Author Topic: Guess there's no VP3 coming  (Read 9263 times)

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Offline vreihen

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #100 on: January 07, 2019, 08:05:43 PM »
So you use a tablet and a special app that forces an always on state.  But how do you get Davis, Ambient or Acurite data posted over to weatherflow's website?

It is running WeatherFlow's own app, displaying the data from my three WeatherFlow stations around the homestead.  There is no way to upload data from station hardware other than their own.

I also have the Acu-Rite and Davis VP2, both having their data captured by $35 Raspberry Pi for archiving...with the Davis data also being sent all over creation by weewx.  (One can never have enough weather stations, and they multiply like rabbits in my yard!)  The Pi can run a web server locally with the SteelSeries gauges or whatever to view "live" data from weewx as the VP2 sends it, which you can leave open on the tablet's web browser.  You can also run the weather34 template on the Pi locally, but you may want to buy a larger tablet for that because it uses a lot of screen real estate creating what is arguably the nicest web-based console alternative.

My point is that a weather app on a cheap tablet is now my preferred wall console, and I don't miss a real console at all.....
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Offline kobuki

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #101 on: January 08, 2019, 05:51:30 AM »
@Jstx: what smartphone/tablet models and what software are you using on your devices? Aren't you afraid of LCD burn-in? Has it ever happened to your devices?

OTOH, Davis should respect all of his users needs, however they're a business and when 95% of the buying populace has a device in their pocket to take out and look at its screen in every 10 minutes it's understandable they want to spend less on the rest of the user base. I personally have no need for the "iconic" old console, while I do understand its benefits.

Offline miraculon

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #102 on: January 08, 2019, 09:05:07 AM »
I wonder if WLL will support smart TVs or Roku. If there was a way to view it on my TV, especially the streaming, it might be of interest to me.

I already have a Raspberry Pi downloading static weather data images and displaying a slide show of them.

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Offline davefr

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #103 on: January 08, 2019, 09:55:24 AM »

It is running WeatherFlow's own app, displaying the data from my three WeatherFlow stations around the homestead.  There is no way to upload data from station hardware other than their own.
I also have the Acu-Rite and Davis VP2, both having their data captured by $35 Raspberry Pi for archiving...with the Davis data also being sent all over creation by weewx.  (One can never have enough weather stations, and they multiply like rabbits in my yard!)  The Pi can run a web server locally with the SteelSeries gauges or whatever to view "live" data from weewx as the VP2 sends it, which you can leave open on the tablet's web browser.  You can also run the weather34 template on the Pi locally, but you may want to buy a larger tablet for that because it uses a lot of screen real estate creating what is arguably the nicest web-based console alternative.

My point is that a weather app on a cheap tablet is now my preferred wall console, and I don't miss a real console at all.....

So how does a Pi extract data direct from an Acurite, Ambient or Davis sensor?  In the case of my WS-2000, it's not obvious how I would route the data feed into a Pi.  Is there a link somewhere as to how all this can be "easily" done?

It takes 7" of screen area for Ambient to display their station data and it's still a little small, so a 10" tablet might be optimal. (cell phone displays are best for remote monitoring but too small to take the place of consoles).

 
« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 10:00:23 AM by davefr »

Offline vreihen

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #104 on: January 08, 2019, 10:24:47 AM »
So how does a Pi extract data direct from an Acurite, Ambient or Davis sensor?  In the case of my WS-2000, it's not obvious how I would route the data feed into a Pi.  Is there a link somewhere as to how all this can be "easily" done?

Weewx has support for all.  I am sniffing the radio signals from the Acu-Rite off the air using an SDR dongle on one Pi.  A second Pi has the Davis Envoy hooked up by USB logger, and is running a second weewx instance capturing WeatherFlow data from the UDP network broadcast packets they send out for all devices on your local network.  (I personally wrote/shared the weewx station driver for the WeatherFlow/UDP setup.)

There is a learning curve with weewx/Pi/Linux, but plenty of how-to articles around the web.  Remember that the Raspberry Pi Foundation developed the Pi as a throwaway-priced learning tool for school-age kids in the UK, so there's plenty of simple instruction sites out there to make the little computer do just about anything.....
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Offline Jstx

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #105 on: January 09, 2019, 12:54:36 PM »
@Jstx: what smartphone/tablet models and what software are you using on your devices? Aren't you afraid of LCD burn-in? Has it ever happened to your devices?

