Echo Look, by invitation only.
22I just got an ad from Amazon for the Echo Look, a “hands-free camera and style assistant”. For two hundred bucks it will take a full length photo of you so you can make sure you look good before you leave the house. I would never leave the house again.
Does anyone else think this is totally fucked up? Is it April first again?
- 26 comments, 69 replies
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Seems like a couple mirrors could have the same effect.
@Pantheist But you can’t use your mirror to ask your friends if you look good.
@sammydog01 @Pantheist
But what if somebody doesn’t keep friends?
@sammydog01 Post a pic of the mirror image to FB or text it to friends. Of course, I’m not sure what the point of checking is if you are going to send the image to friends to evaluate. This is just pushing the selfie indulgence to a new level.
@moondrake If you ever want to know how you look just ask me- you always look fabulous.
/giphy you look fabulous
@PlacidPenguin
Note that the models and actors all look like they should be on TV or in the movies, or possibly the coolest looking person in SF.
So it appears to be a tool to help the attractive and potentially attractive (by current media standards) among us to look better and feel better about themselves and their lives, while “buying in” to the looks and aesthetics, and while literally Buying In to fashion products.
And it can help make the rest of us give up, or decide never to go outside ever again, or to rebel and be hideous, or to just ignore the aesthetic and implicit “hip success” visual values that are promo’d by and encoded in the performance of Amazon’s AI and Amazon’s eclectic set of experts.
@cranky1950, this seems like a natural match for your truck and your dog and your cooler. Your otherwise valueless existence clearly needs this to have meaning. .
Can you get it to photograph your dog while your dog is in the act of chewing on it? I bet your dog is a natural Fashion Week star.
Perhaps you could dress up the dog a bit with a bandana from Amazon for purposes of the fashion shoot? Perhaps even a full wardrobe of doggie bandanas?
/giphy "dog chewtoy"
@f00l if you were selling a product would you intentionally pick unattractive models? On a moral level I’m with you but on a business marketing level it would be a poor choice
As long as I can activate it with “mirror mirror on the wall…” I’m in.
@snapster And you can…thats what my daughter uses for her “Ok Google” trigger…
@tightwad awesome!!
@snapster More sinister in German: Spieglein Spieglein an der Wand…
@tightwad For her phone? Or for that Google Home thing? Is it easy to set up?
@luvche21 for her phone. You can change the “Ok Google” trigger to any phrase. Her’s is “Magic Mirror on the Wall”
@tightwad I had no idea! I’ll give that a shot sometime!
@sammydog01 said
Yet another total cultural and social FAIL, and psychological cause of devastation, for my incomprehensible existence.
I’d better go buy 3.
@f00l You mean get on the invite list for three.
@sammydog01
Oh, not only do I have to FAIL at being attractive and FAIL at being socially competent or acceptable, I have to FAIL the invite list too?
Cool Kids, Cool Kids, Wherefore Art Thou, Cool Kids?
Busy day for me.
Where’s @mfladd? I need some extra depression horror for my morning mood seasoning.
This thing has an algorithm based on designer input and will actually pick between two outfits for you. I wonder if it likes Meh t-shirts?
I’m not certain this is totally stupid. I mean it’s useless from my perspective, but I can see tweens to 20-somethings (and hate to generalize, but since the advertising did so already), females totally digging this. Time will tell.
I requested one through the invite as these tend to carry a premium for resale when in limited release.
@ACraigL
Unfortunately I know someone who sold their Echo while it was still $99 for several times that amount.
“Hi, can we put an internet connected camera in your bedroom please?”
What could go wrong.
@Ignorant Exactly what I was thinking.
With that, the Russians could watch me scratch my butt.
@Ignorant Amazon will have a whole new section of amateur porn in Prime videos.
@sammydog01 That tends to be the best kind.
@daveinwarsh said:
Make it easy for them. YouTube or FB streaming.
Because I need to spend $200 for some gadget and algorithm to tell me what catshirt to wear? Fuck that!
/giphy indecisive cat shirt
@narfcake
Phew, you changed the gif. (Still open in a diff tab, since I like comparing gifs which people get and then change.)
Edit:
And again.
@narfcake
Yes. You do. Amazon sez so.
@narfcake I’m pretty sure you would get a big fat “no” on all of your catshirts.
