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Running AI is so expensive that Amazon will probably charge you to use Alexa in future, says outgoing exec (www.businessinsider.com)
submitted 2 years ago by [M, B] to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Running AI is so expensive that Amazon will probably charge you to use Alexa in future, says outgoing exec::In an interview with Bloomberg, Dave Limp said that he "absolutely" believes that Amazon will soon start charging a subscription fee for Alexa

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[–] 41 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Alexa was designed explicitly for that purpose. They lose money on every Echo sold, the whole idea was they would make money selling you stuff. Turns out people would rather use their Echo to check the weather, get recipes, etc. rather than voice shop.

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  • [–] 36 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I just can’t see a use case for voice shopping. There are almost zero instances where I want to buy something without having a visual of that thing in front of me at time of purchase.

    I could possibly see something like “buy another stick of deodorant”, but even then I want to see if there are deals or some other options and would want to check the price at a minimum.

    Seems like yet another MBA idea.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    Yeah it seems the execs who had the idea for Alexa never used Amazon for shopping. It's a shit shopping site full of scammy products. I'd never buy anything from them without checking out the prices reviews, etc.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It's really only good for re-ordering things you've already ordered. It will let you know that it found something in your order history and then you can decide whether you want to order again.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    And this makes sense, but I’d still want to check prices to make sure that my $3 deodorant didn’t get discontinued and priced at $30/stick.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    Well you think this way because you've seen what happened to Amazon in the past 10 years. 10 years ago, when they were getting ready to launch the Echo, Amazon was a great retailer that people trusted. Now a decade of sellers gaming listings and reviews, and Amazon customer service deteriorating, we've been trained not to trust Amazon's defaults.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Ha, I use mine almost exclusively as a light switch. I don't have to get out of bed to turn off my lights or turn on my fan. I'm sure they're losing a bunch of money on me

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