Felicha Stevens
5/24/2018
MCS 244
Google Assistant
Google Assistant is the new big movement in digital communication and media. Google Assistant is the new way of communicating with others. The idea of Google Assistant is, “just say hey Google!” And make Google do it. According to Google, “Google Home is a brand of smart speakers developed by Google. Google Home speakers enable users to speak voice commands to interact with services through Google’s intelligent personal assistant called Google Assistant.”
What makes this speaker so important and the future of communicating is the fact that it talks back to you. Everyone has access to Google Assistant via your smart phone of tablet. However, the speaker cost $129.00. According to Google.com, “Google Chrome can now talk back to you. You can now talk to your computer kind of like you would a person-that is, if you’re running Google’s Chrome browser.
Google Assistant supports and services more than one language: Spanish, English, and Chinese. You can ask questions and get answers. Google Assistant can now send and request payments using Google Pay. “Ever wished you could quickly send your friend $20 from your account, and not have to mess around with the bank? Google Assistant to the rescue! Google Assistant on iOS and Android phones can now send and request money using a simple command. To send money, say “OK Google, send Simon $20 for the tickets,” or “OK Google, request $15 from Andy for lunch today” to request it. Google will then send your recipient a Google Pay notification, text message, or email, and they can then finalize the transfer.”- Digital Trends.com. “If you don’t want to talk to Google Assistant you can type the command you want.”
Although Google Assistant is innovative, Google Assistant is not the first smart speaker available to the public. There are many communicating devices for your home; some include Amazon’s Alexa which is known as Echo. According to Wikipedia, the smart speaker Alexa is described as “a smart speaker developed by Amazon, the device is connected to a voice control intelligent assistant by the name of Alexa.” Wirecutter describes Amazon’s Alexa as, “People use these smart speakers to play music, search the Web, create to-do and shopping lists, shop online, get instant weather reports, and control popular smart-hone products-all while your smart phone stays in your pocket.”
There are many differences to consider when buying an Alexa smart speaker and a Google Assistant smart speaker. Some of the differences regarding both smart speakers include, Amazon Echo is great at controlling your smart home. Google Home is great at answering your questions. “HuffPost consulted four tech experts, who said the Echo shines in its ability to control smart home devices like smart lights, smart thermostats and smart door locks. You can turn on the lights with your voice or unlock the front door by asking Alexa to do so, for example. (Of course, this involves owning smart lights, thermostats or door locks in the first place.) However, the Echo isn’t so great at answering everyday questions like “What movies came out recently?” The Echo integrates with Amazon products like Amazon Fire TV, and of course it lets you order stuff from Amazon directly with your voice. As the Echo integrates with Amazon products, so the Google Home integrates with Google: You can vocally control your Chromecast TV, use Google Search and access your Google Calendar and Gmail.”
There are many pros and cons for the new digital communication smart speaker, Google Assistant. Some pros of the smart speaker include, it helps people who use the speaker stay organized, as well as, helps you communicate effectively with your business if you already have a busy schedule and lifestyle. Also, the Google Assistant works as an assistant to your everyday errands such as shopping and making appointments. The Google Assistant was created to help make your life easier. You can order things online from Target using your Google Assistant smart speaker. However, there are cons to having the Google Assistant smart speaker as well. Some of the cons of having the digital communication speaker include, making people lazy and too reliant on the smart speaker. Because the smart speaker works as a personal assistant people will become lazy to doing simple things like sending emails because Google Assistant can do it for them; simply by hearing a command such as “send email.” Also, another con to having the digital communication speaker is because there’s a possibility of people becoming reliant on the speaker, many people will lose the need to socialize or have interpersonal relationships with others. One way this can happen is by someone constantly talking and using their Google Assistant instead of communicating effectively with human beings. Also, the Google Assistant decreases job opportunities, for example, people who would normally hire someone to be their assistant no longer need to do so because Google Assistant is there to do the job. Therefore, people who are looking for work get slighted and loose the opportunity to have a job and earn money to a smart speaker. Another con of the Google Assistant is it takes away real life interactions between humans. For example, Google Assistant helps with making doctor appointments and dry cleaner pickups, because the smart speaker helps with these errands people who have the smart speaker do not need to leave their homes to make these appointments in person, which causes people to lose personal interactions with one another, like a friendly smile from the receptionist at a doctor’s office after making an appointment, or a friendly wave from the local dry cleaner employee after dropping off clothes. In addition to this, another con is not everyone is tech savy. Many elderly people who do not know how to use a computer or a smart speaker deice will not be aware of the new digital communication movement involving the Google Assistant.
There is a generational gap regarding the Google Assistant grandparents who are not familiar with new digital communications such as smart speakers may feel left out of the new ways of communicating. However, Google Assistant has features for children. Some of the features include games. Google Assistant features 50 new games geared towards the younger generation of adults. The reason being is that many children born in the year 2000 or after are very tech savy and are very familiar with the internet and digital communication such as social media: Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat just to name a few. Therefore, they will be drawn towards the new digital communication smart speakers and its ability to showcase games and its ability to take commands and speak back to people.