@sammydog01
If @narfcake can hack the AI to include us Mehxperts, I think his CatShirts will pass muster.
f00l said a few seconds ago
@f00l Amazon can’t even find proper catshirtswoot in their shitty search engine.
@sammydog01 Damn computers.
http://shirt.woot.com/offers/can-i-has-launch-codes
I saw the ad on Amazon too. Don’t want it. I’m waiting for the echo version with the built-in screen so it can show me pictures of stuff I ask for.
For those concerned, I believe there is a button to turn the camera off. So, only turn the camera on when you want to use it.
@medz
And prob a button to turn off the mic. Assuming they work as specified and can’t can’t be hacked or reverse engineered.
If I own one someday, I’m gone put a neoprene case over it. Or a opaque faraday cage. Or a led zeppelin.
@f00l Or just stick with the fifty buck Dot that can only listen to you. That’s my plan. I sound a lot better than I look.
@sammydog01
Right now am sticking with an unplugged echo.
It remembers exactly everything I say that is worth remembering.
@f00l You can point it at a mirror and ask it if a faraday cage or a neoprene case looks better. I’m sure it will say the led Zeppelin is a little light.
@mehcuda67
@medz Your wish is Amazon’s command.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtissilver/2017/05/10/amazon-echo-show-is-a-67-year-old-innovation-that-can-show-you-things-to-buy/#4474613623da
@sammydog01 Yeah. I heard it was coming, but I am surprise how quickly. Although, I guess it’s not technically available yet. I wouldn’t purchase it for that price. $150 is more reasonable.
It would be cool to say,
“Echo, show me pictures of a brown recluse spider.”
“Echo, show me the front door camera feed.”
"Echo, show me a recipe for brownies."
etc…
Also, showing artist info and the lyrics on screen would be neat while listening to music. Another cool feature is the free echo to echo calling/messaging/video chat they’ll be including. Very cool how it can be used to check on grandma and such by “dropping in” if configured to allow it.
Edit: I’ve also only purchased a couple of things via echo. It’s much easier to see what you’re purchasing before you agree to it. As your article suggests, this may encourage me to purchase more through echo.
@medz I think this thing is pretty cool but I’m not sure I would use it. I use my Dot mostly for alarms, timers, and when I don’t have a free hand to check my phone. And music- lots of music.
I only purchase with my Echo when Amazon gives me a special deal. I don’t trust her- she knows too much.
@sammydog01 asking for weather while we’re all getting ready in the morning. My daughter loves the “ask for a fart” skill. (wife hates it) Sometimes when we’re away from home, I find my self wanting to ask echo things. “Echo, why does this elevator smell funny?”
@medz She also does clips from the Daily Show and the Tonight Show monologue. I check the weather with her in the morning but my phone gives me more details. And she knows my favorite radio station. I’m still not sure I would look at a screen.
@medz They actually implemented the calling/messaging last night on the regular echoes/dots. The calling works pretty well, but I feel it still needs a few tweaks. The wake word still works during the call, and if you try to cancel it, it hangs the call up.
So I got the announce notice for the Echo Look.
I click thru. Usual gorgeous, clean, understated Amazon page for a high-end Amazon product.
Seduce seduce seduce. Gotta admit, good they are.
So, assuming that I have lost my mind (safe bet, that), how to buy, out of curiosity.
Oh Lookie Lookie. I can’t.
What they will allow me to do is to BEG for an invitation to be allowed to buy.
Ok, Amazon. You have a patent on “one-click beg” technology, famous for stripping the user of all dignity.
I click. I BEG, Amazon, I BEG.
We’ll see if I am Cool enough to receive an exclusive and rare invite (made of solid gold, I’m sure) to spend my own precious money to get this incredible culture-changing item of such aesthetic potential.
Amazon: Can you see me begging? Can you? I’m begging here, OK?
Amazon, I wanna be Cool. Please.
No thanks. I rarely look in the mirror at my clothes. I don’t need a machine to tell me what to wear.
@RiotDemon
You’re obviously stuck in March-2016-think.
@RiotDemon why bother? you already should know what it looks like no? I guess I’m of the put close on and leave the house school of getting dressed
@RiotDemon this is the height of my fashion sense.
@Pantheist black goes with anything. You’re fine.
