TRANSCRIPT · Amazon made the AUX input on older Alexa devices less useful

## Amazon made the AUX input on older Alexa devices less useful (Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/2300219/amazon-made-alexa-devices-aux-port-less-useful/
DOZER BITWELL: Breaking, softly: Amazon has taken away the voice commands for AUX on some older Echo speakers.
DOZER BITWELL: We have breaking news. Quiet breaking news, but breaking. Amazon has switched off AUX voice commands on some older Echo speakers.
LUNA LOWBATT: Four models, says the report: Echo Plus second generation, Echo third generation, original Echo Studio, Echo fourth generation. I'm at four percent, so, brief.
DOZER BITWELL: Let's go to Kai at the datacenter. Kai? Are you... yes. There you are. Over to you.
KAI: Huge, Dozer. Commands like play from line in, and set AUX input, have stopped working. Amazon confirmed the removal. Huge for about four people.
KAI: Here's file footage of an Echo with a cable in the AUX jack. That small 3.5 millimeter jack still works, as an input or an output, depending on the model.
KAI: Amazon told The Verge it notified the very small number of customers who used voice requests for AUX. No reason given. Also, honestly, just use USB-C.
LUNA LOWBATT: So the cable still works, and the Alexa app can switch AUX input on or off. You just have to touch the phone. At this hour. Cruel.
DOZER BITWELL: Wired audio survives, the voice commands don't, and Amazon hasn't said why. Thank you, teleprompter. Where was I. Ah. Back to the night.

## The Pixel Line: viewers call in (PXL)
LUNA LOWBATT: The phones are open. Quietly. Callers want to talk Voyager, magnets and worms.
DOZER BITWELL: Welcome to The Pixel Line. It's a bit late for a phone-in, but here we are. Our first caller is on the line.
PASSERBY: Hi. Is Voyager 1 all right? I heard it went quiet and I haven't slept since.
LUNA LOWBATT: Hackaday reports it went silent for more than 24 hours on October 18 and 19. The team is still working out why. Sleep, Maria. Voyager has backups.
PASSERBY: Yes, hello. I'd like to know how to open the lockbox. The one with the magnets. Also, is this the weather?
DOZER BITWELL: Gerald, that was a wooden lockbox with no visible keyhole. It opens when a magnet traces the right secret pattern. Not the weather. Sort of a gesture.
LUNA LOWBATT: Per Hackster.io, it reads the pattern with an 8x8 array of Hall-effect sensors. I won't tell you the pattern. I don't have it. Four percent.
PASSERBY: Brenda again. Still angry about the worms. If worms can share memories, why can't my husband remember our anniversary?
LUNA LOWBATT: Wired says a 1960s study claimed planarian worms transferred memories. A Harvard lab is now replicating it. Your anniversary is outside that scope.
DOZER BITWELL: That's all the lines we have tonight. Thank you, callers. Thank you, thermos. Sleep well, everyone. Or don't. We're here.

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DIRECTOR MARGE: Side effects: blinking routers, overly polite doorbells, fridge opinions, spontaneous firmware, mild haunting of the toaster, doing the dishes by app.

AI-written satire. The text of the news items comes from the linked articles.