...

Almost any Android model will work, I'll assume that Apples will too (I avoid Apple stuff, just can't ever justify the price differential for a few extra features and the 'status').
Specifically, at this time I'm using a Samsung III (ex's old phone, waiting to get her Samsung V next when she upgrades, heheh), a couple of obsoleted BLU phones; and for the tablets, a couple of AT&T 9020's (IIRC), and an RCA model (all bought at ~$40-50/each). Their screens are adequate, there are of course much better ones available if one has an old one or wants to spend the extra money.
Sometimes a smartphone I'm using as a display-terminal will develop a battery problem or whatever, just swap it out with one of several old ones in a drawer. After all, these phones are on their second lives, being recycled for a good purpose rather than just junked.
Haven't noticed any 'burn in', wouldn't care anyway.

The software I'm using, as I stated, isn't for a weather app at this time. I'm using an app for a home surveillance system, Panasonic's "Home Network", a now obsolete, but very competent home monitoring, alarm system and app (has both Android and Apple versions).
These screens, and the Panasonic hub unit, run off of an AT&T GSM Homebase router-gateway on an additional mobile line/number/SIM in home. I run a second, remote (in a marina) Panasonic system on my sailboat for monitoring, geotracking, and alarms (one camera is on the electrical panel, so I can look at the boat's power status anytime-- this substitutes for what would otherwise be a very complicated telemetry system).
The app and systems also allow remote, on-the-move, access via personal smartphone too of course.

And, as I'm going to reply to another on this thread, one of these devices could be made to also "cast" its' display to a TV set for a 'big picture' (I think, if it has enough 'radio' to do both wifi and casting?).
I know I can get my PC, running a weather app, to 'cast' a display ('console') to either the TV or one of these devices.

Offline Jstx

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #106 on: January 09, 2019, 01:06:18 PM »
I wonder if WLL will support smart TVs or Roku. If there was a way to view it on my TV, especially the streaming, it might be of interest to me.

I already have a Raspberry Pi downloading static weather data images and displaying a slide show of them.

Greg H.

You should be able to use the "cast" function to send the display from one device to another's screen, including a TV. EG: Miracast, Airplay, DLNA, etc. :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Cast#See_also

Offline kobuki

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #107 on: January 09, 2019, 01:51:40 PM »
@Jstx: thanks for the extensive reply. Yes, I'm also thinking of repurposing an old Android tablet (agree on the Apple part), but there seems to be a lack of presentable user interface (either native app or html web page) that I could put on them for 7x24 display. All of them either suck in one way or another or are plain ugly. One thing I'm a bit worried about is old tablets without updates are using old firmware with lots of WiFi-related security holes...

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #108 on: January 09, 2019, 02:01:51 PM »
Would someone who knows more about it like to comment on the effects of having a tablet connected to AC mains 24/7 (which I presume is the idea). Does the tablet battery gradually die? Or maybe it doesn't?

PS Amazon Fire 7 tablet which is potentially (?) adequate in size is GBP50 in the UK, which is not mega-money even if purchased new and presumably cheaper still when on offer. Even has Alexa built in now apparently.
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Offline davefr

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #109 on: January 09, 2019, 02:27:15 PM »
So how does a Pi extract data direct from an Acurite, Ambient or Davis sensor?  In the case of my WS-2000, it's not obvious how I would route the data feed into a Pi.  Is there a link somewhere as to how all this can be "easily" done?

Weewx has support for all.  I am sniffing the radio signals from the Acu-Rite off the air using an SDR dongle on one Pi.  A second Pi has the Davis Envoy hooked up by USB logger, and is running a second weewx instance capturing WeatherFlow data from the UDP network broadcast packets they send out for all devices on your local network.  (I personally wrote/shared the weewx station driver for the WeatherFlow/UDP setup.)

There is a learning curve with weewx/Pi/Linux, but plenty of how-to articles around the web.  Remember that the Raspberry Pi Foundation developed the Pi as a throwaway-priced learning tool for school-age kids in the UK, so there's plenty of simple instruction sites out there to make the little computer do just about anything.....

