It was a last minute 'joke' Christmas gift. The dot bundled with two smart bulbs for 35$. Thought DH would hate it. He loves it!. We love it. I can set multiple timers with my hands full.

The deck off the kitchen I hit with the leaf blower every 45. Took less than a minute and deck is clear this morning. No shoveling. DH used the battery Dewalt on the cars and driveway. His chore took 3 minutes. No shoveling. Mild storm, 6-7 inches but would be way heavy to shovel this morning.

I took a poll at work before Thanksgiving ..."you have Alexa?"....50/50. Millennials yes for the most part. One adorable 25 yr old, named Alexa. had a major break-up fight with her X. She threw it out the window during the fight, lol.

(you can change the name to 'computer' but cannot give it your own name like I would prefer). We call it 'girlfriend' when talking about it. We would like to give it our own name like 'Joe' or even 'girlfriend'.

We call it Pamela in discussions so it won't wake up. :)

I've got to remember the timer thing. I mostly use it for shopping lists, but as time wears on it gets worse and worse at getting the words right. It's a first generation, and when it was new I think it used speech to text. Now I think it's using predictive algorithms and trying to find the items in inventory even if I'm just trying to make a list. Sigh. I also remember when searches on Amazon were perfect.. Now they show you what they want to sell you rather than what you want to buy. Ugh. Becoming useless. I have enough timers, but the labelling is a great trick for Alexa. Gotta remember that.

Your pre-clearing of the snow sounds brilliant! Utterly foreign, but brilliant.

Well, I'm not getting Alexa or Amanda or Alissa or whoever until this one is available in my area!

https://www.cnet.com/news/snl-saturday-night-live-parody-ad-amazon-echo-for-old-people-senior-citizens/

Annie

ROTFL! Annie, that's brilliant. I got the first gen one to see if it would be good for my parents. My father wouldn't have it. We plugged it back in so my mother could ask it the time. I've tried to get her to ask it the weather, to play music, etc., but mostly it's a clock. :)

I want one of these

https://youtu.be/DxxAwDHgQhE

ROTFLOL!!!

Hilarious. Its a rabbit not a sheep.

The SNL is my all time favorite spoof. uh-huh.

DH forgets to use the 'wake up' then asks louder, lol.

Another game changer is the light downstairs...the switch is all the way down across the room by the entry. Once the light is out you can't see to go back up.

I use her for a timer most often, especially when doing the laundry. I really can't think of other things to do with her......she's part of my Sonos internet radio speaker. I do ask her to play radio stations from Milwaukee, etc!

Fawnridge, as our computers as proven by this fellow, when he was just talking out loud about dog toys.

Nope, not had an add for 'snow blowers' yet. lol. Sure, we all need to seriously block. I used nick-names in many early on searches/shopping so I can scold and delete. Elder retired paranoia is understandable.

I laughed recently when there was a news segment on tv on the crazy things people asked Alexa. Every time the guy on tv would say Alexa, and the question, mine would wake up and answer! It was too funny.

Too funny! Mine is right next to the TV. It has learned pretty well to differentiate speech from TV and will wake, flash a blue ring, and go back to sleep. :)

We love our Alexa and refer to her as The Entity so as not to disturb her accidentally when she's resting. We use her for timers, the weather, recipes, shopping lists and reminders. We listen to music or have her read a book to me while I'm sewing or gardening or doing housework. We ask her what time athletic events will occur and on what channel we can watch it. How is the stock market doing? Where can we see a particular movie and when?

It's awesome not to have to type in the question or look it up in the newspaper. Lazy? Nope. Multi-tasking. How old is Tom Brady and where did he go to school? How tall is Mr Etna? How much does a great white shark weigh? Define a split infinitive and give me an example. How much does Tide cost at pick n save? Target? How many calories in an avocado?

She's brilliant and honest and doesn't mind a bit saying, "Hmmm. I don't know that." : -)

My BIL told his phone to call Mi Pueblo. The phone answered "OK Pueblo!) !