from the sure,-the-first-one's-always-free... dept.
Submitted via IRC for AnonymousLuser
Google will give 100,000 Home Minis to people with paralysis
Smart speakers aren't just cool gadgets to play with for some differently abled people, such as those dealing with mobility issues or vision loss. For them, a smart speaker could be an important tool that can help them become more independent in their day-to-day lives. According to Google's Nest team, they receive a lot of emails from people with disabilities, telling them how the Home speakers are giving them more independence. That's why the tech giant has teamed up with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation to give away 100,000 Home Minis to people living with paralysis and their caregivers.
[...] Redd said the Home Mini gives him a way to control his lights and thermostat easily, and it can make sure he can call family and friends if he needs help. The speaker's ability to set alarms, play music and trivia and make lists could be especially useful to people with quadriplegia, as well. Those interested can check out the official partnership page to find out if they're eligible and to sign up for a free Home Mini.
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Baidu's AI speakers run on an AI platform called DuerOS. The company initially targeted the high end of the market with the Teenage Engineering-designed Raven H speaker, but that product apparently sold poorly. More recently, Baidu has pushed sales of much less expensive models, with the basic Xiaodu speaker selling for as low as 89 yuan (~$12). Baidu overtook previous domestic leader Alibaba in the first quarter of this year in China, according to Canalys.
But the company has faced some trouble lately:
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Google Will Give 100,000 Home Minis to People With Paralysis
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:32PM (7 children)
Is Google also spying on everything these people do? It's great that handicapped people overcome their handicaps. Super, that tech companies are offering them options, with which to beat those handicaps. I love it. But, is there a sinister side to all of this?
"Hey, Bob, you realize that we have a captive audience here, don't you? Why don't we exploit them?"
If, one day, you, or I, are reduced to dependence on other people, and/or tech offerings, will we have to surrender our privacy? "Oh, you poor, ignorant Soylentil - once you've installed our devices, you can't turn them off! We are responsible for keeping you alive now, so we have to monitor you 24/7/365!"
Those people who have lived all their lives with severe handicaps probably don't have the same concept of privacy that the rest of us do. Mom, Dad, caretakers, and medical professionals have always been there, barging in whenever. It would be easy to take advantage of a stunted expectation of privacy, wouldn't it?
We're gonna be able to vacation in Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and maybe Minnesota soon. Incredible times.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:48PM
Paralyzed people can't fight back.
Google Attacks Paralyzed People With Surveillance Devices
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:48PM (2 children)
same way now.
9/11 didn't change things, it just cemented what the random 'Drug War' locker checks and post-Columbine school surveillance society ingrained into the youngins and what the older people have decided 'isn't a problem within their lifetimes, so why should we fight it like we did in the 60s (for those that were up in arms in the 60s, whether civil rights, anti-war, pro-free love, or drug usage.)
Now today we have gone from 7 years ago having people punched in the face for being 'glassholes' to everyone buying surveillance hardware to put inside their house or on their front porch and ignoring its privacy implications not just for themselves, but for others as well... even in contradiction of the laws in 2 party states, or in many cases in 1 party states, since neither party in the conversation directly had knowledge of the recording taking place in that encounter.
The only way this problem gets resolved is by grassroots level voting against this behavior, making each local jurisdiction decide on rules and enforcing them, then harmonizing those rules for a state level vote, and finally when each state has done so, making it a federal debate and finally ensuring there is a common rule for national and international providers to follow regarding this whole privacy debate, at least in the US.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:54PM (1 child)
Are you suggesting that punching "Glassholes" in the face made sense at all? You have no expectation of privacy out in public.
Maybe you would celebrate police punching "camtards" at a protest.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @07:17PM
Depends on where you live.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:49PM
Sure would. Easier still to just ignore them, as has been done for centuries.
I say, let the handicapped choose - I had to pay $25 for my Google Home Mini, they get one for free - if either of us decides we don't like it after letting it in our home, our option is to unplug it.
We've had ours for about 2 weeks now, it makes a pretty good alarm clock, and the "Broadcast" feature is kinda weird/cool (send a short, one-way-ish, sound bite from your phone to whoever is in the room at the time...)
If you're only semi privacy paranoid, there's the option to not participate in their random samplings for quality improvement. If you're full tin-hat, yeah, don't plug it in, and quit carrying a cellphone while you're at it.
