[Semaphor]

Because the QOL from one is insane for me. While I’m cooking, I can set timers and look up conversions (one big country that produces a lot of internet content, including recipes, uses the most insane units). Everything else is a nice bonus, but those parts are major.

That said, I want to replace Alexa with something fully local, but the supply chain issues are currently a hindrance.

[jsjohnst]

> Because the QOL from one is insane for me.

You have an “insane” QOL then if having a manual kitchen timer or a simple conversion chart on the wall would be a major difference.

At least with the manual kitchen timer, you can always know how much time is left just by looking. Set a ten minute timer on an Alexa, you have to threaten it with violence to keep the timer visible for more than 30 seconds of it, and that doesn’t always work either. I went so far as to literally turn off every single thing I could from the display and yet it’ll prefer showing a content less main screen over just keeping the timer displayed.

[Semaphor]

I often have multiple timers, that gets crowded fast. And even manual timers require me to touch them, while the whole point is that I can set a timer while my hands are full of raw sausage mix or whatever.

And my Alexa has no display, so it’s just "Alexa, timer [Name] status"

Oh, and a conversion chat is also somewhat horrible, because this one country uses volumetric measurements where the form a product is in changes how much X of that unit means.

[jsjohnst]

> Oh, and a conversion chat is also somewhat horrible, because this one country uses volumetric measurements where the form a product is in changes how much X of that unit means.

If it’s so hard for you, then buy measuring cups in US sizes or stop using US recipes. These are trivially solved problems in a low tech way. You’re like an addict trying desperately to defend why they need a fix. Yeesh!

[breakfastduck]

And you're desperately coming up with nonsensical solutions that aren't as practical in any meaningful way.

You honestly think having measuring devices for two entirely different systems or not using US based recipes is trivial compared to asking for the conversion out loud and getting it immediately? Yeesh!

EDIT: even going back to your timer comment (to which you completely ignored the response), your 'trivial' solutions effectively boil down to 'get more kitchen space'. Totally trivial.

[jsjohnst]

> You honestly think having measuring devices for two entirely different systems

If you want to make recipes based on imperial measurements, YES, and I’d also say the vast majority of people here would agree with me.

Having a full set of imperial kitchen measuring cups costs less than any meal you are bothering to prepare and takes up less kitchen space than a single salad bowl.

For your follow up edit:

> to which you completely ignored the response

I’m under no obligation to rebut every thing someone says, whether I find it correct or not. I said why I hate using Alexa for timers, I didn’t feel the need to go any further there.

[evandale]

This whole conversation is pretty pointless and "Having a full set of imperial kitchen measuring cups costs less than any meal you are bothering to prepare and takes up less kitchen space than a single salad bowl" demonstrates exactly why.

Having an Alexa and asking it how many grams are in 1 1/4 cups of white wine vinegar is easier than having 2 sets of measuring cups. It's easier than having 1 set of measuring cups.

0 measuring cups takes up 0 space and I have no use for them. I use a bowl and a scale. That's easier for me than messing with measuring cups and having more crap to clean.

[ghaff]

For that matter, my measuring cups have both imperial and metric units and my digital scale handles both as well. Seems far more foolproof than doing a lot of unit conversions.

[CrazyStat]

> buy measuring cups in US sizes

Measuring cups are an objectively terrible unit, since (1) the volume of a cup, while officially standardized, is not consistent across the measuring cups you'll find in stores, and (2) the amount (mass) of common ingredients in a cup can vary wildly--50% or more--depending on how densely packed the ingredient is.

A "standard" cup of flour is generally considered to be 120-130g, but if you buy a brand new bag of flour at the store and scoop a cup off the top you may be getting as much as 200g, since it's densely packed. This obviously has serious implications for whatever you're baking.

TL;DR: Don't buy measuring cups.

[jsjohnst]

> A "standard" cup of flour is generally considered to be 120-130g, but if you buy a brand new bag of flour at the store and scoop a cup off the top you may be getting as much as 200g, since it's densely packed.

I’m not debating if the US method of measurement in recipes is terrible or not (it is!). But taking an imprecise unit of measurement and lossy converting it to another is better (edit for clarity what I meant) each time you cook, while in the middle of cooking!?

[CrazyStat]

Yes, converting a cup of flour to 120g of flour is absolutely better. That way your measurements will be consistent from day to day, so you can learn and make adjustments--"This recipe calls for 300g flour, but the dough was a bit loose last time--I'll try 315g instead." (In practice I'd probably first adjust the liquid content rather than the flour amount, but you get the idea).

If you're measuring 2.5 cups of flour one day you might get 317g and another day you might get 362g, so you can't even make the same consistency dough twice.

[dragonwriter]

Most baking recipes that use volumetric units actually use standardize mass units converted in a conventional way (based on material and form) to volumetric units, because the recipes are done by pros for the kind of newbs that disproportionately consume recipes. They aren't imprecise measures they are measures for people who are more comfortable with imprecise tools.

If you prefer to work in mass, you reverse the conversion.

[ghaff]

>Measuring cups are an objectively terrible unit

For baking, I'll generally weigh and, for flour, pretty much always. However, I use measuring cups all the time for other cooking where recipes may not even give a weight equivalent to a volume of something.

[CrazyStat]

That's fair. In many recipes volumes can be taken as vague suggestions.

[LorenPechtel]

"Alexa, time remaining".

[ulfw]

The fact you call this mini feature of setting a timer (which is equally available on your phone via voice) "QOL" is fascinating to me

[wutbrodo]

Setting a time, setting alarms, playing music, turning lights on and off, controlling media, (eg Netflix), checking the weather, etc. I'm just focusing on the universal use cases, and excluding varying degrees of niche usesnlike interactively displaying recipes and saying the rosary.

