
‘OK Google, give everybody in America a free speaker’ - maxshmax
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ok-google-give-everybody-in-america-a-free-speaker-2018-06-28
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atonse
Yes! Let's put microphones in every single household in the US. That way, then
it just becomes sooooo easy to pass a law for the company (in this case
Google), to collaborate via a National Security Letter to make any feed
available.

I can imagine the NSA and FBI salivating over the mere idea of this.

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pnloyd
We're already carrying microphones around in our pockets. Do the speaker
microphones really make the situation worse? When it is almost guaranteed that
there is already multiple microphones present.

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milesokeefe
I would say they do. For instance, if I got a Google Home it would be the only
non-Apple device with a microphone in my apartment, making gov access
significantly easier.

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blechinger
Do you really think isolating yourself to the Apple ecosystem makes you more
secure? If so: how do you qualify that?

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daly
Selling hardware below manufacturing cost in order to undercut competition.
Isn't that called "dumping"? Wouldn't that be an anti-trust issue?

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IronWolve
Cable had a voice remote that was cool, but I'm a cord cutter, I canceled
cable. My phone has voice apps, but I disable them. I dont need to speak to my
google/amazon apps.

My Win10 gaming PC has M$ Cortana, but I disabled that. My hdtv is old but I
watch most my content on my PC. Seems most new TV's now are voice enabled.

My Car is the only place I use voice, voice dialing.

Wonder how many people really need or want voice-enabled speakers in their
homes.

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maxshmax
I'm not a huge fan of voice either, but I find this stat fascinating. Why
wouldn't Google just put one in every home for free. Who would go Amazon at
that point (not to say one is better than the other).

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Sir_Substance
>Who would go Amazon at that point

People who want to buy things other than nexus phones? Google isn't a retailer
of anything except their own hardware as far as I know. Is something very
different in the USA on this front?

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maxshmax
I should have clarified better - who would go to Amazon for their voice
products, e.g., Alexa

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Sir_Substance
For that I have no idea. I don't understand why anyone would have voice
products in their house. If google gave me a free home mini I would drop it in
the bin without a second thought.

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7402
I would be delighted to get a free nice-looking speaker that I could
disassemble and hack and use for my own purposes!

~~~
elipsey
This! Free hardware is great. Anyone remember the Cuecat?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat)