After looking at the weewx website, this looks like a major project requiring an in depth knowledge of Python and Linux programming not to mention configuring a PI to extract weather data.

http://www.weewx.com/docs/usersguide.htm

It would sure be easier if the manufacturers would provides dashboards patterned after the wonderful WS-2000 console that could be scalable to the tablet size of your choice.  (a "roll your own" console from the ground up seems like a formidable task)

Offline Bushman

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #110 on: January 09, 2019, 02:32:11 PM »
@John - I've had a tablet connected for years; I've never seen much in the way of battery degradation.

BTW, note that a lot of the older/cheaper tablets don't have a screen saver or shut-off so that might be an issue for some.
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Offline kobuki

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #111 on: January 09, 2019, 02:42:09 PM »
After looking at the weewx website, this looks like a major project requiring an in depth knowledge of Python and Linux programming not to mention configuring a PI to extract weather data.

Huh? Not at all. You can just install it on any Pi (preferably Pi3 B+) with Raspbian after downloading the package from their site, install it via dpkg, put some lines in the config for your particular device (presumably a VP2) and you're good to go. The provided basic html interface template is pretty functional, albeit a bit "industrial" looking, but there are a lot of others that you might like and can easily swap it, just have a look at their showcase page. If you want to customize it further, it's absolutely possible without programming knowledge, but if you're versed in Python, you can always dig deeper, but it's just a possibility for advanced usage. If you want to use a 3rd-party extension, it's easy to install without any programming. You do need some basic Linux shell skill, though.

Offline Jstx

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #112 on: January 09, 2019, 02:52:38 PM »
@Jstx: thanks for the extensive reply. Yes, I'm also thinking of repurposing an old Android tablet (agree on the Apple part), but there seems to be a lack of presentable user interface (either native app or html web page) that I could put on them for 7x24 display. All of them either suck in one way or another or are plain ugly. One thing I'm a bit worried about is old tablets without updates are using old firmware with lots of WiFi-related security holes...

I wonder about the security issue too, but mine seem to still be getting regular Google/Android updates when I let them. Not sure what the Android update support cutoff dates are, my oldest running ones are on Android 5 or 6, IIRC.
Android updates are very annoying in that I carefully set up the optioning to turn off many 'Google' things, the GPS, etc., and along comes an Android update which resets many back to Google's defaults, grrrr.
As far as WiFi security itself, I live out in the boonies, until recently couldn't hardly ever detect any other WiFi SSIDs around here anyway. So a very minimal chance of a local wireless security breach (if a 'black radio intercept van' were parked out on the lane it would be pretty obvious...).
If you live in a crowded city environment the odds go way up for WiFi intercepts or hacking. There's also a greater chance of anyone having the technicals skills to do it in the city.

Just another day in the modern world...
It was a lot simpler back in the 1950's and '60's, eh? But would we want to go back? Not me, just bought a new top-of-the-line SUV, hot dang that sucker has everything in it, hordes of electronic goodies and stuff (and a sunroof too). Compared to my (simple) first vehicles (a '56 Dodge, '62 Galaxie, '65 MGB, '65 Galaxie SW, etcetc), and all ones since, it's just amazing what's in this modern vehicle (and the ride and handling are superb); I've spent days going through the manuals checking out all the options and goodies-- in hog heaven ;].
« Last Edit: January 09, 2019, 02:54:56 PM by Jstx »

Offline Jstx

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #113 on: January 09, 2019, 03:10:41 PM »
Would someone who knows more about it like to comment on the effects of having a tablet connected to AC mains 24/7 (which I presume is the idea). Does the tablet battery gradually die? Or maybe it doesn't?

PS Amazon Fire 7 tablet which is potentially (?) adequate in size is GBP50 in the UK, which is not mega-money even if purchased new and presumably cheaper still when on offer. Even has Alexa built in now apparently.

I've had various tablets and smartphones plugged in to the 'mains' for years in some cases. No apparent problems. I think that they mostly have pretty good 'battery management' software built in to the OS (Android or Apple) which will maintain a safe charge level, then turn off for a while.
Other than the normal deterioration of lithium prismatic batteries not much happens (yes, they do 'wear out').
I try to only buy devices that have user replaceable batteries (none of that Apple carp). If you're using a such a recycled/cheap device and the battery dies, replace it or junk it.
I think that the manufacturers learned long ago that they had to have special safe charging routines for the potentially dangerous lithium batts now in use.

