Amazon Echo Teardown

This is the first I've heard of this device and frequent multiple tech sites multiple times a day. I hope I'm not alone in this....
 
@lilbabycat. Nope, first time for me too.

Rather surprising build quality actually. I'm checking it out now.
 
...and thus, technology gets smarter, and people get more stupid.
Mad props to the programmers and engineers of this, though.
 
Amazon has an awkward and creepy video video introducing it.

I requested an invite to buy it a while ago, but I have to be honest I'm kind of at a loss as to what I'd actually do with it. I know what it can do, but I don't really see myself using it after I get over the novelty of it in like a day. Just my two cents.
 
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This is the first I've heard of this device
Click to expand...

The Echo was discussed during the November 9, 2014 TWiT, which was the first AND last time I heard anything about it.. so unimpressed I was with it that I had completely forgotten about it's existence.

Am a little shocked that it took iFixit so long to get one to tear apart (been available since Nov 6).. they fly to Australia to get the first new iPhone the second it is available but wait over a month to get an Echo.. this has to tell you something about how "hot" the Echo.. echo.. echo.. is!!

As usual, the YouTube parodies are sooo much better than the real thing!!
 
achensherd said:
Amazon has an awkward and creepy video video introducing it.
Click to expand...

I literally just watched humanity's downfall in that video.
People's minds are a muscle, you either use it or lose it.

When one's mind is trained to remember things, such as day to day things, as shown in the video, the mind becomes stronger.
When one's mind is trained to only ask things, be given the answer on the spot, and then move on, the mind will turn to jelly as one's brain will become accustomed to only asking a question with an instant answer.

It's like using a calculator for very basic math, like 12x12 or 10/5 or 55-14.
If you use a calculator constantly with these operations, then one day, you have to do it in your head, you might find it to be very difficult.
Rather, if you had always done these math problems in your head, then it would be on-the-spot thinking, thus your mind is trained to be stronger in that instance.


Now, just imagine this thing being in your household for, say, five years.
Your kids use it, your spouse uses it, everyone uses it for just about everything.

Then one day, the device breaks, the service for it is shut down, the power goes out, etc; essentially, this device is offline.
Now, what does everyone do when they have to think of even the most basic of day to day tasks...?


You can all laugh at this, but we'll see where society and humanity is at 20 years from now.
I'm not envisioning a pretty sight.
 
Red Falcon said:
You can all laugh at this, but we'll see where society and humanity is at 20 years from now.
I'm not envisioning a pretty sight.
Click to expand...

I should add, that if you don't believe me on this, just look at how much everyone's intelligence and wisdom have fallen since smartphones and tablets arrived.
Ask yourselves, are things really better with these devices now?

I truly imagined the humanity would end in war, pestilence, fire, etc.
I never could have foreseen that it would have ended due to instant gratification.
 
Red Falcon said:
I literally just watched humanity's downfall in that video.
Click to expand...

Red Falcon said:
I truly imagined the humanity would end in war, pestilence, fire, etc.
I never could have foreseen that it would have ended due to instant gratification.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a Twilight Zone episode. :p

I think the downfall has already happened. "Smart" devices have already taken over the thinking and remembering for many. I don't know about anyone else, but I used to remember everyone's phone numbers, addresses, birthdays, etc. Now? I still do for some (very few), but for all but my closest family and friends, I have to check Google, Facebook, etc. Granted, I know a lot more people now, but I should remember more.

That said, I remember all of the unique passwords (or their patterns, anyway) I've set for every site I use, as well as all of my work's logins and passwords, so I'm not all empty up here. :p

Back to the Echo: I think I might get it just to tinker with it, but honestly I don't see myself using it as anything more than essentially a bluetooth speaker once the novelty wears off after a couple of days. If I'm at home, I'm probably in front of my computer, and if I'm in front of my computer, there's nothing it can do that I can't just as easily do on my computer. Additionally, I haven't exactly had the best experience with speech recognition with the exception of maybe Cortana (I often have shouting fits with Google Search in my car), so I'll probably end up sounding to my neighbors like I'm constantly fighting with someone named Alexa. :D

"ALEXA! PLAY SOME GODDAMN MUSIC! NO! NO! PLAY MUSIC! PLAY! MUSIC! FUCK!"
 
achensherd said:
That said, I remember all of the unique passwords (or their patterns, anyway) I've set for every site I use, as well as all of my work's logins and passwords, so I'm not all empty up here. :p
Click to expand...

But that is because your device isn't telling your your passwords, you are the one actively thinking about them and using them, therefore, your mind has been trained to do so and is stronger in that area.
Believe me, I've seen people who use the "remember password" function for their web browsers and apps, and they can't remember any of them ever.
 
We keep getting closer and closer to realizing Idiocracy as the prophetic work it was written as.
At first, I thought it was just a comedy, but now I see Mike Judge as the modern day Nostradamus he is.
 
