Posted on 09/27/2019 4:18:31 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Amazon AMZN, -0.08% is building a series of new devices where we can wear Alexa in our ears, over our eyes, around our fingers, and keep her (it?) in our pocket. As a result, Alexa can be affordably plugged into every room in our home, accompany us in our vehicle, become our hi-fi sound system, keep order to our daily meal planning and simplify Wi-Fi around the house.
With this expanded offering, we are going to see Alexa adoption grow fast and Amazon’s consumer data grow even faster.
Early in 2019, Amazon touted a vague but inspiring number of 100 million Alexa-powered devices sold. Now not every one of these were made by Amazon, but all the other companies are paying to license its technology. And so now we order those Kleenex, accessories and an endless stream of unnecessariness by just saying the word. Don’t believe me? I have an extra fire pit and about 100 Clif bars I never intend to eat. Thanks, Alexa.
So don’t scoff at the idea of Alexa-powered eyeglasses or a stylish ring (Echo Loop) that you can talk to and that sends a quick jolt to let you know you have new notification.
Suddenly users will have three or four Alexa devices per person, per household, and that 100 million quickly grows to more than a billion devices, all of which track, monitor and offer immediate gratification of our every need. They will order our groceries, book our dinner reservation, play our favorite songs and more.
All this will feed the data machine that enables Amazon to know even more about what we listen to, who we call, where we go to dinner, our favorite travel destinations and, well, pretty much everything.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
I would have handed it right back and told them to raffle it off again... lol
Yep, it’s just that easy. The infrastructure will already be there.
I went out of my way to buy a NON-Smart-TV, Now they have sneaked in through my TV Remote. Since I live in a remote area I don't have much choice: No OTA, no cable, just DTV or DISH. But TV is another issue for another post.
I did "opt-out" (manual search only now) but given what we have heard about all Smart-??? devices from others in the press maybe not. They might be listening. Despite "paying attention" they got in anyway.
Try buying a new car, TV service, doorbell, refrigerator, soon pajamas, what have you, they're turning up everywhere. Even moving back into the forest doesn't keep them out, it seems.
The only “smart” device I have is my old iPhone, and I rarely use it because I dislike it so much. I live in an apartment where the landlord has to replace the appliances, and they only buy “scratch and dent” items, and nothing that is “smart,” which is fine with me. Two weeks ago I got rid of my 15 year old Nissan Altima, and leased a 2019 Sentra. I’m not crazy about it, and I figure if I hate it enough, nobody will want to run into it. My old Altima still had the original exhaust system on it, and decided I really didn’t want to have to pay $2,000 for a new exhaust system and catalytic converter for it, so chose to lease a car since the only thing I need it for is going to the grocery store, doctor appointments, and visiting my kids. My old car had leather interior, power and heated seats, and a 6 disc CD player. I loved my car, and felt guilty trading it in. The new Sentra will play music off my iPhone, but I chose to copy all my CD’s with iTunes, then load them onto a USB stick so I can play them in my car. That’s about all the technology I want to have to deal with at this point in my life.
“I would have handed it right back and told them to raffle it off again”
She didn’t understand the darker implications of it; I quickly filled her in, and away it went.
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