The latest articles on DEV Community by Joseph McLauchlan (@joemclauchlan). https://dev.to/joemclauchlan https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F24908%2F6ca46f7c-6bcb-4ef7-9fa3-e832f55c1d15.jpg https://dev.to/joemclauchlan en Joseph McLauchlan Mon, 24 Jul 2017 00:17:12 +0000 https://dev.to/joemclauchlan/amazon-alexa-free-swag https://dev.to/joemclauchlan/amazon-alexa-free-swag <h1> Will free swag continue to attract developers to the Amazon Alexa platform? </h1> <h3> It seems that every month Amazon is running some new special to entice developers to create new and engaging Alexa skills and utilize the Alexa Skills kit. </h3> <blockquote class="ltag__twitter-tweet"> <div class="ltag__twitter-tweet__media"> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/practicaldev/image/fetch/s--FS8XJrIf--/c_limit%2Cf_auto%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto%2Cw_880/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDq3bY-V0AAmxDI.jpg" alt="unknown tweet media content"> </div> <div class="ltag__twitter-tweet__main"> <div class="ltag__twitter-tweet__header"> <img class="ltag__twitter-tweet__profile-image" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/practicaldev/image/fetch/s--i8lfZMfO--/c_limit%2Cf_auto%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto%2Cw_880/https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/826918472277823489/Y32qxspu_normal.jpg" alt="Alexa Developers profile image"> <div class="ltag__twitter-tweet__full-name"> Alexa Developers </div> <div class="ltag__twitter-tweet__username"> @alexadevs </div> <div class="ltag__twitter-tweet__twitter-logo"> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/practicaldev/image/fetch/s--ir1kO05j--/c_limit%2Cf_auto%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto%2Cw_880/https://dev.to/assets/twitter-f95605061196010f91e64806688390eb1a4dbc9e913682e043eb8b1e06ca484f.svg" alt="twitter logo"> </div> </div> <div class="ltag__twitter-tweet__body"> Publish a Skill in July, Get an Echo Dot &amp; Alexa Dev Swag: <a href="https://t.co/iCTvfx7bgp">amzn.to/2rgpnTh</a> 🧦 </div> <div class="ltag__twitter-tweet__date"> 18:32 PM - 01 Jul 2017 </div> <div class="ltag__twitter-tweet__actions"> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=881219064168763392" class="ltag__twitter-tweet__actions__button"> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/practicaldev/image/fetch/s--fFnoeFxk--/c_limit%2Cf_auto%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto%2Cw_880/https://dev.to/assets/twitter-reply-action-238fe0a37991706a6880ed13941c3efd6b371e4aefe288fe8e0db85250708bc4.svg" alt="Twitter reply action"> </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=881219064168763392" class="ltag__twitter-tweet__actions__button"> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/practicaldev/image/fetch/s--k6dcrOn8--/c_limit%2Cf_auto%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto%2Cw_880/https://dev.to/assets/twitter-retweet-action-632c83532a4e7de573c5c08dbb090ee18b348b13e2793175fea914827bc42046.svg" alt="Twitter retweet action"> </a> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=881219064168763392" class="ltag__twitter-tweet__actions__button"> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/practicaldev/image/fetch/s--SRQc9lOp--/c_limit%2Cf_auto%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto%2Cw_880/https://dev.to/assets/twitter-like-action-1ea89f4b87c7d37465b0eb78d51fcb7fe6c03a089805d7ea014ba71365be5171.svg" alt="Twitter like action"> </a> </div> </div> </blockquote> <h3> Now don't get me wrong this is what <em>initially brought me to the platform...</em> However I utilized this not only to get a cool hoodie but to start my journey on learning a new skill. When I started working on Alexa skills there were less than 2,000 skills available for the device, today that number has grown to over 10,000. Some would argue that this growth is due to these promotions Amazon has offered. </h3> <h3> While I agree that this was great to bring individuals to the platform and help assist with growth, there were however some drawbacks. At times Amazon would give free swag away for using a certain type of template they had already created as a starting point. What this did was to create an environment where there are many duplicate skills...and do we really need another cat facts skill? </h3> <h3> <em>However there is hope</em> recently Amazon, on a trial basis at least, has started <a href="http://ht.ly/Fkd330bKWoF">paying devs Alexa skill royalties</a> for engaging game skills. </h3> <p>Liquid error: internal</p> <h3> It is my beliefe that with the launch of this program along with the announcement of <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit/alexa-aws-credits">AWS promotional credits for Alexa</a> that this will create a climate where developers will push the limits of what the platform can do and explore options outside the standard templates Amazon has offered. </h3> <h3> Do you own an Alexa enabled device what skills would you like to see made, or better yet what skills would you like to create yourself? </h3> amazon vui alexaskill javascript Joseph McLauchlan Sun, 23 Jul 2017 20:38:37 +0000 https://dev.to/joemclauchlan/hi-im-joseph-mclauchlan https://dev.to/joemclauchlan/hi-im-joseph-mclauchlan <p>I have been coding for 4 years.</p> <p>You can find me on Twitter as <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeMclauchlan" rel="noopener noreferrer">@JoeMclauchlan</a></p> <p>I live in Boston, MA.</p> <p>I work for the United States Army.</p> <p>I mostly program in these languages: JavaScript.</p> <p>I am currently learning more about Voice User Interfaces.</p> <p>Nice to meet you.</p> introduction