Introducing the Amazon Echo Dot
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Amazon is expanding the Echo ecosystem with the new Amazon Echo Dot. Basically the Dot is the old Amazon Echo but with the speaker removed, so perfect for people who already have a sound system and just want to add the Alexa functions.
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This device confuses me. Most sound systems have each input separate. So unless you leave it on the Echo input all the time, this seems like a hassle.
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@Dashrender said:
This device confuses me. Most sound systems have each input separate. So unless you leave it on the Echo input all the time, this seems like a hassle.
But that would be the idea. So when would it not be useful?
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If I look at my own situation, I have a receiver that drives all the audio for my entertainment center.
With the Echo Dot, I'd need to make sure the receiver was always on, and always on the Dot channel when I'm not watching TV/Roku, etc.
Instead of just turning everything off, I have to change it to the Dot options... just extra work.
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@Dashrender said:
If I look at my own situation, I have a receiver that drives all the audio for my entertainment center.
With the Echo Dot, I'd need to make sure the receiver was always on, and always on the Dot channel when I'm not watching TV/Roku, etc.
Instead of just turning everything off, I have to change it to the Dot options... just extra work.
That would be a weird place to use the Dot which is meant to be your audio hub itself.
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My receiver is my audio and video hub.
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@Dashrender said:
My receiver is my audio and video hub.
Then why would you want to replace it? That's the bit that I think that you are missing. You are asking why an audio hub would make sense because you have an audio hub. So of course it doesn't make sense to you, you already have an audio hub that you don't want to replace. But you don't think that Best Buy's wall of receivers is a bad idea just because you already own one, right?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
My receiver is my audio and video hub.
Then why would you want to replace it? That's the bit that I think that you are missing. You are asking why an audio hub would make sense because you have an audio hub. So of course it doesn't make sense to you, you already have an audio hub that you don't want to replace.
I guess the part I don't understand it who would buy this? If you already have a speaker system, I'm assuming you already have a way to interface your music to those speakers. I guess this could be a better way - i.e. in my case I have a receiver running my speakers, but I don't have a bluetooth way to connect say my phone to it to play music... So now I could with the Dot.
But you don't think that Best Buy's wall of receivers is a bad idea just because you already own one, right?
I have no idea what you're getting at here.
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@Dashrender said:
I guess the part I don't understand it who would buy this? If you already have a speaker system, I'm assuming you already have a way to interface your music to those speakers.
That logic would say "who would buy a CD player." You can't assume that people always have a way to get music to their speakers. At some point everyone has to buy that function.
And you are assuming that people don't buy this AND an amplifier and speakers all at once.
Do you feel that all sound sources are now moot (or mute, ha ha) and the market is saturated and no one needs audio sources any more?
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@Dashrender said:
...but I don't have a bluetooth way to connect say my phone to it to play music... So now I could with the Dot.
Yup, that's one reason to look at this.
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Yeah the new consumer on the scene was something I realized as I was writing my last post.
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@Dashrender said:
But you don't think that Best Buy's wall of receivers is a bad idea just because you already own one, right?
I have no idea what you're getting at here.
You are basing the reason for why the Dot isn't useful to you on the fact that you already bought the functionality that it primarily provides. So, by extension, anything that competes with your existing receiver would be subject to the same logic, right?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
But you don't think that Best Buy's wall of receivers is a bad idea just because you already own one, right?
I have no idea what you're getting at here.
You are basing the reason for why the Dot isn't useful to you on the fact that you already bought the functionality that it primarily provides. So, by extension, anything that competes with your existing receiver would be subject to the same logic, right?
Aww - in other words - what you don't believe in upgrades/updates? LOL
Yeah yeah I see the point now.
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@Dashrender said:
Yeah the new consumer on the scene was something I realized as I was writing my last post.
Or just imagine anyone who uses pure audio systems. You are thinking of one used for home theatres, which isn't the key demographic. Think of one that is just for music. Which I own a few of (at least one with no receiver, so a perfect fit). Mine is traditional bookshelf speakers, so pretty "what you picture as the 1950s living room stereo." But what about people who have like in ceiling, multi-room music? No video, nothing fancy. They just want this on the coffee table or wall mounted, and talk to the room to have it do things.
Alexa, play some soft jazz. - Whole house starts to play soft jazz.
Alexa, turn off the lights. - Lights turn off.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Yeah the new consumer on the scene was something I realized as I was writing my last post.
Or just imagine anyone who uses pure audio systems. You are thinking of one used for home theatres, which isn't the key demographic. Think of one that is just for music. Which I own a few of (at least one with no receiver, so a perfect fit). Mine is traditional bookshelf speakers, so pretty "what you picture as the 1950s living room stereo." But what about people who have like in ceiling, multi-room music? No video, nothing fancy. They just want this on the coffee table or wall mounted, and talk to the room to have it do things.
Alexa, play some soft jazz. - Whole house starts to play soft jazz.
Alexa, turn off the lights. - Lights turn off.
For a person putting something new in this definitely make sense - but someone who already has the whole home audio thing, it seems likely they they would already have a solution in place... but of course, this doesn't mean that this isn't a better one, and one they want to try.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Yeah the new consumer on the scene was something I realized as I was writing my last post.
Or just imagine anyone who uses pure audio systems. You are thinking of one used for home theatres, which isn't the key demographic. Think of one that is just for music. Which I own a few of (at least one with no receiver, so a perfect fit). Mine is traditional bookshelf speakers, so pretty "what you picture as the 1950s living room stereo." But what about people who have like in ceiling, multi-room music? No video, nothing fancy. They just want this on the coffee table or wall mounted, and talk to the room to have it do things.
Alexa, play some soft jazz. - Whole house starts to play soft jazz.
Alexa, turn off the lights. - Lights turn off.
For a person putting something new in this definitely make sense - but someone who already has the whole home audio thing, it seems likely they they would already have a solution in place... but of course, this doesn't mean that this isn't a better one, and one they want to try.
It's a different approach. You don't tend to have lots of digital sources, typically only one.
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@aaron said:
My first gen Kindle Fire sucked, my Paperwhite works well... I have mixed feelings about additional Amazon devices at home.
it's really the Fire line that sucks. All of our Kindles (non-fire) have been amazing and our Echo is excellent. But our four Fire tablets are garbage and our Fire TVs too.
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@scottalanmiller I love my Fire TV stick... i replaced the start menu with FireStarter, and it runs Kodi like a friggin' champ.
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@RojoLoco said:
@scottalanmiller I love my Fire TV stick... i replaced the start menu with FireStarter, and it runs Kodi like a friggin' champ.
I just picked up one of those and really enjoy it. Now to look up FireStarter and see how that works.
