Yes I bought one for my autistic son so he could ask someone else his incessant questions. He mainly asks it to play music but I’m teaching him how to ask the questions so he gets a good response
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I tried a few - as you mentioned it’s interesting how well sites detect advertising avoidance - until I installed pi-hole and blocked access to alternative DNS - problem solved, for more than just advertising …
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This provides an interesting insight to what the smart device could be used for in the future…and has been used in the USA courts.
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I got given a Google Home mini for Christmas, though I wasn’t able to start using it till a few weeks ago. The most useful feature (so far) has been the Shopping List; anyone in the house can add items to it, and when I go to the shop (as long as I have my phone with me) there on the phone is the list in text form. I have found many of “her” response to questions, etc very amusing, and have tested “her” to evoke other responses. Asking simple questions (that I know could be looked up on Google) brings quick simple answers; there’s a skill to knowing how to phrase something to get an answer (other than “I’m sorry, but I can’t help with that right now”). I like being able to ask for the local weather, the current news, some music (I’ve joined Spotify Free), radio stations. Getting it to cast video onto my TV is tricky, as you have to be quite precise in describing the (say) Youtube video in question. It would be helpful if “she” responded with “did you mean…?”, or asked for further clarification (as Google does when you type a question). So far, I’ve been very impressed with its voice recognition, its humour, its versatility, though I can see how it could be improved. It’s overall been a very enjoyable experience! (I’ve even checked online to see just what it is recording, at myactivity.google.com, and have warned visitors that they may be recorded; the “invasion of privacy” aspects don’t worry me).
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That was my initial theory too and seemed to be the case for around half the sites I had trouble loading with Chrome. Funnily enough the same sites that Chrome disliked had no issue with either Firefox or IE (was pre Edge days - terrible browser btw). I’m guessing of course as I don’t sit on the Google board but I reckon you were half right about the income stream of the websites not loading - however I think it was Google missing their slice of the pie rather than the actual websites - especially since the vast majority of ads that were blocked were Google leads lol.
Every now and then I have another crack at Chrome because I found it to be a good, speedy browser early on. Unfortunately it is still the ONLY browser I have found that loads it’s own ads no matter what website you are visiting - could even be that their ads are coded to layover the target website’s ads, meaning the website would miss out on revenue anyway lol.
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First of many I’d suggest - many to come, probably many already among us … of course phones have been an attack vector we have carried with us for some years now, so something static in a living space almost seems less of a threat …
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I haven’t bought one, can’t say I can think of anything it would be useful for here. We keep a shopping list on the fridge, written on with a pencil! Remeber those? 
I don’t carry my phone around with me generally, other than in my backpack when mountain biking. As far as home automation goes, I only have WEMO devices for timers to operate pumps and a back-up system battery charger in my aquaponics systems. They are much more capable timers than any simple mechanical or electronic timer, giving me much more control to cater for varying conditions- temperature, day length, cloud cover, etc, and the 3 I currently have are all controlled when required from a single app on my phone.
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What’s a pencil? Interesting name so it naturally intrigues me - what’s the battery life on them like?
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I use a pen, but I do have an emergency pencil should the pen fail. The list is on a fridge door, but that door isn’t on a fridge, I mounted the door on the kitchen wall for fun and just use it as a magnet board for all manner of stuff. The stuff you can get away with as a single dad 
Phones should be banned in supermarkets especially - either that or baseball bats should be allowed. Often I find the rudeness and selfishness of people glued to a conversation or text exchange whole shopping is breathtaking … It’s been suggested the bat is overkill, so maybe just using my mobile to lock their trolley wheels is the go - that seems like a perfectly valid and productive use of a mobile in a supermarket …
I’ve never replaced a battery in a pencil, but it’s life does get shorter and shorter …
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… I can imagine this ringing in sick for me and telling the boss what I really think …
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Always eager to do what it thinks you tell it…
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Luckily they were only chatting about hardwood floors! I wonder how many times this has happened and gone unnoticed or unreported…
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Lots of times I am sure. When security of personal data is handed over to Marketing based third parties then the result is not good in most cases.
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My wife has had a Google Home for a couple of years which she only uses to listen to music on Spotify for free and it plays the same songlist everyday with no provision to skip songs.
She also received a Google Nest Mini through some Woolies promotion which I attemped to use to listen to music on our office PC but it is useless.
Yesterday, I bought a Targus Bluetooth Adapter from Officeworks for $34.95 and a Sony SRS-XB22 Extra Bass portable speaker from JB HiFi on special for $99.
It was a piece of cake to install the Bluetooth Adapter and to setup the Sony speaker.
Fantastic clarity and volume.
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I am comfortable using Bluetooth speakers and headphones. Smart digital assistants? That just sounds dumb to me given the privacy implications.
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I’m still happily inside the Apple ecosystem and whilst both Google and Amazon hardware will work with my “stuff”, I don’t really need it to. I don’t have a Homepod either, Siri responds on phone, watch, ipad and computer, and the AppleTV acts as a hub for if I am away from home and forgot to turn the lights off (or on). I don’t talk to her often, but occasionally its “hey Siri, lights off” from the depths of my bed when i can’t be bothered reaching for the phone to do it manually (its LIFX here). I never talk to her, otherwise. Oh… unless I am out and didnt leave a light on, then i can ask her via my watch, to turn on the garage light. I dont think I would find a use for either of the others, though I have considered an Echo once in a while.
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Likewise…we don’t use voice recognition in smart devices either…as it can be collected to improve product development and accuracy. If there was zero risk of it being shared, then I might consider as it may save a lot of typing.
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Have you bought a Google Home?
*$#% no!
Same for any similar device where you are voluntarily bugging your house and/or handing over who knows what data to who knows whom.
Even if there were no intentional privacy and security problems, there are the unintentional ones i.e. bugs - and manufacturers have time and time again shown that “time to market” is more important than security. Unless and until there are legally sanctioned financial penalties for security problems, manufacturers won’t make security a priority.
Apart from the privacy and security considerations, it just isn’t a priority for me.
Opening the garage door (via the remote) turns on the light in the garage automatically for X minutes, after which it will go off automatically (and there’s even a manual override on the remote). That’s good enough for me.
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That interesting. I have the same set up except I use Spotify premium and it let’s me skip via voice activation. The other way I do it is to open the app on a mobile phone, it gives you the normal control dashboard to change volume/skip/play/pause. I’ve also recently been using it to play song quiz.
Device remains unplugged when not in use 
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You mean it stores all your private data locally until such time as it has the opportunity to be connected and then uploads your private data?
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