working we supplied components to Hornby for their Scalextric products. I remember that when they were developing a new model car they would get the digital data from the manufacturer and then produce a scaled down plastic version in a bath of some fluyid. I can't remember the name of the process or the medium in the bath but the output was very precise model in plastic that could be used to check that the motor and wheels etc would fit on the injection moulded production model.
I have just Googled and found RepRap, is that the kind of machine you are considering building? Looks fascinating and now affordable.

Your mention of 3D printers has just jogged my memory, Horus. I remember DIL saying they were thinking of getting one for the boy. I wonder if they ever did? I'll have to try to remember to ask when I see her.

Yes Grandad that is the sort of thing, they actually build up the shaped item you require making by laying down numerous layers of plastic material to build up the shape. That side is relatively straightforward, the problem lies in being able to create the files that are needed to print the item you are wanting to make. They require a special kind of 3D printer file and these have to be drawn in a special 3D CAD software, many people will just use other files that are available on the web, but I want to be able to design and build stuff to my own specifications. You may or may not know but I actually hold a City & Guilds Diploma for AutoCad design and can myself create full 3D drawings, the problem is that at the moment I am not sure if or not I can in some way import designs done in AutoCad (which I know like the back of my hand) or if I have to re-learn a completely new piece of computer design software in order to be able to produce my own stuff. I have downloaded an 'open source' 3D design program that many people say is the best one to use, but to be honest it is not very intuitive at all and I am getting very frustrated with it because I know exactly what I want it to do, but actually doing it goes against everything I know.

@ RS, they are a great bit of kit for older kids because they can pick up using them pretty quickly, although most want to be able to use existing printing files off the web so they can print off things like Star Wars character models etc.

I'm hearing you both that "Echo" and "Dot" are now 'The thing' to have but can you please explain exactly what they do?

Do you just talk to them asking questions and they give you answers? Or ?

I've actually seen them in passing but to my disadvantage I tend to ignore cyber techie stuff as I usually tend not to know how to operate it so ignore it - i.e. my cell phone was so old it didn't even have a SIM card and the Company I signed up to get double minutes with on that cheap cheap old cell actually last year sent me a NEW cell phone FREE (since I've probably now collected more than 10,000 minutes!) and am probably their longest running customer.

My daughter was essentially "boggling my mind" as her husband went to Costco and saw for $100 a new cell phone that his Company just bought for him that does all manner of things and for $10/month you can get a plan that gives you so much data/per month so you can be on the Net.........????

"WOW" was all I could say in response to this enthusiastic description being explained to me AND concluded with that this was such a good deal Costco essentially sold out of these phones asap and until something like mid-January at which time she is going to get one given the one her husband now has through his work is so good.......blah blah blah ....... way over my head.

Didn't understand much of anything she explained sooooo WHAT does DOT and ECHO really do in simple simple first grader terms AND does it take any level of cyber smarts to get it going?

Basics first, the Echo and the Dot are and do the same thing, the more expensive Echo has a better built in speaker therefore it is taller.

It is very easy to use providing you have a modem in your house, it just plugs into and power outlet and it will automatically find and connect to your Broadband.

It is very much like buying a Kindle and often if purchased from Amazon it will already be registered as you owning the device.

You get a certain amount of free music access to Amazons pretty huge music library and you even have a personal bit of cloud space to store your own favourite music lists.

You can get more additional music if say like me you have the ‘Amazon Prime’ delivery service as this allows me greater access to a few more million songs, so I could for example just say “Alexa play me me Shania Twain” and providing that her music is in the list it will start to play her songs.

You may also ask her to connect to a radio station by saying something like “Alexa play radio Alberta” and it should connect you.

It is essentially an interactive device that has lots of ‘skills’ a skill being a task that it will perform with a command, these skills always have to be preceded by the word “Alexa” which is basically a wake up call and when a new one is brought out your Echo or Dot will automatically respond to it. You can also make it interact with other devices such as a mobile phone or the ‘Hive’ device that Grandad has purchased.

