Amazon considering monthly charge for Alexa

[TollKeeper]

I dont have any issues with Alexa usually.. What I find works best is waiting. Say Alexa, wait until the blue line is up, than ask your request.

My only issue I have had with Alexa is I ask for it to play Strawberry Wine, by Deanna Carter, and I get Strawberry Fields by The Beatles. I did find a way to fix this, and that is to say the artist name with it.

Literally, that has been my only issue.

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[TexasBob]

I dont have any issues with Alexa usually.. What I find works best is waiting. Say Alexa, wait until the blue line is up, than ask your request.

My only issue I have had with Alexa is I ask for it to play Strawberry Wine, by Deanna Carter, and I get Strawberry Fields by The Beatles. I did find a way to fix this, and that is to say the artist name with it.

Literally, that has been my only issue.

I find Alexa is appallingly bad at knowing or finding destinations. It is so awful that I find it unusable. The Rivian Mapbox is fine if you type in a destination but Alexa knows nothing. OTOH It is fine for most vehicle controls.
no possible way I would pay for this, however. Voice controls for a vehicle are basic essential functionality.

 

[HaveBlue]

The point of the paid for version is that it would supposedly be usable. I just added CarPlay instead.

Makes you just want to rip her throat out. Truly f'n worthless was my conclusion as well.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Alexa is already a struggling part of the business. This will kill it for good.

 

[Zoidz]

I think Rivian' shouldn't charge extra for data because it is annoying to have another bill to remember to keep track of and close to 100% of the customers are going to buy it (too many features rely on the data for people to go without the data plan). It is more convenient for both Rivian and the customer to just collect the full cost upfront.

I'm not saying it should come out of Rivian's profit margin. We should pay for it. But on a vehicle this expensive it should just be bundled into the purchase price. Rivian is a luxury vehicle, and removing stuff (like paying a bill every month) from my to-do list is the ultimate luxury.

On a $20,000 vehicle it is probably impossible to include the cost of data without impacting the MRSP enough to impact sales. But on a $100,000 vehicle no one is going to notice if they raised the price by the $500-$1000 it would cost to include it.

Rivian is not a luxury vehicle. This is a fallacy of the “A $100k vehicle is a luxury vehicle therefore it should include feature X” belief. A nicely outfitted Ford F350 costs well over $100k, nobody claims it is a luxury vehicle.

“Removing stuff like paying a bill every month from my to-do list” ?
I don’t understand this comment. Billing for repeat services like this is always automatic billing. There’s nothing you have to do to pay the bill each month.

 

[Zoidz]

I use Alexa for some basic smart home integration with a non-Amazon controller, and in the Rivian. There is no way I will pay a monthly fee for Alexa. I’m running Home Assistant, I’ll happly use that for voice recognition instead. The article implies a free base service plus AI enabled pay features like automatically composing an email, ordering food, etc. Uhhh, no, not paying for that.

This is just the latest example of Amazon‘s enshitification slide.

 

[Rudylake]

I won't pay for Alexa, I won't pay for at&t, I'm so tired of the nickel and diming. I sure hope this rivian experience continues to avoid it. They've been great so far in not trying to screw their customers.

Just wait for your next auto insurance quote for the Rivian. Then you will sell.

 

[TollKeeper]

I find Alexa is appallingly bad at knowing or finding destinations. It is so awful that I find it unusable. The Rivian Mapbox is fine if you type in a destination but Alexa knows nothing. OTOH It is fine for most vehicle controls.
no possible way I would pay for this, however. Voice controls for a vehicle are basic essential functionality.

Im not saying I would pay to use it... Hell no. Just that I dont have issues with using it.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Ah, holy hell. I've got a whole thread of her nonsense, already. I feel your pain. Really hope someone at Rivian is actually monitoring these threads.

Dealing with Alexa is like this:

 

[Hillbilly]

Just wait for your next auto insurance quote for the Rivian. Then you will sell.

Nah, I don't really have spending limits, it's about the principle of it.

Rivian is not a luxury vehicle. This is a fallacy of the “A $100k vehicle is a luxury vehicle therefore it should include feature X” belief. A nicely outfitted Ford F350 costs well over $100k, nobody claims it is a luxury vehicle.

“Removing stuff like paying a bill every month from my to-do list” ?
I don’t understand this comment. Billing for repeat services like this is always automatic billing. There’s nothing you have to do to pay the bill each month.

Of course it wouldn't make sense to you because that's not how you live. It makes sense to me, but I look at every bill every month and write a check because I refuse to use online banking or entrust my credit card information with anyone unless absolutely necessary.

I've dealt with too much fraud both personally and in my line of work. A lot less stressful to review the bill for accuracy and mail a check from an account I set up only for bill pay.

 

[Zoidz]

Nah, I don't really have spending limits, it's about the principle of it.


Of course it wouldn't make sense to you because that's not how you live. It makes sense to me, but I look at every bill every month and write a check because I refuse to use online banking or entrust my credit card information with anyone unless absolutely necessary.

I've dealt with too much fraud both personally and in my line of work. A lot less stressful to review the bill for accuracy and mail a check from an account I set up only for bill pay.

I also review every month, and I use virtual cards that can only be used by a single specified vendor with a lock date I specify.

 

[Hillbilly]

I also review every month, and I use virtual cards that can only be used by a single specified vendor with a lock date I specify.

Then you do understand that it's an inconvenience because you do review the bill. Fewer bills means more free time not worrying about them.

 

[Zoidz]

Then you do understand that it's an inconvenience because you do review the bill. Fewer bills means more free time not worrying about them.

I don’t consider reviewing bills an inconvenience at all.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

The point of the paid for version is that it would supposedly be usable. I just added CarPlay instead.

The end ????????????

 

[Riptide]

Why do you consider paying for data in your vehicle nickel and diming? Almost every car company does it. It’s not new. I had a 2018 Volvo that I had to add to my AT&T family plan. Before we had data in vehicles, you had to buy expensive map updates for your vehicle from the manufacture. You couldn’t just open maps and get up to date info. We are paying for a service. You get maps, music, connected features. Have you ever had a vehicle that you had to pay extra for integrated navigation and then pay extra for a new Maps the next year? I would say that’s Nickel and diming. It’s way cheaper now than ever.

Is there an argument that you are already paying for these services via the resale and use of the metadata collected and the wholesale of your personal privacy?

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