Can Rivian give up on Alexa yet?

[Jerm]

Never used Alexa, probably never will either. It's a frickin' car; why do I need to talk to robot? You can do everything you need to in your Rivian without Alexa. Just forget it's there and move on.

It's not about it being there. It's about what it's displacing.

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[Jerm]

This. It's easier to change whatever I need to change manually and it's an extra bonus I'm not opting in to big brother listening into all my private conversations. Hey wiretap, record my speech and upload it to amazon for me.

If that was their goal, they don't need Alexa called out for it.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

If that was their goal, they don't need Alexa called out for it.

Im not sure what you mean. Alexa works by listening to and recording your conversations. I don’t see the point in opting into that.

 

[Jerm]

FWIW:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rivian-ceo-says-carplay-integration-143901081.html

Outside of the fanbois that think anything Rivian is at any point is always perfect, I think I've seen a lot of demand for AA and CP spanning from years before production even started. Not sure what RJ is missing here.

 

[Acoustic71]

FWIW:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rivian-ceo-says-carplay-integration-143901081.html

Outside of the fanbois that think anything Rivian is at any point is always perfect, I think I've seen a lot of demand for AA and CP spanning from years before production even started. Not sure what RJ is missing here.

It seems as though RJ is avoiding being beholding to Apple.

 

[Hayden123982]

Alexa is hit or miss for me. Primarily misses, but I do wish I could open my garage with her. Just to save a few taps on my screen while driving up

 

[Jerm]

It seems as though RJ is avoiding being beholding to Apple.

Which I could totally understand... though I don't think he would be. I view it as being beholden to his customers, but just slow to warm to the reality of it. Rivian wouldn't be the first car maker to think their proprietary interface was somehow superior and their customers would not clamor for an AA or CP option, only to ultimately give in and admit the huge advantages of yielding this domain to Google and Apple. Every. Single. Carmaker. (and there are many) that now has AA/CP standard was once a holdout, thinking they could do it better. The most pretentious among them held out the longest. e.g. Porche, BMW, etc. But eventually, even they caved to the reality.
Now more recently, you have GM talking about going the other direction in their EVs. Ignore the clear market demand- good idea, GM.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/4/23669523/gm-apple-carplay-android-auto-ev-restrict-access
If Rivian appears beholden to anyone though, it's certainly Amazon. How many other cars do you see out there integrating Alexa? Ever wonder why?

 

[Jerm]

Im not sure what you mean. Alexa works by listening to and recording your conversations. I don’t see the point in opting into that.

What I mean is that doing things manually does not remove the microphone or Alexa from the vehicle. So if the notion is that they are somehow nefarious in their intent, doing operations manually does nothing to thwart them.
Personally, I'm not worried about that aspect- I just wish it was better at its job.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Im not sure what you mean. Alexa works by listening to and recording your conversations. I don’t see the point in opting into that.

You assume that it doesn't listen/record if you don't opt-in?

I think it always listens/records. You only get the illusion of "opt-in" to get some (very little) functionality in return. But as long as it can hear, Amazon is mining your data.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

You assume that it doesn't listen/record if you don't opt-in?

I think it always listens/records. You only get the illusion of "opt-in" to get some (very little) functionality in return. But as long as it can hear, Amazon is mining your data.

No I don’t think so. There’s a huge difference legally between opting in by using a service and doing it without permission. That whole constitution thing and the fact that it’s illegal to record without at least one party knowledge in most states.

 

[Jerm]

No I don’t think so. There’s a huge difference legally between opting in by using a service and doing it without permission. That whole constitution thing and the fact that it’s illegal to record without at least one party knowledge in most states.

It doesn't send your private conversations anywhere unless it is activated.
https://www.the-ambient.com/guides/... record you all,speaker detects the wake word.
But if you don't trust that to be the case, I'm not sure why you'd trust that it wouldn't do it without you opting in either.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

It doesn't send your private conversations anywhere unless it is activated.
https://www.the-ambient.com/guides/does-amazon-alexa-echo-speaker-listen-conversations-2785#:~:text=Does Amazon record you all,speaker detects the wake word.
But if you don't trust that to be the case, I'm not sure why you'd trust that it wouldn't do it without you opting in either.

Because if they do it without opting in it is a crime.

 

[sub]

Because if they do it without opting in it is a crime.

It's a crime if you or I were to do it. But if a big corporation does it, they'll get away with calling it a bug and at most receive a fine that represents 1% of the profit they made from that "bug".

 

[Donald Stanfield]

It's a crime if you or I were to do it. But if a big corporation does it, they'll get away with calling it a bug and at most receive a fine that represents 1% of the profit they made from that "bug".

Nah. That's a big violation. They get sued for grey area stuff, this isn't grey.

 

[Jerm]

Because if they do it without opting in it is a crime.

If you haven't triggered it with a wake word, it's a crime to listen to your private conversations period. "Opting in" is not giving it permission to send any and all audio to the cloud. Also, it is clearly indicating when it is activated.

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