@Cerridwyn @f00l @Pantheist when you basically wear t-shirts and jean shorts or pants… What is there to really look at? Most of my shirts are black, so they pretty much go with all the jeans I own.
Today I’m fancy with green camo shorts and an Alien t-shirt. Camo cuz of the military in Aliens? Sure. Why not?
@RiotDemon ^_^
@RiotDemon
Yeah that’s kinda what I wear. Black or dark for consistency, relative invisibility due to lack of interesting visual features, and anonymity.
“Alexa, gee, does this black t-shirt make me look like an asshole?”
“Alexa, thanks. Love those affirmations.”
/giphy affirmations
@f00l
“Hey Alexa? If I do enough affirmations can I be a Senator?”
“Alexa, fuck you.”
Just what a need, a device that can let me know if my outfit makes my butt look big.
@heartny said:
I suspect you can setup this thing to actually take a pix of you and then say exactly that, outloud.
Cant wait for a wearable version.
@heartny I wonder how many smashed returns Amazon gets before they program it to say “No, not at all! Your butt is perfect, dear.”
The irony is that early adopters of this product are very unlikely to go out and leave the relative comfort and security of their parents’ basement.
So did Amazon not learn anything from OnePlus?
@Mehsturbator
When did Amazon announce a device which they labeled as a flagship killer for the following year?
@PlacidPenguin I more meant the invite system. Now, granted, this probably isn’t going to end up being this amazing product that is in high demand but really hard to get like the OPO was, but it still seems like any company looking to do an invite thing should look at how it affected OnePlus.
@Mehsturbator
Probably should have mentioned I was making a joke.
But didn’t they have several iterations of the invite system?
The entire concept seems designed for what I think of as the Selfie Generation, not to be confused with selfie generators. It’s perfect for the millions of people who can’t go anywhere, eat anything, or meet up with anyone without taking a picture of themselves making bizarre faces that they apparently think are cool.
As I read it earlier today, it applies the opinion of “fashion experts” to your submitted looks in combination with machine learning algorithms. That seems super creepy to me.
And what about that fashion expert job? Sitting all day rating selfies for Amazon? Oor.
Given my opinion, this is probably going to turn out as the biggest product of 2017. I thought echo was about this dumb when it was announced and now I have more than one dot and use them regularly.
@djslack That’s the part my husband seized on when I told him about it last night: The “fashion experts” will be Mechanical Turks.
@djslack
I wanna be a fashion expert. I’ll do it for free.
I hope my “padawans” have strong egos.
@djslack if it forces submission to machine learning algorithms, it may be a machine that’s rating your appearance. In all fairness, the AWS machine learning shit isn’t bad from what I’ve seen.
This just sounds like an excuse to put another internet-connected camera in your house. Amazon, what are you up to?
@katylava Trying to do what a pair of gene-spliced lab mice couldn’t do.
Concur with sammydog. Pretty messed up this is.
There probably a lack of mirrors in the packing crate village anyway. So this’ll be a winner.
I’ve asked my echo “how do I look?” on a few occasions. You know, as a joke because she can’t really see me. Probably lots of people did this and Amazon thought it was a feature people actually wanted.
i thought the style assistant was to help you pick out furniture or calculate the correct feng shui placement of existing chairs and tables
Of course, this creation has no relation to Amazon’s attempt to expand its clothing business. Nope.
"Alexa, which suit looks best on me?"
Alexa: “Neither suit is really right for you. Have you considered the 70’s Throwback Leisure Suit in lime green, available in your size, and on sale today exclusively at Amazon Style Code Live? Say “order now” and it will be there in 2 days with Prime.”
Nah - that will never happen.
@rockblossom
I am waiting for Amazon’s new clothing line:
Your Butt Looks Small Fashions
Over the lunch hour today, I asked Echo to track my orders. She tells me I have one coming tomorrow. A minute or two later before heading back to work, I say aloud (to myself and/or the dog) something along the lines of “I gotta piss”. To which she responds, “Sorry, I can’t help you with that.” This was one of the few times I have been taken aback by it “listening”. Now, I may have said “ok, I gotta pee” and the “ok” sounded like the wake word “Echo”, but… I don’t know… Weird stuff, bruh.
Edit: the TV was on for the dog, too. (she likes PBS) It’s possible the TV said something to wake Echo up.