So let us take some examples of what it can do:
I am cooking my turkey but will probably forget to turn the oven off, so I can say “Alexa, set a timer for four and a half hours” and she will respond by flashing a blue coloured ring on the top of the device and saying “ four and a half hours, starting now” after the timer has elapsed it will make a pleasant but annoying sound to get your attention until you say “Alexa, stop”

You may have forgotten how long the timer has been running for, so you could ask “Alexa how long is the timer” and she will respond by saying “You have one timer running with 1 hour forty minutes left” you may then wish to say “Alexa, cancel timer”

It will know your own locality based upon your modem provider so you could ask:
“Alexa, where is the nearest petrol station”
“Alexa, where is the nearest supermarket”
“Alexa, where is the nearest Vet”
“Alexa, where is the nearest (insert your request here)”
and she will run through a list local to you.

You may like to ask:

“Alexa, Wikipedia, who is George Clooney” and she will access the Wiki site and start to read out the listing information for George Clooney.

Or “Alexa, where is Baghdad”
“Alexa, what is the population of Egypt”
“Alexa, what is a ferret”

Then there are reminders like:
“Alexa, remind me I have a doctors appointment” and she will ask for the date and time to remind you.

If you put the Alexa App onto your phone you can say things like:
“Alexa, add washing up liquid to my shopping list” you can repeat what you want adding as many items as you like. To recall your list just say “Alexa, what is on my shopping list” and she will repeat the list back to you.

You can then say “Alexa, send list to my phone” and it will appear in the shopping list in your phones Alexa App. As you delete or change items in your home device your phone list will update also.

There is so many useful things that they can do and as the ‘Dot’ is usually quite cheap I would suggest getting one of those unless you are really into your music and want the better speaker, although you can physically plug another speaker into the device itself if you want to.
They are not a life essential but can be very useful and entertaining (I have two).

Horus's explanation is very comprehensive LLL and all I would add is a bit about 'Hive' that Horus mentioned. Hive is one of a number of smart hubs that plug into your modem and can be used to control things around the home. Such things as central heating, individual room lighting, security lighting and cameras, and more.

I bought the Hive starter kit for no other reason than to try it out and it was about half price including two smart light bulbs. I have the Hive app on my phone so I can control any Hive devices that I have from anywhere in the world. Also I have Hive as one of Alexas skills so when indoors I can say "Alexa tell Hive to switch off bedroom light one" and that light will switch off.

I shall be using the two smart bulbs when we are out of the house on Monday and Tuesday and switch on and off at different times for a bit of security. I could ask Alexa to do this for me.

At the moment for me it is just a bit of fun before I decide whether to invest in more Hive smart equipment. With Alexa who sits on my desk, I shall probably just take the cheapest music subscription which will give me access to millions of songs, tunes, classics etc for a few pounds a month,

You could ask the question "Do you need it?" The answer has to be 'No'. I can manage without it but it is just technology pushing the boundaries of what is possible....

I look at it as being a cheap bit of modern technology that sort of keeps you in the loop.

16.09 UK time. Santa is at Chiang Mai Thailand bringing a load of Echos and Echo Dots from China to Amazon

Thanks for the explanation(s) Horus and Grandad. Quite appreciate it. I read about them on Amazon but was getting that it was mostly something you had to subscribe to and would play music and was essentially a speaker and/or kinda like a Garmin in that it would give directions to stuff.

I don't have a smart phone although I do like the idea of being able to have it turn house lights off and on when I'm not here. That would be relatively valuable.

The DOT right now in the USA is $29 and Echo is $79 so neither are prohibitively expensive.

Since they work off a moden do they need a certain download speed? The BEST this street is getting is 25/mps but when you ping it I'm usually at 20 or 21. Real slow. The daughter's street was just upgraded to 150mps so they are now flying along. Not too sure though when or if I'll ever be updated as I live in a bit more out of the way spot.

