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Tue Nov 10 2015 10:36:41

Retailers Welcome Amazon Trojan Horse into Stores?

By: Ina Steiner

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Over 3,000 brick-and-mortar stores will soon carry the Amazon Echo in time to reach holiday shoppers looking for gifts, but are these retail chainstores welcoming a Trojan Horse into their stores?

People who have the Amazon Echo in their homes can use it to play music or ask it questions (similar to Apple's Siri) and also to order items from Amazon.com by simply speaking a command. Amazon announced on Tuesday that retail chainstores like Sears, Staples, The Home Depot, and RadioShack will begin stocking the Amazon Echo in the coming weeks.

In describing the Echo, which is a cylindrical speaker and microphone that people place anywhere in their home, Amazon included the following:

"Re-order Prime-eligible products: If you're low on kitchen supplies, want to restock on snacks, or need more rolls of duct tape for the garage, simply ask Echo to place an order for you. Echo uses your order history and can order the Prime-eligible item for you using your default payment and shipping settings. If Echo can't find the requested item in your order history, it may suggest an item for your approval using Amazon's Choice, which picks highly-rated, well-priced, Prime-eligible products."

There's much more to the Amazon Echo, of course. For example, it allows people to use it with other hardware to control the lights in their home. The Home Depot Merchandising Vice President Jeff Epstein was quoted in today's announcement saying the device would appeal to its customers who continue to show interest in smart home products - "Echo, paired with smart lighting devices, is an excellent gift for this holiday season."

What do you think of retailers welcoming the Echo into their stores? Will it hurt their sales in the long term?



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by: sasikat9 This user has validated their user name.

Tue Nov 10 12:51:05 2015

I'm sure that it has some very useful things you can do with it BUT its the unknown fine print that should scare anyone away.

Can you spell BIG BROTHER MIGHT BE WATCHING.

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This user has validated their user name. by: Rexford

Tue Nov 10 12:57:13 2015

Appropriately named. And creepy.

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This user has validated their user name. by: White Rabbit

Tue Nov 10 14:06:07 2015

just be careful what you in front of it..:-)

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This user has validated their user name. by: bitbybit

Tue Nov 10 14:07:17 2015

Don't lift a finger..to control your home..to control you life

We control the vertical
We control the horizontal...

da da da ta, da da da ta

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This user has validated their user name. by: iheartjacksparrow

Tue Nov 10 16:34:47 2015

@bitbybit - We will control all that you see and hear.

Perminate Link for Retailers Welcome Amazon Trojan Horse into Stores?   Retailers Welcome Amazon Trojan Horse into Stores?

This user has validated their user name. by: Beanie

Tue Nov 10 23:24:33 2015

1984

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by: Steevo This user has validated their user name.

Wed Nov 11 00:21:24 2015

It's always on, always listening. Incidentally, like the Samsung smart TV the Amazon echo sends all it hears to a cloud service to be voice recognized, even if you're not talking to it.

So in effect it does bug your house because of how it works.

Well, I was interested in one but based on this, I don't think so.

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This user has validated their user name. by: White Rabbit

Wed Nov 11 07:14:15 2015

heck I threw my microwave away.. it was starting to keep track of me...

I think those of us that are older see a lot of what the electronics leaders have done over the past 20 years. on line and with devices. it is getting scary and there appears to be few rules companies recognize unless a law suit forces them to change.

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by: whipnet This user has validated their user name.

Wed Nov 11 09:15:40 2015

All your base are belong to us

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This user has validated their user name. by: Al G

Wed Nov 11 09:22:20 2015

Security? We don't need no stinkin' security.

Oh man, once the hackers get into this one. Bad enough to keep the firewall up on the local router.

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This user has validated their user name. by: Ric

Wed Nov 11 09:34:49 2015


What concerns me most and is the fact that Echo will hear everything said within it's range and the fact that it is unclear what Amazon can or will do with the information they record.

This alone is the prime motivator that keeps me from considering making the purchase.

Let's say Echo hears you discussing a movie you recently saw and liked. Is Amazon going to send you advertisements in an attempt to get you to purchase that movie when it is released on DVD, or tell you when it is available to view on Amazons streaming service?

If you are discussing a future purchase of any item from a retail store, will Echo be able to digest that discussion and alert Amazon to send you ads for that too?

Will Echo hear and record any arguments between a husband and his wife? Down the road, will law enforcement or attorneys in a divorce case be able to subpoena any and all data heard by Echo that has been saved in the cloud?

Add the fact that I do not want to be chained to Amazon service for news & information, facts and factoids or even music, and any thought of purchasing the Echo from Amazon or a local B & M Retailer goes right out the window.

IMO, this device is something people should definitely decide they can live without.

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by: FREDDY This user has validated their user name.

Wed Nov 11 10:13:16 2015

Trojan horse yes.  The stores selling this item will soon realize that down the road they will be loosing sales to Amazon. Instead of walking into Home Depot etc. and usually walking out with an impulse item in addition. People will just say order this on Amazon. Amazon will win with more sales. Of course it will be the Amazon prime price which in most cases is higher than third party sellers.  So who wins????

I also prefer the little privacy I have left.  No thanks.  
If I want to order something, I know how to do it.  If I want to go to home depot, I will. ( I have to stay out because I am guilty of impulse buying).   If I want to listen to music - that is why I bought a stereo years ago. If I want a light on - I walk or reach for the switch.  Have been doing this for close to 70 years and will continue to do it the same way.

I'm waiting for the Amazon drones to fly overhead. I can see them flying right over Home depot now.  Already picked up box of shells. LOL.

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This user has validated their user name. by: White Rabbit

Wed Nov 11 11:53:02 2015

I laugh every time i see a Europe EU court impose a few Billion$$ dollars FINE on sites like Google and Microsoft for Privacy and monopoly violations. They will eventually give some Americans similar ideas. :-)

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by: DonC This user has validated their user name.

Thu Nov 12 08:12:56 2015

No thanks. I'll use my computer.



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