[decebalus1]

I'm probably biased because I lived my early childhood behind the Iron Curtain but I can't for the life of me understand why someone would buy these. The cost-benefit is just not there.

[vectorEQ]

the cost is there :D just no benefits, like most 'products' today... i can't imagine 1 unit being sold to anyone but some addicted person who needs to have all-the-new-things regardless of their use.

[lallysingh]

Probably an overestimated cost.

[pwython]

I agree that your phone can delegate the same voice commands to your smart devices or do Q&A, but some of these devices are also decent speakers to stream music casually (eg. $75 Echo).

[JeremyBanks]

If you don't trust these devices, you probably wouldn't trust your phone either.

[pwython]

And I have a feeling many people who make a privacy case against Echo/Home forget that their phone does the same thing.

[kennywinker]

My phone is in my pocket, which signficantly degrades the audio quality of any recordings. Same reason I have a cover over my laptop camera, but not over my phone camera.

[JeremyBanks]

I've made several audio recordings with my phone in my pocket. Unless you're very consistent with the pocket and placement of your phone, that isn't a significant mitigation.

[jenscow]

In addition to knowing where you are, and potentially what sites you visit, who you communicate with, etc.

[mdpopescu]

Huh. I came to the opposite conclusion - growing up in Eastern Europe, "they're always listening" is the default position for me, so one more listening device is no big deal.

[decebalus1]

That's why I was never surprised by the Facebook 'revelations' and stuff. But that doesn't enable me to make their surveillance easier, tovarase!