Monday, July 22, 2019

home on the range

...where seldom is heard a discouraging word..."
Recently we made a purchase (actually I was informed about the purchase but no need to get into minor details) of Google's home gadget called "Home Mini". (it might have heard a discouraging word from me already)


I like that it doesn't have a battery

What, Lisleman is reviewing products now? 
No don't jump to conclusions. This is not product review. Unless you consider my past opinions/complaints on sink drain plumbing as product reviews. This is just a few thoughts and reactions.

I've been reluctant to bring a voice activated gadget into the home (leaving it out on a range playing with the deer and the antelope would be ok). I suspect many users of these voice activated gadgets are delighted that voice recognition works so well. I doubt they think about the need for the device to be constantly listening. If it needs to respond to your voice command at anytime then it needs to be constantly listening for the command prompt.

This one has a microphone switch which I think all of these devices should have. I also just unplug the gadget if it doesn't appear we'll be using it for awhile.

I recall twice that a these gadgets have reacted to my loud voice instead of a direct command. Both times were a bit startling. BTW, I have been told I get too loud too often (not by the gadget but by other humans, who knows how far in the future that starts happening).

Today I was exploring some of the fun stuff it does. It has easter eggs such as "hey google, what am I thinking". So far we mostly use it for playing music. 
Its song selection from my request of "play songs from the summer of 1969" was laughable. It played the song "Summer of '69" (released in 1984)





No comments:

Featured Post

Feedback can be amazing