beebog t1_j25kgex wrote on December 29, 2022 at 8:40 PM

Reply to comment by stripybaby in Google Home speakers allowed hackers to snoop on conversations by chrisdh79

i mean yeah absolutely that makes sense for accessibility or adapting a space for better independence, but i do believe that those circumstances are in the minority

EssVeeUU t1_j26184q wrote on December 29, 2022 at 10:32 PM

I disagree, I bought a hub because I have a friend who wanted to give me their old nest (eventually). It's a godsend when you have children. Turn off the light, set an alarm for bedtime every night, throw on a YouTube video when I need a quick distraction. It definitely has its benefits with little ones involved. There's a shopping list feature too I haven't gotten to play with but could be very beneficial with one person out and the other at home physically checking for items and adding to the list.

beebog t1_j26hovx wrote on December 30, 2022 at 12:25 AM

i guess that’s fair, i have littles at home too, honestly i feel like i would just probably forget to use it if i had it lol. these things have never seemed worth it to me but i’m glad there’s people who enjoy them! im definitely not much of a consumer in many ways. i have a couple friends who basically have their whole apartments fitted with these or the amazon alexa one though

are your kids able to make online orders / purchases from these? that’s a deterrent also i’ve seen with the amazon ones is kids just started ordering shit willy nilly racking up charges

jswitzer t1_j27ixxx wrote on December 30, 2022 at 5:07 AM

Voice purchasing is disabled by default. You can also set up speaker identification for it or require a verification code.

EssVeeUU t1_j26o5ux wrote on December 30, 2022 at 1:11 AM

Got a free Alexa from my grandma and wasn't a fan. Got the hub for $50 black Friday sale and the video monitor made a huge difference with our initial usage. Got the smart lights for $5 a piece for a different black Friday sale and it was a lifesaver for bed time with a chunky almost 1 year old and clingy almost 3 year old. However, they can barely talk so we have little concerns with purchases for the moment, but we also don't have any cards attached to the Google account, we just made a family one.

beebog t1_j26oiwo wrote on December 30, 2022 at 1:14 AM

oooh smart!

Not_floridaman t1_j28xhd2 wrote on December 30, 2022 at 2:36 PM

We have 3 video hubs and 4 minis and it's amazing with kids. We have the family bell for bedtime and for mornings to put shoes on and grab their jackets because I'm usually running around so Google can get them started off I lose track of time, can pull up recipes easily, set timers for when they're fighting over a toy or for cooking, can send music from room to room while I'm cleaning and being and to turn off my lights or lock my front door by voice is incredible when my lupus and RA are flaring. I also like being able to see who's at the doorbell on the hubs or seeing the cameras. The hubs also have games and stories and my son LOVES the lightning McQueen interactive stories.

10/10 recommend for people with or without kids but especially with kids.

EssVeeUU t1_j28xrf4 wrote on December 30, 2022 at 2:38 PM

.... I need to look into these lightning McQueen interactive stories. My son's going to TRIP. He keeps trying to play the fish feeding game but he can't talk good enough for Google yet 😂 Over time we are interested in the doorbell and speakers as well, and we have a second hub we haven't set up yet. How do you like the lock? Do you feel secure with it? Boyfriend is paranoid as fuckkk and that one might be the hardest sell for him.

Not_floridaman t1_j29gw1h wrote on December 30, 2022 at 4:49 PM

The lightning McQueen is really fun! My son will sit there with it for 20-30 minutes!

As for the lock, yes I do. My husband is super paranoid but what sold him is that we can give it "guest codes" do they don't get our actual code and we can delete the guest codes as often as you need to so no one who shouldn't have access can't just walk in. My husband works weird hours sometimes coming home after midnight or gone overnight and I wasn't the best at remembering to lock the door so it's really, really nice not having to go back downstairs to lock the door if I forgot to until I had gotten into bed or he'll check when he's working and lock it for me (sounds creepier than it is lol, I'm just really forgetful and grew up in a house where we never locked the front door).