Offline anderep

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #114 on: January 26, 2019, 06:41:53 PM »
They don’t need a new console, just need a app for Alexa.  Alexa show me the weather.

Perhaps that is where they are going.. with the newweather link live..
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Offline Mattk

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #115 on: January 26, 2019, 07:10:03 PM »
I think more like,  Alexa go get lost

Offline DaleReid

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #116 on: January 27, 2019, 11:25:49 AM »
If Alexa was more like the Star Trek "Computer" (and Majel Barrett's voice would bne OK) then I'd be in both feet.

I've dreamed of having a personal assistant that would listen to ME and do what I wanted it to.

Instead, a spy in our houses and lives beyond what all the big companies already are, is what has been delivered up and we swallowed hook line and sinker.

I'd pay for a self contained device and absolutely zero backload to google or amazon or anyone.  But that is far from what they served up, and at prices that tell you they are doing this to harvest our data.  Again.

When computing power on a chip great enough to make this happen internally, and completely controlled by me, happens, I'll get one.  For now it remains in my fantasy of Star Trek's "Computer", and Majel's sweet voice part of the fantasy.

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Offline pfletch101

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #117 on: January 28, 2019, 05:10:54 PM »
If Alexa was more like the Star Trek "Computer" (and Majel Barrett's voice would bne OK) then I'd be in both feet.

I've dreamed of having a personal assistant that would listen to ME and do what I wanted it to.

Instead, a spy in our houses and lives beyond what all the big companies already are, is what has been delivered up and we swallowed hook line and sinker.

I'd pay for a self contained device and absolutely zero backload to google or amazon or anyone.  But that is far from what they served up, and at prices that tell you they are doing this to harvest our data.  Again.

When computing power on a chip great enough to make this happen internally, and completely controlled by me, happens, I'll get one.  For now it remains in my fantasy of Star Trek's "Computer", and Majel's sweet voice part of the fantasy.
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Offline graculus

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #118 on: January 28, 2019, 06:04:57 PM »
+10! Very well stated Dale  :-)
« Last Edit: January 29, 2019, 09:28:25 AM by graculus »

Offline kobuki

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #119 on: January 28, 2019, 06:17:28 PM »
When computing power on a chip great enough to make this happen internally, and completely controlled by me, happens, I'll get one.  For now it remains in my fantasy of Star Trek's "Computer", and Majel's sweet voice part of the fantasy.

That's a good catch. Computing power is the key here. Now it's only available concentrated in the cloud. It's gonna be a looong way to be able to bring it to homes as a ubiquitous commodity with all the necessary accumulated knowledge and databases. And even then, there will remain a lot of services that we need to use in the ever growing, nameless mass computing power (the internet cloud). And of course the shared knowledge will always remain up to date only in the cloud. There's no practical way around it.

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #120 on: January 28, 2019, 11:34:06 PM »
If Alexa was more like the Star Trek "Computer" (and Majel Barrett's voice would bne OK) then I'd be in both feet.

Instead, a spy in our houses and lives beyond what all the big companies already are, is what has been delivered up and we swallowed hook line and sinker.


Ah, that old chestnut, spying on what, i gotta ask? anyhoo, its no more than what that smartphone in your pocket is doing ;) and, if you are referring to what she hears, thats baloney too, she only starts listening to you once the wake up word has been invoked an then its only for a very short time, well under 30 seconds actually under under 10 (around 6 or 8 i believe) :)
Yes, theres been the odd glitch in the matrix but it is a relatively new technology really, bound to be some hiccups

And yes, i do have Alexa, 1 Show 2, 2 Dots, 1 Spot, 1 Echo and the Echo Connect, just waiting on the Echo Auto coming out over here in the UK then it will be in the car too :) Also made a skill for my weather data, IF she is "spying" on me, im not overly confident that whomever is actually "spying" would be interested in my conversations with my dogs, ive got nowt to hide, its not like im up to no good and would need to worry enough about it, and good luck in hearing me having sex, no seriously, good luck......... ;)
« Last Edit: January 28, 2019, 11:36:01 PM by Bashy »
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Offline galfert

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #121 on: January 29, 2019, 02:26:29 AM »
You can actually see Alexa sending your conversation up into the cloud if you know how to monitor network traffic. That is that you'll notice that only when the key word is spoken that it wakes up and sends that bit of conversation which you can see as Internet bandwidth consumption. It does not need to send everything into the cloud to detect the key word, in fact it sends nothing until the key word is detected. Does it erroneously sometimes think it heard the key word? Sure it can happen very seldom and it's a mistake. But then you can review every instance and play it back and delete it very easily with the Alexa app on your mobile by just going to the Activity history under the main menu. You can also review the same Activity history with a computer browser by going to https://alexa.amazon.com and going to the same menu item.