Red Falcon said:
I should add, that if you don't believe me on this, just look at how much everyone's intelligence and wisdom have fallen since smartphones and tablets arrived.
Ask yourselves, are things really better with these devices now?

I truly imagined the humanity would end in war, pestilence, fire, etc.
I never could have foreseen that it would have ended due to instant gratification.
Click to expand...

People have always been stupid. This will never change.
 
Red Falcon said:
I've seen people who use the "remember password" function for their web browsers and apps, and they can't remember any of them ever.
Click to expand...

Ugh, I have family like that. I can't deal with not remembering passwords. If I get logged into something like an app automatically and I realize I can't remember the password off the top of my head, I reset it. I did the whole LastPass/KeePass thing for a while, and I'm not knocking anyone who uses those or their necessity if you have to set extremely complex passwords, but I wasn't comfortable not actively knowing what my passwords were and having to depend on LastPass/KeePass to log me into things. There were a couple of times LastPass wasn't working properly, and I didn't like how helpless I felt.
 
SGA76 said:
We keep getting closer and closer to realizing Idiocracy as the prophetic work it was written as.
At first, I thought it was just a comedy, but now I see Mike Judge as the modern day Nostradamus he is.
Click to expand...

Damn, I know, right.
I feel like Simon Pheonix, waking up in a completely pussy-fied world.

Seriously, THIS is our world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bOQitInC84

...and look at what those cops are using to get information!!!! :D :D :D
This world is so fucked.
 
Insula Gilliganis said:
The Echo was discussed during the November 9, 2014 TWiT, which was the first AND last time I heard anything about it.. so unimpressed I was with it that I had completely forgotten about it's existence.
Click to expand...
TWIT has biases. One particular one is against Amazon straying from a kindle ebook, audio book, or merchandise retailer into Google-like services territory. Or anyone that competes with Google's services for that matter.
 
Red Falcon said:
I literally just watched humanity's downfall in that video.
People's minds are a muscle, you either use it or lose it.

When one's mind is trained to remember things, such as day to day things, as shown in the video, the mind becomes stronger.
When one's mind is trained to only ask things, be given the answer on the spot, and then move on, the mind will turn to jelly as one's brain will become accustomed to only asking a question with an instant answer.

It's like using a calculator for very basic math, like 12x12 or 10/5 or 55-14.
If you use a calculator constantly with these operations, then one day, you have to do it in your head, you might find it to be very difficult.
Rather, if you had always done these math problems in your head, then it would be on-the-spot thinking, thus your mind is trained to be stronger in that instance.


Now, just imagine this thing being in your household for, say, five years.
Your kids use it, your spouse uses it, everyone uses it for just about everything.

Then one day, the device breaks, the service for it is shut down, the power goes out, etc; essentially, this device is offline.
Now, what does everyone do when they have to think of even the most basic of day to day tasks...?


You can all laugh at this, but we'll see where society and humanity is at 20 years from now.
I'm not envisioning a pretty sight.
Click to expand...

Good posts. All of them.
 
Red Falcon said:
I should add, that if you don't believe me on this, just look at how much everyone's intelligence and wisdom have fallen since smartphones and tablets arrived.
Ask yourselves, are things really better with these devices now?

I truly imagined the humanity would end in war, pestilence, fire, etc.
I never could have foreseen that it would have ended due to instant gratification.
Click to expand...

I think you should probably read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism."
 
cortexodus said:
I think you should probably read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism."
Click to expand...

ninetymileswuCSup1qzprlbo2_500+(1).png


The right side is the USA, the left side is the rest of the world.
 
Red Falcon said:
ninetymileswuCSup1qzprlbo2_500+(1).png


The right side is the USA, the left side is the rest of the world.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Here in the US we have both. The pleasure system is mandatory, if you step out of it, we have the pain system to ensure that everyone else sees what happens when you step out of it. Also, the pleasure system involves watching live video of the pain system.

If it's not being done to you, then it's entertainment! /sigh

:(
 
cortexodus said:
I disagree. Here in the US we have both. The pleasure system is mandatory, if you step out of it, we have the pain system to ensure that everyone else sees what happens when you step out of it. Also, the pleasure system involves watching live video of the pain system.

If it's not being done to you, then it's entertainment! /sigh

:(
Click to expand...

You got that right!
 
jbltecnicspro said:
Also, when anyone else watches the Amazon Echo video (the one that Amazon put out to promote it), does anyone else feel insulted? Surely Amazon doesn't think we're all this moronic?

I mean SERIOUSLY? Who doesn't know what the fuck day it is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkOCeAtKHIc
Click to expand...

at this point with so much goin on for me, i do not. I don't even know what I had for breakfast or if I had one at all lol.

I just want the star trekky thing of "computer.....play some nightwish" when i come home from work.
 
jbltecnicspro said:
Good posts. All of them.
Click to expand...

Just curious where you all think the perfect balance of technology and man was. In the 1980s? Earlier? Is using dictionaries and encyclopedias really all that much more efficient than verbal ask and response, when you consider the time spent to perform such tasks?

