Newbie with show and echo

[Fuzzy950]

I received the show and echo for Christmas.   Being new to this technology I’m trying to understand why I need this.    I like new gadgets but this doesn’t make sense to me yet.   Any words of advice before I return them.  If this is posted in wrong area I’m sorry

[Laurel]

We have had the Echo since first introduced, and when I bought it my husband was skeptical about why I bought it. Now he loves it and uses it for everything. He loves being able to ask for almost any music his heart desires, he sets his calendar appointments on it for his phone, we phone free to anywhere in North American using the wifi component.  We now have two Echo Show devices which I would say, we use primarily for the intercom feature and displaying lyrics, displaying photos on a rotating basis, pulling up recipes for the kitchen.  I also have a Tap which I use in the garden in the summer.  We find Alexa devices to be improving monthly with data put into them and increased features.  We love them. When neighbours come over, they are inevitably impressed. 

[scottrods]

First things first... set one up and play with it for a week... at least a week. Go online and just google (using your computer web browser) things that Alexa can do, or things to ask Alexa... you may find it does plenty of cool things that make it worthwhile. I'm not one who uses mine to do music at all, but I see how others have really enjoyed the music playing and availability... I use mine for Controlling the Entertainment center components... Lights all over the house (of course with added other smart home components such as a Logitech Harmony hub and a Hue Bridge). I ask for timers for all kinds of stuff, from cooking to timing a sprinkler (manual sprinkler) outside, to timing the kids when it's time to share and trade toys for the next round of fun... Grandkids are fun. All the things the Grand Kids ask Alexa are pretty much things that even google has a herd time with, and Siri doesn't like most of their silly questions either, until they ask how ling an EON is or something of that nature. They get some good stuff at times, but often ask questions about non popular people like "how old is My Teacher?" and things like that... no one at Amazon knows these things as they don't even know who's asking it. But... I still recommend taking a test drive before discarding the Devices. They are really cool for home automation if you care to spend a few dollars lighting upthe house with Alexa controlled switches or bulbs or even outlets. Fairly inexpensive on some levels, and as costly as you want to make it as well... either buy the Mercedes kind of products or the Kia level... your choice. All of them work to some extent. None do everything in one package. but most of all... have fun with it.

[jwlv]

I received the show and echo for Christmas.   Being new to this technology I’m trying to understand why I need this.    I like new gadgets but this doesn’t make sense to me yet.   Any words of advice before I return them.  If this is posted in wrong area I’m sorry

A lot of people did not think they need a certain technological device until they began to use it and eventually relied on it. Now they can't live without it. I'm pretty sure that many people in this forum would admit to asking Alexa something while in their car and Alexa isn't there!   Some examples off the top of my head include:
1. GPS. Many people were fine with using paper maps or no maps at all. Nearly everyone depend on a GPS now.
2. Tivo (or other DVR). It changed the way many people watched TV.
3. Smartphone. The vast majority of people now use smartphones. For a while, many people swore by their flip phones and didn't see a need for a smartphone. Some older folks still abide by their flip phones, probably because of the tactile buttons and also they can't see the small print on smartphone screens.
4. iPod/MP3 player and digital music. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated and your music will be added to the collective. Vinyl, tapes, CDs are nearly things in history e-books.
5. Echo / Google Home. If you were to take people's Echo or Google Home devices away, you'll probably see them calling out into the darkness "Alexa?... Alexa??? Where are you?" 

BTW, I was invited to buy an Echo before its official release back in November 2014. I received it a few weeks later and played around with it. At that time, I was not impressed. I also had another invitation which I declined after realizing that the Echo wasn't that great. The AI and the ability to answer questions were very lacking. I already had several Wemo devices and I was expecting Echo to be able to control them by voice. But having several dialogues with the Amazon Echo people, they would not confirm or deny that Wemo support is coming. Amazon still does that with new features. They will not say anything until it is actually done and released. It wasn't till more than 6 months later that Wemo support became available. So for about 6 months I really didn't use the Echo much at all except for some simple things like "how do you spell xxxx, what time is it, what's the weather, how many teaspoons are in a xxxx, etc." Now I use my Echoes many times each day. I have so many Echo devices that I lost count.