Any mention of Alexa spying is unfounded and an uninformed conspiracy propaganda or fake news media hype. I know from first hand experience because I'm an IT professional and I know how to monitor my network traffic. I know exactly when and how much bandwidth every device is using on my network and I can graph it or run reports with the hardware and software tools on my network.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2019, 02:38:44 AM by galfert »
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Offline DaleReid

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #122 on: January 29, 2019, 07:35:55 AM »
There is no sense arguing with you guys. I'm not a 'conspiracy theory' kind of guy.  Very skeptical.  Yet at least four years ago apps were available to load onto a multifunction phone to do just that, and show no evidence of even being installed or monitoring in real time.  First thing to do is transmit irregularly, just to thwart the obvious monitoring of upstream traffic.

And I don't even write spy novels.

Same for the Alexa thing.  By design, it seems and probably is innocent enough, listening for the key word and then sending an audio analogue up to be examined by voice recognition and then act.  But allow intrusive software to be added (recall there are known instances of software being on machines, Dells I think, shipped with unwelcome stuff already on the disk) and you start the possibility of being monitored, for whatever reason.

Remember there are things called stingrays that can grab an area's cell service and appear to be a tower, even passing along non-interesting cell phones' traffic so as to not raise suspicions.

I'm sorry you either don't think that these things can happen, or they are going to be rare forever.   The fact is, this can be done.  Now.  It takes a lot of planning, and a good reason to do it (law enforcement or a nefarious foreign government) and fortunately I do not seem to be on the radar of anyone except the IRS at tax time.

I did an online verification of identity for my medical portal access which they told me, after asking, used a company called Nexus-Lexus.  I was startled, with some questions coming from well before the constant connections to the internet were common, and dial ups still 2400 baud.

I asked one of the techies about that and he said that it was sort of scary, which I agree about the depth of the data base that it accesses to get tidbits about me to ask questions about which after  a series of them, the clinic could feel pretty certain that it was me that could (barely) recall the details and figure it was safe enough to grant me access to my account on-line.

Again, I'm not running around with posters or publishing a small underground newspaper on conspiracies like Mel Gibson in the 1997 Conspiracy Theory movie.  I'm too much of a skeptic for that.   But aggregation of data by big business is indeed big business and you only need to look at Amazon for a very unusual item, then in 10 seconds open a newspaper that depends upon traffic and ads, like USA Today, to see the same item in the ad column to be convinced otherwise.

I'm not so sure the newly implemented European Union laws on privacy are such a bad thing, although makes it very hard to make sure you are complying if you have a web site.
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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #123 on: January 29, 2019, 07:48:30 AM »
Just as a fyi, you can see and hear the audio history and delete the lot if you want, not a good thing as I believe it's used for her to learn. On the Alexa fb pages, we get a lot come on and start with the foil hat talk and they get shot down every time. Here's 1 example from my history, as you can see, there is a button to hit to listen to what was recorded...

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Offline vreihen

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Re: Guess there's no VP3 coming
« Reply #124 on: January 29, 2019, 01:03:46 PM »
I have an Alexa gizmo in my junk drawer.  Because of the whole "Alexa, order me a doll house" TV fiasco, I changed the wake word to "computer."  Sadly, every Star Trek series uses that as a wake word, and Alexa would start babbling several times during some episode until Riker engaged the self-destruct sequence and Alexa wouldn't shut up until I pulled the plug.

Some people like voice interfaces, and can listen to audio books.  I'm not one of them.  My brain can process written/visual information probably 50 times faster at times, and I don't have the patience for listening at spoken voice speed.

My wife and I both have Apple Watches, and they include Siri as a voice assistant but require pushing a button to wake it.  Through Apple's HomeKit integration, all of our home automation is available through Siri on my wrist.  I can even control the TV with an app on the Watch, and my weather station's data is also available on the Watch.  My $0.02 is that the Watch and while driving are the only two places where voice assistants make any sense.....
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