Our use is 90% hands-and-eyes-free music control. The other 10% is me playing with skills I never use beyond t+10 of install. The whole appeal thus far has been eyes-free use.
I had such a strong urge to get connected lights, but then moved on. Spotify and Tune-In are the integrations I use. It's nice to get to a certain playlist. Best of all I can ask for a specific local radio station (e.g. 104.5) for white noise for my dogs as I'm walking out the door.
It's one less thing to fiddle with every day and that's my sole appeal for home tech ... devices that reduce the amount of babysitting I have to do to achieve a desired outcome.
I'm using my Echo as part of my smart house. And using it every day for the following things:
"Alexa turn on/off the lights"
"Alexa turn my home temperature to 20 degrees"
"Alexa play Sublime FM Radio"
"Alexa turn on work mode" -> scene activates for working
"Alexa turn on sleep mode" -> scene activates for going to bed
"Alexa turn off my tv"
Its mainly OpenHab on a raspberry pi that enables all this.
However some things (like my thermostat) are directly connected to the Echo.
Also things like the Chromecast dont work well with the Echo. So i'm lost there.
I use the Echo Dot a lot in the kitchen, and I could see having recipes and other video-based stuff up being very useful. Kitchen is also a hub for activity and kids and could be useful for video chatting or a second-screen to stream [insert must-watch event here] while cooking / socializing.
Getting the screen and speakers subsidized by the lock-in is a pretty intriguing model. Not sure I could get the hardware at that price point elsewhere. Will be interesting to see if there's a modding community that develops.
I use solely for weather, music & to control my room's lights. It basically sucks at recognizing my voice commands 50% of the time, sometimes i just pull out my phone to do that.
On the other hand, Google Assistant is unsurprisingly better at recognizing voice, give more information about everything. I am going to soon dump my echo for a home, just waiting for the Google IO to see if there will be a home-2.
My main interactions with it are to play the radio (TuneIn), connect to my phone via bluetooth, and stop/start the playback.
That's about it right now, I don't use it for anything else. I find you really need to enunciate your words otherwise it just gets confused and gives up (that's a UK midlands accent for you though...)
I am going with the idea that if they throw enough uses/features at the wall something is going to stick. The first step of course if getting people to talk to the device and they increase the chances of finding that breakthrough by giving people more reasons to do so.
I would not mind full home integration to where it detects me by my phone if not my saying I'm home and turning lights on if needed and more. (better yet, get me phone integration so that it knows when I am coming home after an hour or so away - knows I am on my street and stuff turns on)
technology is going to give everyone a personal assistant at home and one day it may just follow you. (Dave, while we are in the store don't forget to get the eggs)
I use Alexa integrated with SmartThings and that allows all these automations e.g. lights switch off automatically when I leave, thermostat turns down heating/cooling etc.
For learning/doing something manual for the first time. Following a recipe, or doing a home repair. It would be greats to have hands free control of video playback.
I could see a few use cases in the kitchen (that are probably still better solved with a tablet on a stand):
- step by step cooking tutorials that auto pause until you say "alexa, play/preview next step"
- multiple named timers on the screen
- shopping lists are way better visually
- video calls to cooking tutors (I wonder if there's a market for this?)
My Echo is basically for music and weather as well. However, my less tech inclined -- not always attached to a laptop -- friends and family (e.g. my parents) love theirs and seem to do a whole lot more. I think HN is not necessarily the demographic that is the focus.
I think the biggest benefit is video calling. Get your parents one, get one yourself, schedule a video call with them once a week (or whatever). Easier than Facetime since you don't have to hold up the phone. Reminds me of the videophones in the Starship Troopers movie.
Neither of my parents (70+) can handle smart phones. They get computers, TVs and other personal electronics just fine, but iOS and Android are both basically unusable for them. Both OSes have too many distractions and too many interaction choices, so the phone is always doing something unexpected and confusing. I've occasionally talked them through doing a hangouts call on a computer and they've loved seeing their grandkids on the video, but the smartphone interface has kept them from doing regular video calls. However, my father figured out how to turn off my TV and turn on lights in about 5 minutes, without being taught, using my Echo Dot.
It's not about not "wanting to touch anything" - the voice interface is slower and less flexible than a visual interface in a lot of ways, but it's also more consistent and easier to memorize key interactions.
Cheaper cost, even easier to use since it has voice? I can see this going over well with older generations who are still fumbling around or slower with with phones and ipads.
90% of my interaction with my standard echo has been "what's the weather".
Even when I want visual controls for music, I'd rather pull out my phone than walk over to a screen.