I don't have an Alexa, so maybe this feature already exists, but will it tell you how much something is if u ask it? "Alexa how much is toothpaste". Also, I would buy in if I could set a price threshold for previously ordered items (aka, it would automatically warn me if toothpaste rose > 5% since my last purchase)
Voice purchasing is a major PITA. I've tried one or two times to order something through Echo and never really felt comfortable with it. It takes a long time to read the whole product name and description, it repeats elements (e.g. "Colgate SuperFresh Sparkling White-Blue Toothpaste Now Without Microbeads Per FDA Mandate is available for 5.55, would you like to buy it?" / "No" / "Crest MediumFresh Shiny Blue-White Toothpaste...") and to "compare", you have to remember multiple long strings like that, and know the difference between MediumFresh and SuperFresh without looking, etc. It's not a pleasant or desirable experience. You don't just say "Get me some Colgate for no more than $3" and be done with it.
The Echo is also much worse at voice recognition than people make it out to be here on HN, and it responds to a very limited set of questions/tasks. Android's voice recognition (and presumably Google Home) is much better and it will provide useful answers to a lot of questions/tasks automatically.
Despite Amazon's fancy overtures, the Echo seems to be mostly valued for its properties as a Bluetooth speaker. That's definitely the main value I get out of it. Streaming audio by a voice command is a nice convenience over tapping buttons on my phone to hook up the Bluetooth, but the core value is still in being a speaker.
I haven't had any problems with Alexa's voice recognition (and I have an accent), but I completely agree that voice purchasing is not a smooth experience at all. I tried to do that yesterday with Alexa, but it just gives you very limited options and it's optimized if you want to mostly reorder the same items over and over again. Also, it doesn't remember your cart if you interrupt the shopping conversation, go to an app and come back to order again. So you have repeat the whole process.
Alexa is handy if you want news, weather or sports update, but it really needs to step up its UX for voice purchasing.
I have a Google Personal Assistant. I like it for setting timers, alarms, and playing news & podcasts. And asking random questions to see if I get an answer. But for anything nuanced or important, I use a laptop or phone to get the job done. I'd never give that damn thing my credit card. Even if I could get it to order exactly what I want, that seems like a huge security flaw and/or financial liability to me.
Of course, 20 years ago I was the radical one for buying things on the Internet with a credit card. Maybe I'll feel differently down the road.
I have an Echo Dot and I couldn't tell you because the only things I've used it for are setting timers while I'm cooking and occasionally playing music when I'm too lazy to sync my phone to my Bluetooth speaker system. I actually shop on Amazon all the time and the thought to try and buy something with the Dot has never occurred to me despite being well aware of that feature and constantly seeing the ad with Reggie Miller.
Comments
I don't have an Alexa, so maybe this feature already exists, but will it tell you how much something is if u ask it? "Alexa how much is toothpaste". Also, I would buy in if I could set a price threshold for previously ordered items (aka, it would automatically warn me if toothpaste rose > 5% since my last purchase)
Voice purchasing is a major PITA. I've tried one or two times to order something through Echo and never really felt comfortable with it. It takes a long time to read the whole product name and description, it repeats elements (e.g. "Colgate SuperFresh Sparkling White-Blue Toothpaste Now Without Microbeads Per FDA Mandate is available for 5.55, would you like to buy it?" / "No" / "Crest MediumFresh Shiny Blue-White Toothpaste...") and to "compare", you have to remember multiple long strings like that, and know the difference between MediumFresh and SuperFresh without looking, etc. It's not a pleasant or desirable experience. You don't just say "Get me some Colgate for no more than $3" and be done with it.
The Echo is also much worse at voice recognition than people make it out to be here on HN, and it responds to a very limited set of questions/tasks. Android's voice recognition (and presumably Google Home) is much better and it will provide useful answers to a lot of questions/tasks automatically.
Despite Amazon's fancy overtures, the Echo seems to be mostly valued for its properties as a Bluetooth speaker. That's definitely the main value I get out of it. Streaming audio by a voice command is a nice convenience over tapping buttons on my phone to hook up the Bluetooth, but the core value is still in being a speaker.
I haven't had any problems with Alexa's voice recognition (and I have an accent), but I completely agree that voice purchasing is not a smooth experience at all. I tried to do that yesterday with Alexa, but it just gives you very limited options and it's optimized if you want to mostly reorder the same items over and over again. Also, it doesn't remember your cart if you interrupt the shopping conversation, go to an app and come back to order again. So you have repeat the whole process.
Alexa is handy if you want news, weather or sports update, but it really needs to step up its UX for voice purchasing.
Can you give it a list of "standard items" beforehand? As in, the exact type of Colgate toothpaste you normally buy?
I have a Google Personal Assistant. I like it for setting timers, alarms, and playing news & podcasts. And asking random questions to see if I get an answer. But for anything nuanced or important, I use a laptop or phone to get the job done. I'd never give that damn thing my credit card. Even if I could get it to order exactly what I want, that seems like a huge security flaw and/or financial liability to me.
Of course, 20 years ago I was the radical one for buying things on the Internet with a credit card. Maybe I'll feel differently down the road.
I have an Echo Dot and I couldn't tell you because the only things I've used it for are setting timers while I'm cooking and occasionally playing music when I'm too lazy to sync my phone to my Bluetooth speaker system. I actually shop on Amazon all the time and the thought to try and buy something with the Dot has never occurred to me despite being well aware of that feature and constantly seeing the ad with Reggie Miller.