Have one. I didn't find it to be as intuitive as the hype. Kind of a pain to get it to do the things I might want it to do with an online interface. And it does listen to you and sync. ads with your other devices and Amazon's Web site. Pft. Enough is enough when it comes to advertising. On the plus side, radio reception is really lousy where I live and I can stream great public radio programs using it. There's not a person monitoring you, (I'm sure you all know that) but what would happen to Penny based on her conversation is she would get ads for dog training books and web sites and devices on your phone when using various apps with ads, Thanksgiving dessert ideas and products, and high end bedding. Computers are already monitoring everything you type and sharing that info. with each other. Hard to say how skillful or ethical the real person is who is responsible for all this data collection. That's the issue of our times, it can be easily used for nefarious reasons. Like you might get political ads suggesting a certain candidate doesn't believe in celebrating Thanksgiving, or kills puppies or some other such nonsense.

@pinkmountain, Here's an example of what kinds of things a listening advertising device can do. Today, I was having a casual conversation with some friends in the dining room where my now unplugged and vacant echo device is. I mentioned the irony and my disgust at how much pornography is on the Internet when compared to other great information which is also there. I remarked that I didn't understand where people got the time to mess around with all that, relating an experience I had with a class where the teacher was trying to demonstrate the value of the (at the time) new feature of video streaming, and most of what he was finding while casually nosing around, was pornographic. Later when talking more about the dumbing down of our culture, I remarked how awful I thought the movie "Book Club" was and how ridiculous I thought the plot premise was, that such accomplished mature professional woman would be interested in that book, and then went on to talk about how silly I thought S&M was in general, giving a scathing opinion of my reaction to renting the movie, "The Secretary." Now, with the algorithms world we live in, had my device been on, at some later point, I would have seen ads for porn and S&M "accoutrements" showing up somewhere in my feed. In fact, it will probably happen now that I have posted this on this board. I'm trying to see that quality input gets to my brain, and I really dislike the burden of having to work so hard to filter out the garbage. This is all a bit backwards to me. You admit that the internet contains a wealth of information - you do realize that each and every time you search for anything online or do any sort of activity on the internet it's stored, don't you? (I'm assuming you do, based on you later mentioning that it'll probably show up somewhere due to your posting here.) So you realize the magnitude of the wealth of information on the internet and you obviously use it so you're okay with all of your information being out there/data being collected but you unplugged your Echo because you don't like the idea of it collecting your data the same way the internet does? I will say that I find it quite ironic that you're so worried about a device listening to conversations you're having - the same conversations that you just shared with a bunch of strangers on the internet, in detail. I'm trying to see that quality input gets to my brain, and I really dislike the burden of having to work so hard to filter out the garbage. You also realize this garbage you speak of is garbage you created, don't you? You're the one having these conversations, which is telling the device that these are topics you're interested in, so it suggests things based on that. If you weren't interested in this "garbage", you wouldn't be having in-depth conversations or such strong opinions about them, and then later sharing it all with strangers on the internet. You mention algorithms so you evidently know how the internet and advertising works. In translation, this should mean that you understand that it's collecting data that you're providing in order to provide a more customized experience for you. If you stop being interested in and having conversations about this so-called "garbage", then you won't have work so hard to filter it out. It's a pretty simple concept. But let's not beat around the bush here. This statement should actually read "I only want to see information that 100% agrees with my opinion and I dislike having to filter out anything that doesn't." I just can't get over the irony of someone who is so paranoid about a device listening to them and "spying on them" posting such negative and judgmental viewpoints to a bunch of strangers, who may also have opinions unlike a device. And these topics are so first worldesque and the tone of superiority just staggers me. For what it's worth, I think narrow-mindedness, lack of perspective, and a focused & cynical concern with what everyone else is doing with their lives when it has no interference with yours does a far better job of demonstrating the dumbing down of our culture than any of the things you mentioned. The internet contains so much great information, you ought to utilize it to get some perspective.

My brother has a Sonos which runs off his phone and the sound is amazing. While they were here on Good Friday we were discussing it, and I found a Sonos One for sale on an online group. It has a built-in Alexa. I bought it and tried to hook it up using my computer. Apparently this was able to do, until just a couple of months ago. Now the company only do setup using a phone. I tried downloading the app and it won't install. I put it up for sale and a buyer is coming later today. This is becoming more frustrating than it's worth just to listen to music. Obviously I need to upgrade my phone, which I still might do, as long as I get the Google Home or Mini at a great price to offset the cost of the phone.

I have my Alexa unplugged until I want to listen to music. I found her to be annoying otherwise. Maybe if she were a he with an Aussie or Kiwi accent I’d change my mind. Friends I visit frequently have their coffeemaker plugged into a smart plug and a Dot in their BR that they use to turn the coffeemaker on. Annoying when I wake up before them. I hesitate to command Alexa in their kitchen to turn on the plug in case she gets confused, as mine seems to.