>>> The Amazon messages -- even the hints and news items -- feel intrusive, like advertising.
Exactly. You did not know that all the Alexa devices are sold below cost so Amazon can get them in as many homes as they can so they can sell the owner something else each and every day?
I am not being cynical; it's the truth as related by many marketing experts when the Echos first arrived. Now that Amazon has a visual screen they can display products on, it will get even wilder.
You just brought an online "saleman" into your home; enjoy the constant sales pitches.