My new garage assistant

I have an old clock radio in the garage for tunes when I am working. Nothing fancy, but it has an Aux in and a USB.  Amazon has a new Alexa Dot for $20 that has no speaker, so I added one to my old radio.  

While working on the car, I can tell her to play specific songs, or playlists, or NPR, or whatever I am in the mood for.  (we have Amazon prime music) I can skip songs, adjust volume, pause, and change stations by voice command, which is great when you are greasy or laying under a lowered Ford.  

I needed to convert a decimal into a fraction, so I just asked her. I needed a hand with something, so I just dropped in on all the devices in my house (we have Alexa coverage in the whole house with 4 other units) and asked my wife to stop down. I could have also called her or texted her.  I was out of shop rags, so I asked her to order more for me.

An Alexa in the garage is pretty awesome!  

You clock radio with aux port and USB is far from old... My garage radio is from the 80's and I consider it fairly modern. 

Someone on this group is going to pull out something with vacuum tubes, now that's old...

Back to Alexa. Sounds expensive, complicated, and invasive. Heard too many horror stories of winding up broadcasting private conversations on to the neighbors stereo...

I agree with you pinchvalve!  I've got a dot hardwired to my Apple Hi-Fi powered speaker.  Sounds great and when the car falls on me I can ask the family for help!

Jeff-I'm only mildly worried about how Amazon views my musical tastes.  

But can she find the missing 10mm socket?

If Alexa hasn't sent the police yet, she's clearly not listening. 

Gearheadotaku said:

You clock radio with aux port and USB is far from old... My garage radio is from the 80's and I consider it fairly modern. 

Someone on this group is going to pull out something with vacuum tubes, now that's old...

Back to Alexa. Sounds expensive, complicated, and invasive. Heard too many horror stories of winding up broadcasting private conversations on to the neighbors stereo...

As far as technology goes, anything past a few years is old. Hell my '13 BMW won't even let me stream Bluetooth over the stereo!

What kind of luddite stuff is that!?!?!

In reply to z31maniac :

That really is ridiculous. I started driving in 04, and every sub $100 aftermarket head unit I've owned since then has had Bluetooth. Zee Germans should be on top of these things.

I have alexa in the garage too. Another large benefit is if you get trapped or something you can call for help with voice command only. 

RevRico said:

In reply to z31maniac :

That really is ridiculous. I started driving in 04, and every sub $100 aftermarket head unit I've owned since then has had Bluetooth. Zee Germans should be on top of these things.

It's weird, I'm not sure if it's software or hardware. 

You can use Bluetooth for calls, and it has a built-in mic for it, but it won't pair up with either an Android or Apple phone. 

In reply to pinchvalve :

Wow, to be honest I had written off the Alexa devices as useless toys - ways to pay money so you can more easily order things from Amazon. But with your description, it actually sounds useful! That's pretty cool. I'm not sure it'll talk me into getting one, but I sure see them in a little different light now.

We got one for Christmas (unasked for) a yer or two ago, and stopped using it because it was really pretty useless in the house, and I got all tinfoil-hatty once its recording was subpoenaed--so I unplugged it and threw it in a closet. 

But this? This is a brilliant use for it. Especially since my wifi signal *should* reach out there. Time to start looking at estate sales for a cheap receiver and speakers.

This is great. I think I will have to do this for the safety/communication with everyone in the house. 

What's a blue tooth?  And why doesn't my 2019 Mazda CX-9 have a cassette deck?  Heck, it doesn't even have a CD player!  Oh, well, I can still listen to the radio.

EastCoastMojo said:

But can she find the missing 10mm socket?

No, but an order for 10 more has been placed.