Any ideas for a smart speaker in a dumb home?

[Outpost Omega J]

During my black Friday shopping, one the things I purchased came bundled with a Amazon Echo Dot at no extra charge. The problem, I don't have a "smart home". The Echo Dot is the first real "Smart Home device" I've acquired. Any suggestions on how to make good use of a smart speaker in a dumb home?

[Spaghetti Os]

Throw that thing away, amazon echos are nothing more then glorified spyware.

[Outpost Omega J]

Wow. Somebody dug through the way-back-machine to find this thread. Were you really that bored?

[Spaghetti Os]

Yes I was, some days I have nothing better to do.

[Spaghetti Os]

But I hoped I could warn you before its to late. But going by the fact that a year has gone by it might just be.

Maybe im just making a pathetic attempt to keep this forum alive.

Edited August 21, 2019 by Spaghetti O's

[napoleon]

You get as much use out of home devices as you both need and devices that can interface with it.

 

I've configured my home device to respond to audio signals to operate lights, thermostat, and locks/unlocks doors on top of the usual day to day items. It sets alarms, plays music, tells the weather forecast and makes a great recipe book.

It can be useful if you feel comfortable with home automation that is being outsourced to Amazon (They have privacy controls that ostensibly allow you to decide how much data Amazon collects).

[Spaghetti Os]

(They have privacy controls that ostensibly allow you to decide how much data Amazon collects).

 

Yes they "ostensibly" have those privacy controls; do you think amazon respects your privacy settings just like google does?