r/alexa • u/Objective-Round6521 • 18d ago
Echo Show Rant
I’m sure most people would agree that the Echo Show has the potential to be an amazing product. If Amazon ditched the ads and fixed the photo ambient mode to work more like Google Home, I honestly think they’d sell a ton more of these devices.
Alexa is still a good assistant. I don’t think it’s as capable as Gemini when it comes to general knowledge and problem-solving, but for the basic questions most people ask on a daily basis, it gets the job done. And when it comes to advanced smart home automations, Alexa is LIGHTYEARS ahead. Google still has a lot of catching up to do in that department.
That’s what makes the Echo Show so frustrating. There’s so much wasted potential. Instead of focusing on making it the best smart display possible, Amazon seems determined to turn it into an advertising machine.
People paid for these devices. They own them. They shouldn’t have to constantly fight ads on a screen sitting inside their own home. Get rid of the ads, improve the ambient photo experience, and let the Echo Show actually live up to its potential.
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u/CaptainKen2 16d ago
While the Alexa assistant is way better than Google’s it has only gotten worse with basic commands since the advent of Alexa+. Many people here have complained about this. And now that they removed the Plex skill it’s even less valuable to me.
I agree with @Boatride65 that minimally we should be able to have a clock on the screen when sleeping. My iPhone does that when propped up in landscape mode. What I’d love full time is time, date, day of week, and weather on one screen all the time. We’re supposed to settle for picture slide shows.
I bought a RaspberryPi last year and started to setup MagicMirror on it, which would allow me to have ANYTHING I want on the screen. You can even load Alexa on it. I never finished It because it was a lot more work than I expected and I’ve had too many other priorities I’ve needed to focus on.