Questions about Alexa, but not std user
Discussion
This may take a little explaining, but bear with me please....
My mother is registered blind,and whilst she currently has a "small" amount of vision, its not the best.
Following a botched hip op 18 months ago, she now struggles to get around as well.
She used to read a lot, and discovered the Calibre talking books project, which is a small but clever intiative to help folks like her.
They provide a very simple USB stick reader with large buttons for the hard of sight to use.....
The downside to this is a limited range of books and the lack of other functionality.
Hence, me thinking. Why cant she just get Alexa, to:
Read a book via Audible
Play a radio station
Play a song
set an alarm
etc etc
I dont have one, so have no idea if this will even work, but in my head, Alexa seems tailor made for the hard of sight.
I can configure it to the wifi, but my main question really, will it work as simply as it sounds ?
Neither of my parents are very techy to say the least.
She some friends that adore there Alexa, and would also support her no doubt on a tech front,
My mother is registered blind,and whilst she currently has a "small" amount of vision, its not the best.
Following a botched hip op 18 months ago, she now struggles to get around as well.
She used to read a lot, and discovered the Calibre talking books project, which is a small but clever intiative to help folks like her.
They provide a very simple USB stick reader with large buttons for the hard of sight to use.....
The downside to this is a limited range of books and the lack of other functionality.
Hence, me thinking. Why cant she just get Alexa, to:
Read a book via Audible
Play a radio station
Play a song
set an alarm
etc etc
I dont have one, so have no idea if this will even work, but in my head, Alexa seems tailor made for the hard of sight.
I can configure it to the wifi, but my main question really, will it work as simply as it sounds ?
Neither of my parents are very techy to say the least.
She some friends that adore there Alexa, and would also support her no doubt on a tech front,
Easy!
Read a book via Audible - yes, via subscription
Play a radio station - yes, many popular ones are free eg Radio 3, LBC
Play a song - by subscription but it will play similar songs if you say "play songs by Frank Sinatra" FOC with ads.
set an alarm - and timer
Plus play podcasts, set reminders, set shopping lists, play audio games, tell you the latest news, tell you the weather, tell you when Aldi closes etc! You can download loads of free skills.
And any book that is free on Amazon can be read by Alexa without charge.
More here: https://amzn.to/3req9Nw
Read a book via Audible - yes, via subscription
Play a radio station - yes, many popular ones are free eg Radio 3, LBC
Play a song - by subscription but it will play similar songs if you say "play songs by Frank Sinatra" FOC with ads.
set an alarm - and timer
Plus play podcasts, set reminders, set shopping lists, play audio games, tell you the latest news, tell you the weather, tell you when Aldi closes etc! You can download loads of free skills.
And any book that is free on Amazon can be read by Alexa without charge.
More here: https://amzn.to/3req9Nw
Turn7 said:
Hoofy - Cheers !
I think many of the classic books are free on Kindle which should be readable by Alexa eg Jane Austen, William Shakespeare (the bard, not the 2nd person to receive the vaccine
). Also looks like you can buy "50 best classic books" etc for pennies, too.https://amzn.to/3ns6GGN
My wife is partially disabled and struggles with remote controls and anything technology related.
We've had an Echo for some time now, and she uses it for radio, music, switching her electric blanket on and just for asking queries. The audio is surprisingly good. She's 78 and I have had to train her to express her request in a clear logical phrase, and not wait for Alexa to say: "Yes?"
It's a generation 1 device, and it did work fine. However we've noticed a drop off in performance where initially it fails to work with BBC sounds, then it starts taking a long time to respond to anything, and then it just stops responding at all. The later DOT upstairs is still fine and does not require resets.
I know know that if I give it a power cycle reset, it will restore normal service. But the resets are becoming more common - now about once a week, which is a pain.
So, for us Alexa does exactly what you want, but there is now an element of maintenance.
The latest versions may work better (maybe we're suffering from built-in life-cycle failure)
We've had an Echo for some time now, and she uses it for radio, music, switching her electric blanket on and just for asking queries. The audio is surprisingly good. She's 78 and I have had to train her to express her request in a clear logical phrase, and not wait for Alexa to say: "Yes?"
It's a generation 1 device, and it did work fine. However we've noticed a drop off in performance where initially it fails to work with BBC sounds, then it starts taking a long time to respond to anything, and then it just stops responding at all. The later DOT upstairs is still fine and does not require resets.
I know know that if I give it a power cycle reset, it will restore normal service. But the resets are becoming more common - now about once a week, which is a pain.
So, for us Alexa does exactly what you want, but there is now an element of maintenance.
The latest versions may work better (maybe we're suffering from built-in life-cycle failure)
Edited by Paul Drawmer on Thursday 17th December 07:32
Junior Bianno said:
You don't need an Audible subscription to get audiobooks. You can "borrow" them for free from your local library using the Libby app by Overdrive. (although I don't think all areas are covered)
If its anything like the audiobooks offered by BorrowBox there are really limited numbers of licenses per book and some have 6-8mth waiting lists - good in theory but wildly overused or underestimated.An audible sub is much easier and will provide sightless access ... I dont know about the service above but BorrowBox doesn't appear accessible via voice
As noted above the Echo devices will do what you want, and a whole lot more ... even at the basic level it will tell you the time, give a weather forecast, read the news headlines etc etc etc
I just "upgraded" my first Echo with the new 4th Generation Echo Dot. It is streets ahead of the old one and of the other Echo devices (max 2nd gen) which I have.
I got mine for £29.99 during the black friday week, frankly it's easy worth the full price.
It's on a "last minute deal" at the moment for the same price £29.99, saving £20:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/all-new-echo-dot-4th-gene...
I'd grab one quick, you can always send it back or keep it for yourself.
Also it's bigger brother is also on "last minute deal" for £59.99, saving £30
I just "upgraded" my first Echo with the new 4th Generation Echo Dot. It is streets ahead of the old one and of the other Echo devices (max 2nd gen) which I have.
I got mine for £29.99 during the black friday week, frankly it's easy worth the full price.
It's on a "last minute deal" at the moment for the same price £29.99, saving £20:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/all-new-echo-dot-4th-gene...
I'd grab one quick, you can always send it back or keep it for yourself.
Also it's bigger brother is also on "last minute deal" for £59.99, saving £30
Paul Drawmer said:
It's a generation 1 device, and it did work fine. However we've noticed a drop off in performance where initially it fails to work with BBC sounds, then it starts taking a long time to respond to anything, and then it just stops responding at all. The later DOT upstairs is still fine and does not require resets.
I know know that if I give it a power cycle reset, it will restore normal service. But the resets are becoming more common - now about once a week, which is a pain.
Paul - that is exactly how my 1st Gen Echo went, replaced it with the new 4th get echo dot (as per my earlier post) ... like night and day. The new one is extremely responsive.I know know that if I give it a power cycle reset, it will restore normal service. But the resets are becoming more common - now about once a week, which is a pain.
hotchy said:
Yes you can listen to the radio on it. I only know this because she constantly says "alexa play heart christmas"
Someone save me from this torture.
Someone save me from this torture.
This may help. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/how-to-create-cust...
"Alexa play heart christmas."
"Sorry, this service is no longer available."
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