Amazon Announces 4 New Echos

[afv011]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I admit, I'm no audiophile. For me, all of the Google Home speakers I have (Mini and full size) sound just fine (and I'm sure the Echoes sound equally as good). They are the only speakers I use except for an occasional Bluetooth speaker.

I would guess the Pop sounds as good as the Dot, possibly better.

Same, I use them more as room filling for background than actual listening. I particularly like the ones with screen (Nest, Nest Max) because the photo frame feature is really nice. You can also configure your library to automatically add photos from a set of people to the photo frame album so they show on the device as soon as they're taken.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sorry, but that's not correct. That's not global warming.

Not to mention that the sun spots are on an 11 year cycle, so if there was a correlation (there isn't), then you would expect temperatures to climb and drop on this 11 year cycle, when we've seen them trending upwards for more than a century now.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Perhaps you should have gone back a few more years.

Sure thing, here's 20,000 years

https://xkcd.com/1732/

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Yeah, I've noticed you like it. I think you equate it with wit.

Nope. I equate it it with snide-ness.

Originally Posted by rcentros

I was pointing out recent news showing normal people being persecuted by the FBI for their religious and political beliefs — and how the FBI could conceivably use the audio information stored on Amazon to aid in their witch hunts. The point was not to argue politics, but to show some examples.

Your point is not relevant. It is not the arguing of politics and/or religion that is not allowed in open forum. It is the topics themselves.

Originally Posted by rcentros

I guess you got triggered by the examples I used instead of getting the politics.

Not at all. I actually got a chuckle out of your "news." I GOT the politics. So did everyone else. Hence the request to take it to the place where those politics are allowed to be discussed.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by rcentros

How do you know we're still not returning to normal after the Little Ice Age? And what is the normal temperature? How do we determine it?

There is no long term normal temperature, but too rapid change exceeds the ability of species to adapt. The last time sea level rose a lot, there was no agriculture, everyone was nomadic, and moving inland was no big deal and not that many people had to move.

See the chart from post #48. Note that the little ice age is barely perceptible. Also note that the current rate of temperature change is far greater than anything in the past 22,000 years.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by afv011

Sure thing, here's 20,000 years

https://xkcd.com/1732/

I get a laugh out of those charts showing what has been termed the hockey stick graph. You may have noted that the program that produced the original graph which was "liberated" during the 2009 "Climategate" hacking incident was found to produce virtually the same output regardless of the input values so the increase in temperature (actually CO2 levels) would go as near to asymptotic as possible.

Note that this has nothing to do with global warming. Given the level of well funded opposition to any suggestion that humans could affect the climate ("oil-soaked think tanks" was a favourite of mine), it's not all that surprising that both sides became polarized and there was little interest on the part of the East Anglia CRU into exposing anything that could cast doubt on their work.

[John F]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I'm a Google Home guy rather than an Alexa one. Does anyone know, are the new Echo Pops just a rebrand of the Echo Dot?

They are priced the same and seem to be pretty much the same thing. I couldn't imagine Amazon selling both. And I like the spherical look of the Dot more than the look of the Pop (which vaguely reminds me of the Google/Nest Mini).

It looks like the Dot is currently on sale for $39.99 and is normally $49.99.

Looking through the specs, they do seem similar. I didn't know this previously, but the newer Dots and Echos have motion detection and the Pops don't (according to the comparison chart).

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by John F

...the newer Dots and Echos have motion detection and the Pops don't (according to the comparison chart).

I'm sure I lack vision, but what's the point of a motion detector (aside from top secret government surveillance, of course) on those little speakers? I can see how it would be useful on the devices that have a screen.

And Dots are Echos (Echoes?). Echo is the brand, Dot is the model, along with Show and now the Pop.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

And Dots are Echos (Echoes?). Echo is the brand, Dot is the model, along with Show and now the Pop.

Echo is a model as well as a brand. In a list of Echoes, you'd have to include the Echo.

Kind of like New York, New York....

[haertig]

Don't forget about the Echo For Seniors model:

https://youtu.be/YvT_gqs5ETk

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by issybird

Kind of like New York, New York....

It's a wonderful town...

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by haertig

Don't forget about the Echo For Seniors model:

https://youtu.be/YvT_gqs5ETk

Aleka! What them kids doing over there? I don't know about that...

[John F]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I'm sure I lack vision, but what's the point of a motion detector (aside from top secret government surveillance, of course) on those little speakers? I can see how it would be useful on the devices that have a screen.

...

I saw potential at first. My elderly mom gets up at night, so we have night lights. With the motion detection, I was planning on turning on the lights (at night) when it detected motion. But then I remembered she has an older dot.

Or, it could be used to detect motion when you aren't home for breakin detection.

The possibilties seem endless.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by John F

I saw potential at first. My elderly mom gets up at night, so we have night lights. With the motion detection, I was planning on turning on the lights (at night) when it detected motion. But then I remembered she has an older dot.

$40. Cheap!

The possibilties seem endless.

I've never done more with my speakers than using them to play music, set alarms, tell me the weather and get humorous responses to queries like "open the pod bay doors, please."

As I mentioned, I lack vision.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by John F

I saw potential at first. My elderly mom gets up at night, so we have night lights. With the motion detection, I was planning on turning on the lights (at night) when it detected motion. But then I remembered she has an older dot.

Or, it could be used to detect motion when you aren't home for breakin detection.

The possibilties seem endless.

Sadly, that's laughable. A few nights ago, a nearby resident was burglarized by a pair of experienced young criminals who disabled the home's network, which included detection, entered and took what they wanted while an accomplice waited in an idling SUV. A camera across the street from the crime scene captured the activity with no apprehensions thus far.

WiFi "detection" and its related devices are not a deterrent to criminals. Short of 24-hr armed guards, CCTV and hard-wired alarm systems connected to local police are a good starting point. A professionally trained guard dog is also a plus.