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is it just me, or are we really now living in a science-fiction world come true?

I was fascinated by the advert for the new Amazon Echo and so took a look at their website. Can it really do all this...?


Plays all your music from Prime Music, Spotify, TuneIn and more using just your voice
• Fills the room with immersive, 360º omni-directional audio
• Allows hands-free convenience with voice control
• Hears you from across the room with far-field voice recognition, even in noisy environments or while playing music
• Answers questions, reads audiobooks, reports news, traffic and weather, provides sports scores and schedules, and more using the Alexa Voice Service
• Controls lights, switches, thermostats and more with compatible connected devices from WeMo, Philips Hue, Hive, Netatmo, tado° and others
• Always getting smarter - Alexa updates through the cloud automatically and is continually learning, adding new features and skills.


Wow! Unbelievable. I remember a TV series called 'Star Cops' (BBC, 1986) and the main character had something like this in his 'futuristic' apartment. thirty years later and it's come true!

What next?



P.S. I bought two albums yesterday, brand new, on vinyl in a shop that now has as many LPs on the shelves as CDs. So maybe we are going forward in some ways and going in reverse in others?

Strange new world maybe?

I wonder how long it will be for the hackers to take it over - monitor your life?

Oh! Can it play your own recorded numbers ?

Star Cops had a great theme song - almost nothing to do with stars or cops - 'It Won't Be Easy' by Justin Hayward - great long guitar solo 'exit' to it as well.

MikeAB wrote:Star Cops had a great theme song - almost nothing to do with stars or cops - 'It Won't Be Easy' by Justin Hayward - great long guitar solo 'exit' to it as well.

True. I had the single. The protracted opening sequence to episode one had some interesting intercutting between a scene on earth and a similar scene out in space. It was a good series. I liked it. Similar, I thought, to the 1973 series Moonbase 3. That also had a great theme tune!

SJB wrote:I wonder how long it will be for the hackers to take it over - monitor your life?

Oh! Can it play your own recorded numbers ?

Technology has its downsides too, I suppose. I have heard that you have to be very careful with the voice-activated TVs (voice-activated TVs??!!!!) as the mic is never actually switched off and it will pick up anything and everything!!!!

I sometimes wonder if such things really do represent progress or just a stealthy way of the 1984-style intrusion into, and monitoring of, every aspect of our lives. Thank goodness I can't afford one.

Equipment (like the Echo) that can control things is becoming more plentiful.

Lagging behind is hardware that can operate things in the home.

For example, one 'home security' feature (better than leaving a light on a time switch), would be a gadget that could close the curtains at night. It would have to retro-fit to existing curtains but it would really give the impression that someone is home. Yes, I'm aware that motorised systems are available for commercial premises, but what is needed for domestic use is an add-on motorised box with a USB connection.

Ray,

http://www.curtainandblindfitter.co.uk/ ... tains.aspx

There are several on the market.



Just a thought - should we be going this deep on this forum on this subject?

I don't mind.