I agree we should always be careful not to depend on technology too much, but when has it failed so hard that we are running around like headless chickens?
 
Oh, and of course there are always headless chickens running around, regardless of technology... I'm talking wide-spread panic across a majority of the population.
 
I love it when people whine about how stupid humanity is becoming, all thanks to the use of the most technologically advanced developments mankind has ever seen. I guess we'll all be really dumb with our flying cars and interstellar space travel hundreds of years from now.
 
McFry said:
I love it when people whine about how stupid humanity is becoming, all thanks to the use of the most technologically advanced developments mankind has ever seen. I guess we'll all be really dumb with our flying cars and interstellar space travel hundreds of years from now.
Click to expand...

Only if everything is automated and no one has to think about it.
You completely missed the point, and it wasn't whining, it was just an observation, genius.
 
Youn said:
Just curious where you all think the perfect balance of technology and man was. In the 1980s? Earlier? Is using dictionaries and encyclopedias really all that much more efficient than verbal ask and response, when you consider the time spent to perform such tasks?

I agree we should always be careful not to depend on technology too much, but when has it failed so hard that we are running around like headless chickens?
Click to expand...

Look at everyone sub-40 years old.
No one knows anything about politics, religion, history, family, etc.

Everyone born in the 1980s especially, are nothing but a bunch of self-absorbed, self-centered people; these aren't teenagers I'm talking about, they are all in their 20s and 30s now, yet they act like kids.

Don't believe me still?
Here's a small example:

1365653032-selfie_meme.jpg
 
JC guys. It's no different than your fucking smart phones :)

I have one sitting on my desk here. I got it for the $99. I wasn't thinking about it, and when I watched that movie mine came to life every time one of the actors said "Alexa". It was kinda funny actually.

Is it worth $99? Absolutely. Is it worth $199? Nope.

It's a nice extension speaker. It will play over BT from your phone. Even better, it will automatically play from your MP3 library on the Amazon Cloud, and if you are a prime member, will play anything you want from Amazon Music.

The voice recognition is very accurate.

It does a lot of little things you don't realize until you just decide to try. For example, the other day I was calculating some T&M labor and instead of breaking out the calculator, I just said:

"Alexa, how much is $xxx.xx times $xx.xx"

It came back "$xxx.xx times $xx.xx is $xxxx.xx"

Like they say. You never know unless you ask :)
 
Youn said:
Oh, and of course there are always headless chickens running around, regardless of technology... I'm talking wide-spread panic across a majority of the population.
Click to expand...

Why would there be wide-spread panic?
Everyone is completely pacified by these devices.

You want to see wide-spread panic?
Take down their cell service and Internet service for a few weeks.

I don't think that would have affected the older generations 10-20+ years ago.
Primarily because they had no choice but to grow up and be men and women, and not act like eternal high schoolers who's only focus is how many selfies "they just had" to take of themselves in a day.

Key words from that statement: GROW UP

im-ashamed-to-know-someone-like-this-18059.png
 
BTW.... The #1 glaring fault in the design?

No headphone or output jack of any kind. That blew it for my intended use (connected to a Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speaker set in the bedroom", currently served with an old iPad Mini.

BTW... Did I mention it's a hell of an alarm clock?
 
I get that you think people are stupid, just curious if you could elaborate and answer my questions.
 
Youn said:
I get that you think people are stupid, just curious if you could elaborate and answer my questions.
Click to expand...

I already have, in so many ways.
If you still don't understand it, I've got news for you...
 
TechLarry said:
JC guys. It's no different than your fucking smart phones :)
Click to expand...
It is Google Now except in one room in your home instead of on your body 24/7.

Nobody cried about the downfall of humanity when Google snuck Google Now into most phones. although it is optional, for now.
 
Red Falcon said:
I already have, in so many ways.
Click to expand...
So many ways except answering my questions directly... :p

Again, when was technology in perfect harmony with humans? Can you provide an example of when it failed so hard the world imploded?

You can keep running in circles saying kids from the 80s are stupid... that's fun too I guess
 
Youn said:
Just curious where you all think the perfect balance of technology and man was. In the 1980s? Earlier? Is using dictionaries and encyclopedias really all that much more efficient than verbal ask and response, when you consider the time spent to perform such tasks?

I agree we should always be careful not to depend on technology too much, but when has it failed so hard that we are running around like headless chickens?
Click to expand...

The perfect balance of technology and man will come right around the time I get my telematic neurocannular with zetamax wireless comms and a backup brain to go into my cybernetic shell. The less meat we have, the better! :D
 
jpm100 said:
It is Google Now except in one room in your home instead of on your body 24/7.

Nobody cried about the downfall of humanity when Google snuck Google Now into most phones. although it is optional, for now.
Click to expand...

With the slight difference that it by the nature of its operation, the thing is listening to you 24-7 or it is useless.
 
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