TABmom Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 My 3 kids each for an echo dot and dh as I got an echo plus for Christmas from MIL. I don't have much experience with these- my parents have one and last year at Christmas my kids kept asking Alexa to play annoying music. I'm trying to have a good attitude about the whole thing. Can someone tell me why this will be great and I'll just be so glad we have them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 We love our dot but I would definitely not buy electronics, especially not one linked to the internet, for children unless I asked their parents permission. There are a lot of good uses for the dots and I think the kids could really enjoy them. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 You can use them as room-to-room intercoms with the drop in feature or make an announcement (like tell everyone dinner is ready). You can verbally add items to your shopping list and they show up in the list on the app on your phone. Get some smart plugs for that lamp everyone always leaves on. You can play jeopardy and escape room games on your echo. Theres lots of funny little Easter eggs. She is great for timers(probably our most useful Alexa feature). She can play your audible book or a podcast. She can check the weather both where you are and at other destinations... or check for traffic updates. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Set your shopping to be passcoded (not just to stop the kids from ordering things- but so you cant do so accidentally). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Oh and you can drop in from your phone when you're not in the house, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyhwkmama Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 We have a ecoBee thermostat and control it with our echo products. So awesome. I use the one in my bedroom to play "babbling brook" on demand. I use it when cooking and when tracking my food for unit conversions and food nutrition information. I use it as a timer for all kinds of thing when cooking and for limited time kid activities. We have it play music for family dance parties. So many uses. Be sure to read up on the features online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABmom Posted December 27, 2018 Author Share Posted December 27, 2018 We got one of them set up and figured out how to call someone with it! That will be wonderful. We don't have a home phone and my oldest is getting to the age where we could leave him for short periods, but he doesn't have a phone. I LOVE that he will be able to use it to call me!! I agree that it's not really cool to buy electronics for kids without parent's permission- but that ship sailed. Since it's not something that has a screen.... Are there any things I should be aware of? This was honestly just not on my radar at all. We have kindles with Alexa and sometimes we ask her how to spell something or for the definition of a word, but it's not a feature that we used much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABmom Posted December 27, 2018 Author Share Posted December 27, 2018 38 minutes ago, theelfqueen said: Set your shopping to be passcoded (not just to stop the kids from ordering things- but so you cant do so accidentally). Oh boy! I think we have that locked down.... We've been there/done that!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 We don't have Alexa or Echo or anything like that, other than Siri on our iPhones. I think they do sound like they have some fun and useful features. BUT I won't bring an electronic devise that listens to what we are saying into our home (we have the voice activation mode of Siri turned off). I'm just not comfortable with that. So I would weigh that into your decision. It may not bother you, but it is something to think about. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 We have an echo and four dots in our house. We mainly use them for music and radio. We also have the intercom set up on some and we use the echo as a phone quite often because it's easier for the kids to contact me that way when I'm out of the house. We never ordered anything a accidently and we've had it for two years so I don't think it's too easy to accidently accomplish that. My kids get amused when I argue with it. We like to listen to a certain radio station with call letters that Alexa purposely mishears when I say them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABmom Posted December 27, 2018 Author Share Posted December 27, 2018 16 minutes ago, Storygirl said: We don't have Alexa or Echo or anything like that, other than Siri on our iPhones. I think they do sound like they have some fun and useful features. BUT I won't bring an electronic devise that listens to what we are saying into our home (we have the voice activation mode of Siri turned off). I'm just not comfortable with that. So I would weigh that into your decision. It may not bother you, but it is something to think about I know. I have thought about it. And I wouldn't have bought them. But I'm not sure I'm so against it that it's worth fighting with my MIL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 I havent ever ordered something accidentally either but DH is very concerned about it lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebcoola Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Mostly as intercoms and music but also to listen to audiobooks in bed. They are able to call their BFF's that moved away which is nice. We have the voice shopping feature turned off so that's not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epicurean Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 We have some smart plugs and we use the app or Dot to set a schedule to turn on and off lights upstairs and downstairs. We use it to play Spotify playlists. I play Mary Poppins Spoonful of Medicine during our cleanup time. I also play We Will Rock You right before we go out the door—they know they have until the end of the song to put their shoes and coats on (I like to believe the music acts as a Pavlovian cue). The most important feature is the Ask My Buddy skill. You set friends or family as contacts for it to call or text when someone says, “Alexa, Ask My Buddy for help!” And then the people identified as contacts are alerted, and they can start an intercom call with the Dot using the app on their phones. It’s like dialing 911, except the police won’t show up at my door if the kids abuse it, and it’s MUCH simpler to use than my iPhone (we don’t have a landline). I have my husband and a close friend listed as contacts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 We have a fire TV that has Alexa. Can we do these things like calling? That would be amazing. Can I call them if I'm gone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABmom Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 On 12/27/2018 at 1:58 AM, busymama7 said: We have a fire TV that has Alexa. Can we do these things like calling? That would be amazing. Can I call them if I'm gone? I don't think so. We have fire sticks, they don't have speakers though. The dots are on sale cheap though. We have figured out that they can say "Alexa, call mom" and it does work. You just have to get it set up right and have the exact name in your contacts that you want them to be able to call. With the echo, you can call them through the Alexa app you have to download on your phone. My 8 year old has already signed up for things you have to pay for though- without even really trying apparently. A program that tells Batman stories and a music subscription . No idea how she managed this, but we get an email notification and then we can cancel it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 They spy on you and store your info, including conversations. I wouldn’t have one in my house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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