Ditching Sonos if voice control takes much longer

I'm sure Alexa will make a difference to those whose families use Sonos. I hadn't thought much about that. My kids are grown and my wife is a technophobe, so here it is pretty much just me and Sonos. My wife keeps telling me I have to write a book on how to use our audio and video equipment in case I die and she can't figure out what to do with it.

Heh. My wife just made the same comment... if anything happens to me she won't have a clue how to run all the gadgets around here. I definitely get the family thing. And I'm not complaining that it's just me and Sonos. 😃

My mother, god rest her soul, was an elementary school librarian, and while not a technophobe, certainly couldn't get her mind around the whole process of electronics. I used to spend a lot of time writing up instructions for her on how to do all sorts of things like hooking up TVs to VCRs, etc. But once a device was set up, including computers, she was a wizard. It was just the setup that she got hung up on.

I have fond memories of visiting her at Vienna Elementary in Vienna, VA, and setting up all sorts of things for her.

Getting offtopic now, but my mother is similar. She doesn't want to understand how things work, she only wants a set of instructions to follow. So something as simple switching tv inputs caused her much trouble. She didn't want to understand that you hit the input button till you get the input you. She only wanted to here. "Push the input button twice". That would have been fine, except if she pushed the button 3 times by accident, she was completely lost.

She has gotten a lot better, lately but she still isn't very good with the concepts.

Should I die and end up in hell, I'm convinced I will be condemned to an eternity of teaching old people how to use computers and Windows. Forget rats, snakes, spiders, fire etc. This would be my own personal hell. I'm no longer young, but I've been working with computers since before Windows or even DOS (can we say CP/M, lol) and still like to build my own machines for the fun of it. So I'm okay. They are not. I hope Lucifer isn't reading this.

Not sure why I thought you were in the UK Air. Nice tribute to your mom. Sorry for your loss.

My business started 25 years ago teaching old people how to use computers and windows and AOL. Hated it, but loved it at the same time.

just sharing:

https://www.cnet.com/news/sonos-lays-out-terms-for-voice-control-ahead-of-alexa-skill/

just sharing:

https://www.cnet.com/news/sonos-lays-out-terms-for-voice-control-ahead-of-alexa-skill/

Yep!!! Got an official email today advising of the update to the privacy policy. This suggests full Alexa integration is around the corner. I trust they would not put out these signals and then wait anything more than 1 week to roll out. Given people's anxiety around this issue that wouldn't be advisable.🆒

Interesting. I received no email, but my Sonos gear was purchased in Canada, where Echo products aren't sold. However, interestingly, Alexa a few days ago started accepting Canadian addresses in its config setup for the first time (useful for weather etc.), so I'm betting Amazon will soon be selling Echo there. Canadians, Alexa and Sonos-Alexa may be on their way to the Great White North. Too bad I'm now in Brasil, lol (but with Sonos/Echo here as well).

Too bad I'm now in Brasil, lol (but with Sonos/Echo here as well).

If usage is limited to North America at first, you could route your traffic through a US VPN service (if the new upcoming Sonos terms do not prohibit such a workaround). Depends on your internet connection though.