Poll of the day - 10-23-19 - Voice assistants

Are you one of the voice assistant fanatics we hear about all the time on The Tech Guy? Or, is it not your thing?

  • Yes - I have an Amazon Voice Assistant
  • Yes - I have a Google Voice Assistant
  • Yes - I have both one from Amazon and Google
  • Yes - I like Siri
  • No, I do not have one but may buy one
  • No, I zero interest in getting one
  • I like pie!

0 voters

Because I’m on Apple devices, voice assist would first come to me through those I have already, so the question has a bit of an odd premise from my perspective in seeming to equate voice assist with dedicated hardware. I’d be surprised if it ever proves so useful to me that I’d buy a dedicated device, but with HomePod it’s geared toward offering quality sound, a HomeKit hub, some Handoff functionality, etc. so I wouldn’t rule it out entirely.

1 Like

I use my Google Assistant many many times every day. It’s mostly reminders, shopping list, timers, random questions, music start/stop, netflix start/stop. And I tell her I love her and she tells me “thanks”.

My biggest gripe is that when you add stuff to your shopping list, it does not check then “checked off” section first, and uncheck that item, it adds an entirely new item. This creates an unending list of checked items. I’ve take to deleting them instead of checking them off but this is a dumb oversight.

2 Likes

Google Assistant, a lot. On my phone, in the car in Android Auto, at home with a Google Home Mini to control TV’s and lights and such. Love the predictive items Google delivers.

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I have 3 Amazon Echos, 2 Google Homes, and use Siri and Google Assistant on my phone a lot. Used Siri much more before my watch broke.

Google’s the only one that can answer a question halfway decently, but the Google Home is not nearly as good as the Google phone assistant.

I prefer Alexa for personal unpublished apps though. Ease of creating them is the same, but I have to continually sign into Google Dialog for my app to work, while Alexa just keeps it alive whether I’m signed in or not. Maybe they fixed that. It’s been awhile since I’ve tried it.

2 Likes

We have two “smart speaker” devices at home - one Google Home in the Kitchen and one Amazon Echo in the bathroom. Both of us at home strongly prefer the Google Home device’s assistant over the Amazon Echo device’s.

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Google Assistant, was kind of iffy on the privacy issues for a while but had to join the hype. Use it on my mini at home or on my phone on the go, can’t live without it now.

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Give in to your new robotic overlords :slight_smile:

I know Siri (Apple) values privacy, but an assistant of any type can’t be highly effective unless they know key details about you. I stick with Google Assistant for the same reason, it works and is great at being predictive.

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I didn’t look closely enough and mistook the radio buttons for check boxes. I use Alexa, Google and Siri. Sadly, Siri is absolutely useless to me. No matter what I ask it, it shows me what it found on the web.

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No assistant. My wife won’t let anything other than her smartphone in the house, if it has a microphone.

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If it is a smart phone with an assistant installed like Siri, Google or the Alexa app, it isn’t much different - still a microphone listening for commands, just in your pocket.

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And the assistant is deactivated on the phones.

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OK good. I meet many people that won’t buy smart speakers but use assistants on their phone, thinking they are somehow different :smiley:

3 Likes

Is it so you can dance in the shower to groovy tunes? I was thinking of grabbing the new Nest Mini for this exact reason.

2 Likes

Yes, that and podcasts. It works out quite well!

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These things have just never interested me. I can use the Google one built into my phone, if I really wanted to. And, I never do.

I have the original Google Home, a mini, and a Lenovo smart clock. I use them all to control light switches, watching TV, listening to music, and asking various questions.

2 Likes

Just hopped on the Google train with a Nest Mini and Pixel because of what others have mentioned - Googles AI and predictive analysis. Siri and Homekit are dead to me…for now :grin:

3 Likes