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @06:14PM (1 child)
I shudder thinking about what will happen to these people on leap day next year.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @06:24PM
Leap day is going to be known as Soylent day from now on.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @05:42PM (2 children)
why even post anything to benefit these spyware hocking corps? how about fuck them instead?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @06:06PM
Stop being a whiny incel and turn on the spy speaker.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 29 2019, @12:46AM
Believe me, I have better things to do with my life (and my sexual organs) than to fuck Google. Or FaeceBook. Or any multi-national.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Barenflimski on Sunday July 28 2019, @06:24PM (5 children)
How is it these companies aren't just handing these Alexa's and Mini's out for free to everybody?
I'd think that over the lifetime of these personal assistants they would make back the $10 it costs to make and ship them, plus a whole lot more. I'm surprised that getting people used to these devices early and *your* device specifically, isn't already the long term ploy.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 28 2019, @08:26PM (1 child)
First they fleece the people most keep to part with their earned gold. That will help create feeling of value. Only later will they be distributed and then finally required.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday July 28 2019, @09:45PM
No they won't.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by rigrig on Sunday July 28 2019, @09:32PM (1 child)
Because asking money raises the perceived value, making people want one.
It's "Here, have a free listening device, because we're an altruistic company" vs "If you save up a bit, you too can afford one of these personal assistants".
No one remembers the singer.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday July 29 2019, @12:52AM
Except Gmail is free and we all know how many people use THAT!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday July 28 2019, @11:52PM
First you have to establish the "value proposition" - of course this little nothing is "worth" $49, look at everything it can do for you.
Really, when digital alarm clocks cost $14.95 back in the early 1980s, adjusted for inflation, $49 is about the same... and digital alarm clocks couldn't list all the films that Kevin Bacon has starred in.
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Revek on Sunday July 28 2019, @06:27PM
That is all those things are good for.
This page was generated by a Swarm of Roaming Elephants
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday July 28 2019, @07:14PM
Those fuckers are fifth-columnists of the worst degree. Let's hope they all die.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Sunday July 28 2019, @08:29PM (2 children)
"Our brand new $EVILGADGET just saved a baby! That means you HAVE to buy one! $EVILGADGET is so good! Just look at that happy smiling baby girl that is not a giant bloodstain because someone used $EVILGADGET! (although they could have saved her a million different ways and ours was the stupidest) Why wouldn't you want our $EVILGADGET in the 1 in ten jillion chance it might save YOUR baby, all while $EVILGADGET busily and helpfully rapes your asshole!. Do you hate babies?!"
"Buy $EVILGADGET today and change your life! $EVILGADGET is eco-friendly and good for the environment!"
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday July 28 2019, @11:55PM (1 child)
$EVILGADGET doesn't do anything that your average smartphone does.
If you want to go off on $EVILGADGET, go off on the one that tracks your every movement in realtime, knows how fast you drive, can (and probably sometimes does) not only eavesdrop on sounds in the room, but has cameras on the front and back which can send pictures, in realtime, from wherever you are.
They come in watch form now, too - complete with 4G voice/data SIMs in the watch, no phone required. I'm getting one for each of my children.
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday July 28 2019, @11:59PM
The alzheimers is setting in: $EVILGADGET doesn't do anything that your average smartphone does'nt do.
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 29 2019, @12:52AM (1 child)
To benefit, a paralyzed person needs:
- to have a private home (living space)
- to have care givers
Any others don't matter.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 29 2019, @01:08AM
A paralyzed person without a care giver is also known as a stiff.
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday July 29 2019, @02:00AM
These surveillance devices in disguise are easily avoidable when you're able-bodied and midly privacy-conscious. But they're REALLY useful to the disabled. Meaning these people are easy prey to Big Data, because the lure of free useful shit that truly improves life is almost irresistible.
What's tragic here is that disabled people are essentially presented with the following choice: give up your privacy or live less well.
I would have been more impressed if Google had publicly said they would turn off data collection on these particular devices, to show they genuinely care about improving the lives of the disabled - or at least pretend they do. Instead, they get to put the disabled community under heavy surveillance *and* get good publicity out of it for very cheap. Kind of sickening if you ask me...
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday July 29 2019, @03:30PM
I was encouraging a dog with failing liver to eat his breakfast.
"C'mon boy, you can eat it! Can you eat your food boy?"
Google Home instantly responds: I can be if you want me to be.
??? that doesn't even make sense
Stupid people exist because nothing in the food chain eats them anymore.