Facebook Portal - Smart, hands-free calling, with Alexa built in

An inside look at Facebook Portal inside your home:

Here are my 4 biggest issues with Facebook Portal. This gets ranty, I'm sorry. I like to see a big company trying new things but I don't think this is the right vision for the future.

1. Trust

Do people trust Facebook enough with their data to want to put Facebook's camera and microphone in their home? I don't think so.

2. Proprietary platforms

Aren't we sick of proprietary platforms? What happened to standards? You can't call anyone who isn't on Facebook or Messenger. Plus, you're tied down to Alexa. That doesn't seem very user-friendly. Remember when it was a big deal that IE had a massive market share and was installed into Windows? At least you could download other browsers.

3. Lack of mobility

You need to be in a room to call someone? Seems a bit '90s. A phone lets you go anywhere and call people wherever you are.

4. Form factor

Facebook wants you to add a whole new immobile screen when you already have a massive TV in your living room.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I certainly won't be buying a Facebook Portal, but I'll be observing with bated breath to see the reception of the public.

Pros:

Good for hands-free communication.

Cons:

Inferior to a mobile which you can just take anywhere.

This might be Facebook's most important launch of the year, the first hardware product they've shipped (it would have been the second if the Facebook phone didn't get canned). While much of the marketing and expectations around Portal are video-focused, it's also as much an audio/voice device. Today Amazon (Alexa, Echo), Google (Google Assistant, Home), and Apple (Siri, Homepod) have audio plays while Facebook remained on the sidelines. Considering Facebook is truly the only member of the FAANG that truly gets social, I'm excited to see their spin on this space. Are you going to buy one? I'd love to try this out with my long-distance SO.

No sane person would place this thing in his/her home

I'd rather have Sauron's eye in my crib than this.

You would have to be mad to buy this.

After all the scandal you'd be insane to place (read buy) a fb camera + and amazon mic in your house. They are just teaming up to gather data so they'll know every f#$%#% little thing about you.

Never used. Never will.

Pros:

None

Cons:

Privacy

Who is the target market for this? Wouldn’t it have been better to have a video device that could sit on your existing tv? Where will this go in the home and why? Phone, tablet, laptop and desktop all do this today 🤷‍♂️

I don't trust facebook leadership to be disciplined with this type of product which can be quite invasive.

Pros:

N/A for me

Cons:

N/A for me

Pretty slick I gotta say. They may have a hit on their hands. Anybody know if this thing has the ability to broadcast to fb live? While scoring the broadcast with music using the music feature?