I've thought about Amazon Prime for a while now too. It is not prohibitively expensive and I'm rather of a mind that the cost to benefit would be more to the benefit side although mostly re: free shipping I buy stuff and have it delivered to the US and pick up when I go there. Am talking a Post Office box so I do have to time some purchases as they won't hold stuff for a long time and I only maintain a real small box. Have never explored Amazon Canada.

Will definitely think about this and the Hive seems a good idea too especially for when I'm not here and wanting to turn lights off and on.

Thinking ........

OMG - sooooooo since I haven't bought anything really for me for Christmas I was just now looking at the Dot & Echo on Amazon.com(USA) as I'm actually heading south in a bit........BUT......now I'm seeing: Dot, Echo, Echo PLUS, Echo SPOT, Echo SHOW, Echo LOOK!!! AGH!!!

Can't technology stay static for a minute so I can catch up?!?! Decisions decisions and none are easy!

I guess I have one more small dilemma (easily remedied if I want to) but I have always only bought on Amazon.COM (USA) and haven't bought anything on Amazon.CA (Canada). Partly Amazon Canada is VERY limited and everything is actually more and often less quality and selection than what I'd normally buy in the USA. This I know from my daughters who buy on Amazon Canada and there definitely is not nearly as much on it as Amazon.com (USA).

I have religiously NEVER bought anything from Amazon.ca as to be able to maintain my Amazon.com book selections cause I DO buy books to read on my Kindle and the selection I get is way over and above what I'd get from the Canadian version.

Interestingly too - Amazon periodically does ask me "WHERE are YOU?" and location-wise I'm approximately just across the strait from Blaine USA but I also confirm I want to stay with Amazon.com.

Going to have to thing about this. I'd be inclined to buy the Amazon Echo IN the USA and hook it up here. I've bought all the Kindles there (i.e. $29 for an 8gb Kindle Fire vs Not even being available here and the twins and granddaughter Kindles for $79 although now that their first year is done they're not getting much on them and that was essentially an Amazon advertising ploy)

Gotta think and consider what I'm gonna do........Now I have to read about all sorts of Echos!

I think we have started something.

Not with me, Grandad! I have a job keeping up with the grandchildren and their electronic gadgets - which seem to get more complicated and expensive each year!

LLL, just buy the bog standard and cheapest DOT, they all do the same thing and access the same features so you will not be risking much cash wise if you do have problems (which I doubt)

@H - Actually, to me, the only real choice is the Dot or Echo. Dunno about all the other ones anyway - i.e. the LOOK is designed apparently with a camera so you can check out your daily LOOK to make sure you're totally "in style" (Like I Care and/or that there actually IS a STYLE here on the Island!) I mean - I wear blue jeans, heavy sweaters and mens wool socks (the kind with the red line around the top) AND I really just look normal here

Personally I think the Dot would do me and if it wasn't sufficient I could always prezzie it to one of the two daughters or grandkids and move me up to an Echo.

As I said LLL, there is no actual difference other than the speaker quality, which on the Dot is as good as say a portable radio.

The Twins birthday is end of January and I'll be heading south 'bout then. Am thinking of picking up 2 Dots. One for me and one for them for their birthday which will happen once I get back from holiday.

As it transpired there were a total of five Echos as Christmas presents in my family alone. As there were no more available just before Christmas, I think that is a measure of just how popular they were.
Among my presents I received a book entitled "ALEXA 999 Tips and Tricks How to Use Your Personal Assistant"

Good to know re: Dots and Echos.

I WAS thinking - these "Dots" and "Echos" are speech dependant? So do they learn to recognize just your voice? Or could I walk into your house ask a question and get them to reply?

And - if they learn your voice do you think I'd need one each for the twins (other than that I probably DO need one each as I doubt sharing would work terribly well of a new fun exciting toy)?

AND is there a parental 'override' switch?! Am sure the daughter & SiL will want an ability to ultimately have the final say re: control.