Monday 22 January 2018

Echo dot ?

New gadgets appearing on Amazon have not grabbed my attention as they might.
I find I am gadgetted out! I have far too many labour saving machines already. The time seems to be approaching when I can sit up in bed, switch the kettle on, start the heating, tell the vacuum cleaner to get to work and anything else that needs doing....
Echo dot is the most recent new thing. I have no idea what that is or what it does....and yet I remember several other new arrivals that were just as puzzling to start with so I can’t just ignore it...even though I’m tempted to do just that!
Amazon appears to be excited by their new gadget...but have failed to get my interest. So far.....
After some research I find it’s a sort of simple alarm clock...and that it can be programmed to switch things on for you...
As I live in an ancient farmhouse I don’t have the sort of hi tec accessories that would respond to being turned on by another machine.
Apparently it can be set to act whilst I’m away...but I feel confident in my existing arrangements not to need yet another gadget to activate them.
I am sure that Amazon will go on trying to get my interest...so I am set for many follow up emails..
But I can resist them. I think!



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2 comments:

UKViewer said...

You can install what is described as a "Hive" system into your home, which allows the Echo Dot and other like tech to access the functions that you mention. You might have seen the adverts where someone asks "Alex" to play music, to book a cab and various other things. The Hive system costs several hundred pounds and needs to be installed via your telecoms provider, and BT seem to be the main one involved.

We are having such a system installed into our church and Church Hall to allow us to locally control the heating systems, which currently are switched on and off by a timer - the idea being that the Vicar or Curate or Church Warden or Hall Administrator can contact the system via a mobile phone app and turn it on and off in a timely way before and after a service or activity, thereby stopping people forgetting to switch the systems off and to reduce the heating costs overall. It is being installed next week, so it will prove interesting to see how it operates.

We like you live in an elderly house, where we don't have the sort of hitech they talk about, even our broadband is via a mobile device, meaning that it's portable. But I would be interested to see whether we could use this system with our elderly tech, we have cable telephones, so it might be possible. I will let you know.

UKViewer said...

Just been offered an Echo dot and a thermostat that works with it to work with our heating system by our energy supplier. But tied to a 2 year contract on a slightly higher tarif and have to sign up to Amazon Prime to get it working. Given that our heating system is over 30 years old, I don't anticipate taking up the offer. But an offer to change to a 2 year fixed price tariff is attractive, need to talk to spouse about it though first.