[kemitche]

Here's a few dozen use cases based on my own use of smart home devices:

- Hands are full or dirty while cooking. Voice activation is more convenient. True for not just timers, but every other aspect - music playing, controlling home devices like lights, watching something on YouTube, etc.

- The above also applies to any case where my hands can't readily access my phone, such as wanting to listen/change music when showering.

- As the other commenter said, sometimes the timer needs to be "room-specific" rather than on my phone (which stays with me)

- The device has a decent speaker, so makes a convenient Spotify device. The voice activation is sufficient, though I can also control the device via Spotify on my phone if there's occasional blips.

- Combined with smart light switches, I have convenient control over various aspects of lighting in my home

- Combined with Chromecast / Google TV, it provides voice activated access to pause/play/change what I'm watching.

- Basic internet queries, such as how long it will take to drive somewhere or when a certain place will close, work well also.

None of these use cases _individually_ is so amazing I'd spend $100+, but the combined total value is great for me.

[prawn]

Alexa is also very convenient for kids queueing up music or asking quick animal/etc questions that I couldn't answer (what sound does x make, how many teeth does a y have, etc). In both cases, I'd prefer they do this briefly by voice rather than sit down with a phone or tablet and get distracted on screen by millions of songs or the rest of the internet.

But yes, even just setting timers while washing dishes or hands covered in flour is worth it. My retired parents have a kitchen timer stuck on the side of the fridge and still use Alexa for cooking timers. There is literally no interruption to your flow.

[dangus]

Smart speakers just don't solve a problem. Period.

- Don't need to control home devices or watch shit while you're cooking. If I really want to queue up a video I just do that before I start cooking.

- Don't need music while showering, who cares, showering takes 5 minutes

- Again just like "oh it's for music"

- Yes I like controlling smart lights but I can just hold the power button on my phone and tell it what to do instead of bothering with a speaker in every room

- I just put the remote nearby? or use the remote on the phone? What's so hard about pausing TV with a phone/TV remote?

- Basic internet queries, a.k.a., the smartphone I always have on me

[acdha]

This sounds like the dudes who said the iPod was pointless because they already had MP3s on their computer, or wondering why they bought Macs instead of PCs. Other people are allowed to have different priorities than you, and it’s okay for products to find a niche which isn’t universal – very few things have smartphone levels of ubiquity.

It’s generally quite useful to react to other people persistently buying something you don’t feel the need for by learning what they value. For example, smart speakers are quite popular with parents who either have their hands full (literally), don’t want the distraction of a screen, or want something for the gap measured in years where a kid can talk but does not have a personal computer. That’s certainly not universal, but if you think about similar contexts or needs you might come up with some good product ideas which could be worthwhile even if they never ship in the billions of units.

[dangus]

The irony here is that the iPod was literally made redundant by the smartphone.

[Larrikin]

This comment reads like the type of arguments people used to make about cell phones versus standard computers. Why is convenience so bad?

Also maybe try a longer shower or a bath. Its usually the most relaxing part of my day and I would hate to be in and out in 5 minutes

[dangus]

Convenience isn't bad, it's just that minimal convenience is oversold.

If I'm in a bath I can use my phone. A regular bluetooth speaker is sufficient. There is no need for a voice assistant.

A long shower is not relaxing, that's the opposite. It's not relaxing to stand in the same place for a long time. I can't even hear the music that well in the shower through the speaker, there is water in my ears.

[mech422]

Yes - this is the guy that should decide for everyone...the guy that uses a multi hundred dollar device to replace a $30 amazon puck..

[sam_goody]

Someone on HN recently compared AI to a really buggy GPS.

People will still use it, since it mindlessly gets you on the road and looks like it knows what it is doing, which makes it the path of least resistance - and that will beat out better results for most people most of the time.

The same applies to Alexa and ilk - if you have it than it is easier to use than to do things any other way. Even if there are all sorts of mess ups on the way, it still will become the default action of anyone who tries it.

As they say - "Even a bolt of lightning will follow the path of least resistance, and it's not combating laziness or lack of focus"

Don't ever dismiss the power of inertia [or whatever this is called]. A listening AI agent that can perform tasks takes advantage of inertia.

[miohtama]

We build the most sophisticated AI in the world to open Spotify app instead of pressing Play on a phone

[dangus]

Exactly. People are acting like putting some music on is so damn hard, and that it's critical that we spend 100% of our time listening to it.

OMG if I can't control my music in the shower I'll literally melt.

[wat10000]

I love watching HN commenters absolutely refuse to understand that other people are different and have different preferences and that's OK.

[dangus]

I acknowledge that other people have other preferences, but my criticism mainly relates to the way assistant and smart speaker companies have sunk so much money into a product that has limited utility and helps people in such a mild way.

People are willing to spend <$100 on a smart speaker and then never pay again. Meanwhile, Amazon is trying to make providing a free cloud service make sense by bundling it into Prime in hopes of being able to raise the cost of Prime as much as possible.

So I acknowledge that some people prefer this, but I think it's dumb enough that if I was a hypothetical investor back when these technologies were new I would not have gone anywhere near them.

[wat10000]

Nope. Don’t backpedal. You’re going after people who say they like having smart speakers, not the companies that try to sell them. “OMG if I can't control my music in the shower I'll literally melt.” This is very clearly not directed at Amazon.

[Marsymars]

I'm not especially big on smart speakers, but phones as remotes for home devices are even worse.

[tzs]

You ignored setting timers while cooking.

[seb1204]

Thanks, my thoughts exactly.

[Gothmog69]

Do you have cchildren? My kids yell at every device in the house. play bluey! turn the lights blue!

[dangus]

Sounds terrible.