A Saturday Night Live sketch for the Amazon Echo Silver, a smart speaker for the elderly, in which older users misunderstand Alexa. It parodies voice assistants.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN brings it up as a joke and as design inspiration for voice assistants for seniors.
I'd be interested to see how older people interacted with the device. I know someone who got their parent a device and they kept "Alexa" written on a post-it because they couldn't remember the device name. It's a big shift in technology, but since it is voice interactive, rather than computer/smart phone, I think it does provide an ease of use for older people who might not be as technology savvy. SNL did a great skit on this … this video
Cites itwallflowerJan 2018
“I think that a real Alexa for Seniors would incorporate some of what this spoof Alexa does.”
Spoof Alexa for seniors as design inspiration
Full comment
Did you see the recent SNL skit? I think that a real Alexa for Seniors would incorporate some of what this spoof Alexa does. this video
Cites itwpietriDec 2022
“part of the zeitgeist enough that SNL is doing jokes about it”
Cited as sign of hype around smart speakers
Full comment
But a leader in what exactly? I have been looking for years for actual usage stats. E.g., MAU and UAM for VR headsets, especially ones broken out by length of ownership. I get that people are buying Oculus units because of the hype, but is there much sustained usage? If so, what exactly is keeping people engaged once the novelty wears off? As comparison, look at Amazon's smart speakers. $10 billion spent, lots of hype, part of the zeitgeist enough that SNL is doing jokes about it [1]. End of the day it's a "colossal failure": link [1] this video
JoketloganJul 2017Full comment
No - it is just about age. HN readers are younger thus they think they know more. Old people will just say: "I don't know about that" [1] [1] this video
Joke394549Jul 2018
“Literally this SNL skit”
Full comment
> “He yells and mumbles too much,” Don wrote. “And doesn’t ask complete questions.” Literally this SNL skit: this video
