Amazon Alexa

What’s Worth Reading: Thanksgiving Weekend Edition

I returned from a quick trip to London on the day of Thanksgiving, thus missing the bonhomie of the weekend. While I did miss the slices of pie, it was good to spend the time watching The Silence of Water on PBS Masterpiece (via Amazon Prime.) The Italian crime show is beautiful in location, cinematography, and acting. And despite having to follow the subtitles, it is worth binging. 

The show was an excellent way to stay away from the incessant come-hither siren call of Black Friday — a disease that has also spread to the United Kingdom. I used the opportunity to stock up on memory cards, but that’s all. For the rest of America — despite economic doldrums, it seems to be the season of shop till you drop. I call this the consumerism curse.

The long weekend was also a good time to reflect and read. 

What I am reading: 

Continue reading...Continue reading What’s Worth Reading: Thanksgiving Weekend Edition

A Letter From Om, My Reading Picks
0 comments

Sorry (State of) Siri

During today’s iPhone 12 launch event, Apple proudly noted that its voice command service, Siri, was now running on a billion devices and had 25 billion interactions. “That’s less than one request a day. Does that mean most people don’t use Siri often, or at all?” noted Scott Austin of Dow Jones. I am not sure if these 25 billion interactions include accidental triggers, but if they are, then Siri is in even more sorry state than I had thought.

I have done my best to use Siri for simple tasks such as adding appointments, to-dos, playing music, and increasing and decreasing volume. And whenever I do, my experience has been very hit or miss. It often involves repeating myself. And I am a longtime denizen of the Apple ecosystem.

Whenever I use Google Assistant, it is accurate with its answers, and more importantly, it understands my accent. Many friends

Continue reading...Continue reading Sorry (State of) Siri

Technology
0 comments

3 pieces of advice in Jeff Bezos’ Shareholder Letter

In my previous post, I urged you all to take a moment and make some price comparisons before buying from Amazon, which is no longer the cheapest or the best place to buy stuff. Other options are equally convenient — it not as fast — especially when it comes to returning stuff that isn’t up to scratch.

However, in the process of writing that post, I ended up spending a lot of time reading (and re-reading) Jeff Bezos’ letter to Amazon shareholders. Here is some wisdom that can apply to all types of organizations – teams, small startups, partnerships, and large groups.

Continue reading...Continue reading 3 pieces of advice in Jeff Bezos’ Shareholder Letter

Technology
0 comments

December 4: What I am reading today

Here are some of the stories that caught my attention today. Some of them are about technology, but not all of them. Updated all through the day, and shared via email newsletter in the evening. You like the links, sign-up for the email newsletter.

“The value proposition of (Amazon) Alexa is not an advertising platform — it is a voice assistant that provides utility on how brands engage with consumers.” Gela Fridman, managing director of technology, Huge.

  • The Friendship that made Google huge is the kind of story that makes me miss being a journalist. A great story about Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat, Google engineering legends. It is the most wonderful story about a Silicon Valley that was about technology, and not the spectacle of it. And it is the kind of story only the New Yorker can do. Stop everything and read this. Read on The New Yorker.
  • Startups and

Continue reading...Continue reading December 4: What I am reading today

Musings
0 comments

Smart Home is a Home that’s always spying on you

It is ironic that we pay good money to buy and install devices that steal our privacy and sense of identity. We complain about Facebook’s ill-effects on society, but have no problems leaving digital footprints by excessive use of the service. We love Alexa, but we don’t stop and wonder what is the end game here? What impact will friction-free ordering have on our consumption. We buy smart devices, and never ever think that they are the spy in the house of life. 

Continue reading...Continue reading Smart Home is a Home that’s always spying on you

Technology
0 comments