Especially in rooms where you don't already have a sound system, it's really a no-brainer. And I question that you've ever interacted with a smartphone if you think either the responsiveness or the convenience (not everybody is glued to their phone, and sometimes it's in the other room).

This need people have to think everything is either super-tubular-amazing or completely-useless-dross is _exhausting_. For anybody interested in understanding instead of posturing online to fill some emotional void, it's plainly obvious how smart speakers could be a modest improvement to QoL for many people.

[ghaff]

I'm definitely in the middle ground somewhere. I do think they're mostly disappointing. That said, they understand properly phrased commands well enough and are somewhat useful, if hardly essential, for a variety of simple tasks.

>Especially in rooms where you don't already have a sound system, it's really a no-brainer.

I'm going to want some sort of speaker in my bedroom--used to have a CD player--and a smart speaker is as useful a candidate as anything, and it can function as an alarm clock as well.

[wutbrodo]

Yea, it really is a no-brainer for a modest QoL improvement, unless you have objections to the privacy implications. I'm really just losing tolerance for this tendency to only express dumb, low-dimensional opinions that are so heavily detached from reality, like the GP comment's claim that they can't comprehend it having nonzero value to someone's workflows.

I wonder if it's the same dynamic that's contributing tk the polarization of political discourse: the structure of information flow in the social media era rewards being punchy, simplistic, and hysterical. The incentives feel inescapable for the masses of people out there that are too hollow to hold beliefs or engage with reality in any meaningful way.

[vidarh]

Doing it on my phone involves taking my phone out of my pocket or figuring out where I left it. Doing it on my alexa devices means mindlessly speaking out loud anywhere in my house, also when my hands are full or messy.

It affects QOL when you get used to it along with a wide range of other features which are similarly tiny by themselves (turning the TV on/off; changing volume; searching for something on my FireTV instead of using the virtual keyboard; turning lights on/off; using it as an alarm clock; telling my son in his room upstairs that dinner is ready without yelling; having a single command to turn of the lights and turn on a playlist to fall asleep to) but that combined adds up to a whole lot reduced friction.

[ghaff]

Yeah. Those are the sort of occasionally handy things that Alexa is somewhat useful for. But QoL? (I don't even generally use it as a timer in the kitchen as opposed to spending 5 seconds to set a timer by hand that shows me a countdown.)

[heretogetout]

The phone is even more of a snitch than is an Echo or what have you.

[Semaphor]

Well, using your phone as a voice assistant is using a voice assistant…

[breakfastduck]

It's very very useful when you're cooking, they explained that pretty clearly imo.

[nvarsj]

My main usecase for Alexa is also multiple timers while cooking. It's very useful - prior, I would juggle multiple independent timers on microwaves/stoves/fridge.

[zarriak]

I find nowadays most of the US produced content I use also lists weights in grams so no need for conversion.

[ghaff]

I think it's definitely become more common, especially for baking. Digital scales are small and cheap and, if I'm going to work in weight anyway, I'd rather do it in grams than ounces (which would probably be mixed in with some volumetric units for small quantities).

[mdp2021]

> I can set timers and look up conversions

What you seem to be needing takes an old tablet and a slice of an evening of coding...

[scrollaway]

Because nothing screams like "great UX" and "QOL" like a tablet in a greasy kitchen you can't operate when your hands are full, and having to learn to code in order to use a timer.

[mdp2021]

> having to learn to code

At HN?!

> when your hands are full

One would never be empty handed while cooking?!

[onion2k]

At HN?!

HN is a diverse bunch. There are lots of non-technical people here. But even ignoring that, there's a hell of a difference between 'knowing to how to code' and 'knowing how to write an Android app'. I've been writing code for 25 years, and I know for certain it'd take me several evenings to be able to make a working Android app, and a lot more to make one I was actually happy with to the point I'd use it.

[mdp2021]

> HN is a diverse bunch. There are lots of non-technical people here. But even ignoring that, there's a hell of a difference between 'knowing to how to code' and 'knowing how to write an Android app'

Absolutely, and absolutely. But if one is keen on QoL boosts, coding remains a foremost helpful skill, and currently coding for mobile devices is a further booster.

> several evenings ... and a lot more

I would suggest that the amount of competence to get you started to the point of applications usable to your satisfaction is probably lower than you seem to suggest (if you are already proficient in Java); and that the amount of blasphemy you could spend against the workings of the available libraries and time lost in code that "should just work" is probably not only in general underestimated, but really in this realm you would meet it a lot in practice.

[vidarh]

> is probably lower than you seem to suggest (if you are already proficient in Java)

So in other words it's probably not lower than suggested.

And certainly higher than the skills required to order and plug in a home assistant that offers a superior interface (doesn't require clean and free hands)

[Semaphor]

I can code, and I already have a tablet in the kitchen as a recipe book. But my hands are often either dirty, or in nitrile gloves, both make using the tablet either awkward or impossible. My workflow is to open the recipe I want, and then not touch the tablet until I’m done.

Not to mention that voice enables me to do this while also doing something else with my hands, like cutting veggies.

[mdp2021]

Android? We should have libraries for voice command (probably around android.speech ). I checked once because I would like to be able to voice control a GPS and mapping system while driving. If you wanted to voice control the application, that would be surely much more challenging, yet possibly interesting and exportable to other future needs.

This given, for the specific needs as you presented them I would have taken an old tablet, coded the feats you needed (timer, converter etc) in a single interface, fixed it in some most appropriate part of the kitchen for that use, and covered it with some plastic wrap film (I think standard PVC should be capacitive display friendly) in order to keep electronics and mess separate.

Of course, if you are more comfortable with the assistant, that is anyone's prerogative. Just reasoning.