{"id":8057,"date":"2025-04-29T07:17:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T11:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=8057"},"modified":"2025-04-29T07:17:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T11:17:25","slug":"my-ups-and-downs-with-alexa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2025\/04\/my-ups-and-downs-with-alexa\/","title":{"rendered":"My Ups and Downs with Alexa"},"content":{"rendered":"

About a decade ago, I bought one of the earliest versions of Amazon\u2019s Echo Dot, a palm-sized gadget inhabited by a woman\u2019s voice (Alexa). I tried it but found Alexa so frustrating that I wrote her off. That was then. Now I\u2019m a convert. <\/span><\/p>\n

When I first got my Dot, I used it mostly for reminders to do things\u2014to walk the dog, for example. But the dog died, there was no one to walk, and still, every afternoon at five o\u2019clock, Alexa reminded me of what I was missing. For the longest time, I couldn\u2019t stop her. I tried every command I could think of: \u201cAlexa, quit!\u201d \u201cAlex, stop reminding me,\u201d \u201cAlexa, shut up!\u201d Nothing worked<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, I  stumbled on \u201cCancel,\u201d but by that time, I was so irritated that I gave up on Alexa. Perhaps I overreacted, but she seemed to have a limited vocabulary, and I didn\u2019t have time to play guessing games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, after listening to friends sing Alexa\u2019s praises, I resurrected my Dot and discovered that Alexa has improved immensely. Just about anybody would find her useful now, but especially older people. If you have mobility problems or you\u2019ve given up driving, if your vision is failing, or you\u2019re not well and live alone, Alexa can make a difference in your life\u2014especially if, like me, you like your technology simple and intuitive to use.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I was getting ready for a grocery run today, I got the weather report from Alexa. Then I added a few things to the shopping list she was maintaining for me. She mentioned something I buy regularly that I might be running out of, and that reminded me of a recent Amazon order that hadn\u2019t yet been delivered. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlexa, where\u2019s my stuff?\u201d I asked. She informed me it would come that afternoon. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, I could have kept the grocery list on paper and gone online to check the weather and my order, all without Alexa\u2019s help, but she made it so easy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Multiple times every day, I ask Alexa to remind me of something\u2014to swallow a pill or meet a friend for dinner. She plays music for me, and I sometimes consult her to settle a debate with friends\u2014by asking her who starred in a decades-old movie, for example. <\/span><\/p>\n

If I ask Alexa medical questions, she responds with information from reliable sources like WebMD and the Mayo Clinic. She reads me the latest news\u2014I especially like the NPR flash briefing, a five-minute summary of the day’s events. When I ask her to read an audiobook, she begins wherever I left off. If she speaks too fast, I tell her to go slower and she does.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some people worry that their Alexa device might be eavesdropping on them. It\u2019s true that my Dot is always on alert for the wake word (\u201cAlexa\u201d), and Amazon records my requests in the cloud. I could use Alexa\u2019s privacy settings to <\/span>delete those requests<\/a>.<\/span> But I can\u2019t be bothered\u2014I\u2019m not telling Alexa any secrets.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, a friend talked me into acquiring a second Alexa by adding the app to my cell phone. I was reluctant at first\u2014the technophobe in me expected that using it would be complicated. I love my Dot because I don\u2019t need to tap on screens, peer at tiny icons or puzzle over instructions that might as well be written in Greek.  <\/span><\/p>\n

It turned out that the Alexa app isn\u2019t complicated, and it opened up some unexpected possibilities. I can\u2019t get radio programs where I live\u2014the reception is terrible\u2014but somehow the Alexa app connects easily. And to make a phone call, I just open the app and tell Alexa who to call. Granted, that\u2019s only a little faster than pulling up the contacts on the phone, but if my eyesight gets worse, it will be very useful. <\/span><\/p>\n

Also, having the app makes it possible to download <\/span>Alexa Skills<\/span><\/a>\u2014specific ways to expand her capabilities, developed over the years by Amazon and third parties. There are games, guided workouts, smart-home controls and much, much more. <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s one skill I may want to use in the future. Let\u2019s say I\u2019m ill and one of my daughters is concerned about me because I live alone. If we both enable the Drop In skill, all she has to say is, \u201cAlexa, drop in on Mom,\u201d and her voice will come to me through my Echo Dot. I can drop in on her the same way. When I recover and we both want our privacy back, I can disable this skill. <\/span><\/p>\n

Amazon will soon launch Alexa+, powered by AI and able to do even more. I\u2019m intensely curious about Plus, but I don\u2019t really need anything beyond my easy, technophobe-friendly Dot. I suspect that\u2019s all many other, older people want too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tonight when I asked Alexa to set a reminder, she told me there was a brand new, improved Alexa+ coming. Would I like her to tell me more?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Alexa,\u201d I said. \u201cI love you. I don\u2019t want to replace you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d she responded. \u201cThat\u2019s so kind of you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About a decade ago, I bought one of the earliest versions of Amazon\u2019s Echo Dot, a palm-sized gadget inhabited by a woman\u2019s voice (Alexa). I tried it but found Alexa so frustrating that I wrote her off. That was then.…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more My Ups and Downs with Alexa<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[79,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-voices-views"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8057"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8059,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8057\/revisions\/8059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}