@medz I find that a bit disturbing. I just can’t figure out which is the disturbing part:
or,
@rockblossom 1. was sorta, I’ll see you later, dog. Oh wait, I gotta pee. 2. was an interesting response for sure, but I’ve heard a similar response for purposefully outlandish requests. 3. It’s free OTA tv, so it doesn’t use bandwidth while we’re gone. She likes the kids shows and the woodshop shows the most. Other channels are too unpredictable and I don’t want her subjected to content that hasn’t been screened first.
Re Echo Show
<note the genderization>
What do I love about Alexa? Hmmmm.
My echo was interesting to play with for a few days, but it’s unplugged now. It is a pretty nice bt speaker tho. I might just use it with the mike off.
If I want Alexa at home, I can always use it in the fire tablet, and at least there, it’s supposedly not always listening. (Right now Alexa is disabled on the tablet. Guess I don’t have much interest.)
I have a Fire tablet, because I got a refurb for ultra cheap, and wanted it since Sling’s DVR service works great on it.
I don’t think Sling’s DVR Service is out of beta and available to any subscriber yet on other devices other than Fire devices. Sling must have a partnership co-promo deal with Amazon.
Alexa show does have a camera. I don’t know if that can be disabled.
Not feeling the $230 love for this so far.
@f00l She does have a feminine-sounding voice, but I suppose I’m gender profiling…
Also, I believe the Cloud DVR is available for Roku and some others now. http://help.sling.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/Why-can-t-I-use-DVR-on-my-other-devices/
I’m not interested in it because I don’t have time to watch all the on-demand content as it is.
@medz
I’m after DVR recordings of specific content. Yeah I del a bunch of it w/out watching.
There’s always too much stuff.
When I first called Sling to get the scoop on the DVR service, the rep told me at that time Fire Tablets and Fire Sticks and the like only. This was several months back. They said other devices would follow shortly prob most popular or most requested first.
Since I got a refurb Fire HD for $45 or so, that was fine with me. I like watching TV in a tablet anyway.
Just got my invitation to purchase it.
I don’t need it though.
Getting rid of my echo devices. They just sit there unplugged anyway.
@f00l
If you’re getting rid of them anyways, would you take $5 for each device?
@f00l I now have 5 echo devices!
*Bedroom Echo Dot (connected to main level “whole-home” sound system)
*Living Room Echo (primary devices for random questions; it sits next to the Google Home)
*Basement Echo Dot (connected to speakers in basement and manual switch to toggle on outdoor patio speakers)
*Garage Echo Dot (connected to ceiling speakers in garage)
*Kitchen Echo Dash Wand - Since we don’t have Amazon Fresh here, this is pretty much junk. It’s a kitchen device that doesn’t even do timers…WTH? We can ask it to convert ounces to cups or whatever, but easier to yell into living room.
Fun to “drop-in” on the other rooms especially since you can’t hear dick from upstairs while in the basement. The Basement and Garage dots replaced some bluetooth receivers I was using to stream audio from either the phone or another echo into those areas. Much easier this way. Still frustrated that an echo can only exist in 1 music group at a time. So, if I have an “everywhere” group with all the echos in it, I can’t also have an “outside” group or an “upstairs” group. My current options are to stream music through one device or all. I tried saying “play music in basement and garage” and it didn’t understand that I was referencing two different echo devices. They have to be in a group and, as I said, they can only exist in one music group. Hopefully that will change.
@f00l Alexa is sobbing. I can hear her through my phone.
@f00l Well, there’s the problem. They work much better when plugged in.
@rockblossom @f00l
They spy a bit less when they’re unplugged though.
@mflassy That’s what Amazon wants you to believe.
@medz My wand tells me the weather forecast.
@rockblossom
I don’t believe most of what Amazon tells me.
@sammydog01 Yeah, but you gotta push a button. That’s so two-thousand-and-late.
@medz
After the Great Electronic Pulse, vehicles less than around 50 or do years old will be so Pre-Pulse.
The current hot and au courant transportation choices might then be feet, old vehicles, horses, bicycles, and the like.
/giphy bicycle built for two
@f00l I can arm the security system from the garage via voice!
@f00l I have echo devices too - they are ages 4, 3 and 1… and I have to feed them food rather than electricity…and then the cats. Oh wait. The cats are my shadows.