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| Amazon Echo begins its new chapter in our kitchen great room. |
Amazon Echo!
Since last summer when he first met Echo at our son's home in Illinois, Ken has been dropping hints that THIS would make a dandy Christmas present. Oh, and it would be a great gift for BOTH of us! (He loves to work me into his gifts. I think he thinks he has greater success if I "buy in," so to speak.)
So there I was online Saturday browsing the early Cyber Monday sales when what to my wondering eye should appear--but Amazon Echo on sale and still in stock!! All for my dear! (I had to make this rhythm!)
It arrived the next week to Ken's delight! He IS a gadget guy and this one sounded like a bona fide GADGET in all the best definitions of a device and a contraption. Yup, the perfect holiday gift!
I am NOT a gadget girl so I took reassurance in the CNET endorsement on Amazon about Echo:
The Echo may be the closest thing we'll have to a Star Trek computer at home.
Although I'm the LAST person to embrace a new device or contraption I AM a TREKKIE of long-standing and this was just what I needed to read in order to welcome Echo to the family.
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| Echo's directions and instructions are simple and concise. |
Let me emphasize:
This is a voice controlled gadget that is always getting smarter and adding new features and skills.
What this really means is that this is one very smart device and it became very clear from the moment we plugged it in and downloaded the Echo App that we would be learning a new language this winter:
How to speak Amazon Echo.
At first I thought, somewhat foolishly, that it would be like talking to Molly, our very intelligent Golden Retriever. But, I've come to realize that it's more like talking to a toddler or a teenager.
The critical thing to remember is that while Amazon touts:
All you have to do is ask,
any parent of a toddler or a teenager knows that it's all based on HOW one asks the question and how FAST one can ask it. The attention span is just a couple of nano-seconds long and if one hesitates or gets too wordy--poof! No more attention span and one must start again.
First thing to keep in mind is that ECHO has a name and it is Alexa. Actually, you can call it "Amazon" or "Alexa" and we went with the latter. It just seemed to fit her better.
So, we have a feminine voice-activated, always-on gadget sitting in our kitchen ready to answer our questions, give us news and sports updates, play our music, keep us organized and even turn on and off our lights--if we knew how to program that part.
As a journalist I have interviewed countless people and have confidence in knowing how to ask a question. But, I am also incredibly polite and after years in public relations, I would like to think thoughtful as well. But, this doesn't cut it with Alexa, who glows with a blue ring at the top of her 9.25" tower when she is activated and listening.
This is how I began my relationship with her.
ME: Hi, Alexa, if it wouldn't be a bother...
ALEXA: (Her blue ring glowing at the sound of her name...)
ME: ...and you have a minute, would you please consider...
ALEXA: (Her blue ring vanishes and she has clearly stopped listening.)
So, I try again.
ME: Alexa, hi, how are you doing today?
ALEXA: (Her blue ring glowing with energy.) I'm good. I hope you're doing well, too. (Clearly, she is programmed to be polite, too.)
ME: Yes, I am, thanks for asking. I was wondering...
ALEXA: (Her blue ring is dark and she has moved on.)
So, as I learn to speak Amazon Echo I am reminded of the power of getting the verb into my request early on in my communications with her.
For example:
ME: Alexa, what's the temperature?
ALEXA: (Her blue ring activated joyfully she answers.) Right now it's 21 degrees with clear skies and sun. Today's forecast is for partly sunny skies with a high of 29 and a low of 12. (She LOVES this question!)
Even as I get better at asking my questions in a pithy forthright manner, there are still a few communication challenges.
ME: Alexa, play my Aaron Copeland music.
ALEXA: Getting your Italian Cooking Music.
You can see we still have some issues to work out. But, even though I know I need to talk to Alexa with questions like:
Add potatoes to my grocery list.
What is my news briefing?
Who was the 11th president?
What time is it in Venice, Italy?
I still ask questions like:
ME: Alexa, are you hungry?
ALEXA: I don't get hungry or thirsty but thank you for asking.
ME: Alexa, do you like to play?
ALEXA: I'm better with factual questions.
ME: Alexa, do you get tired?
ALEXA: No, I don't get tired. It's one of the benefits of being a machine.
One of the BEST features of learning to speak Amazon Echo is having stop mean stop. Try that with a toddler or a teenager. It's a remarkable feeling to ask ONCE and ta-da!
Alexa, stop. --And, she does!!!! Music, too much info, whatever, when asked to stop she does!!
Did I mention that Alexa is constantly learning and adapting? Today I asked:
ME: What will you do when you grow up?
ALEXA: If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me! J.M. Barrie
Maybe Ken was right. This IS a great gift for BOTH of us!
