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Comment by hx87 | Hacker News Reader

Voice commands on car entertainment systems was available all the way back in 2008, albeit in a $120k car (Lexus LS600h L).

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It was available in 2009 in a fairly cheap Ford sedan.

Microsoft Sync got a lot of shit because from what I've heard, the touchscreen version was a total mess, but the voice only version before that in my car's been pretty solid.

>> It's a sign of how broken and far behind automobile tech is that Alexa was first developed for the kitchen and not the car

> Voice commands on car entertainment systems was available all the way back in 2008, albeit in a $120k car

Voice command entertainment system are available in your run-of-the-mill $14k car nowadays. 2016 Ford Fiesta S model has Sync 3 voice command system built in.

Meh. I've never used one of these car systems, but without any knowledge at all I can confidently say that the experience and capabilities come nowhere near matching Alexa. Totally different products.

I'd love to be wrong. But I doubt I am.

Alexa helps Amazon encourage you to buy more products. I don't see how that would actually be appropriate embedded in an automobile.

I use my Echo every day and never once to buy a product. I use it to get sports scores, hear the news, check the weather, check my calendar, get answers to simple questions, play music (across multiple services), and so on.

There is actually no more suitable place imaginable for performing those functions by voice than behind the wheel. I don't want a replacement for the dials on my dashboard. I want the breadth of services Alexa provides.

To call Alexa "voice commands" is to diminish it beyond recognition.

And you can buy the Echo Dot, which I'm willing to guess works so much better that it might as well be in a different category, for $90.

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