Alexa is her name. Otherwise known as the Amazon Echo.
Have you heard of Echo (Alexa)? She is Amazon's answer to Apple's handmaiden, Siri. Alexa is a small, cylindrical speaker that lives in our kitchen and is our "personal assistant". Here is a clip of what Alexa is all about:
We immediately started trying her out. Alexa was inundated from requests from our kids. "Alexa, what is the weather?", "Alexa, how much is 2+2?", "Alexa, do you speak Japanese?" were the first questions she received. We found other ways for Alexa to help us by adding to our shopping list, "Alexa, add ice cream to the shopping list" and adding timers for dinner. What a helper!
Then, Alexa became our DJ, which totally changed my relationship with Alexa. I finally welcomed Alexa into our home with open arms when she became musical. We had dance parties in the kitchen. I preferred Duran Duran and other 80's hits, while my son and daughter requested "YMCA" and Pitbull's "Pause". I was able to play classical music during dinner time and school our children on the intellectual benefits of listing to Bach. Yep, it was all pretty perfect. Until I started thinking, Is Alexa good for us?
The dark side of Alexa....
I may be reading too much into it, but Alexa may be bad for society and feminism in particular. I have noticed our household becoming a cacophony of directives as we barrage Alexa with orders. It got me thinking, "Why does Alexa have to be female?" Like Siri, Alexa has a smooth, yet competent voice. It is pleasing and well-controlled. However, it can be irritating because you almost feel that Alexa is saying "your wish is my command", "anything you need, I can do for you". That's fine, but what kind of precedent is this setting for the wife/mother in this house? Is a woman subservient to her family? Worse yet, am I being replaced?
Mothers and wives are used to taking care of details for families. I am lucky that my husband does a great job and is a true partner in managing our household. Now, I don't mind one bit that Alexa is shouldering the burden, but the barking of orders to a female voice has me a bit concerned. I think we have lost some decorum in this household when I hear "Alexa, do this", "Alexa, play this". This week, I even mentioned the fact that we're losing our manners concerning our request because of Alexa. Now, my husband and kids actually thank Alexa for her assistance. Our son even said "I love you, Alexa" the other day. Awww. Appreciation for Alexa and women in general!
I am planning on writing Amazon as I feel that Alexa could very easily have a male voice and be just as effective. My vote would be for the Echo to sound like Colin Firth. I could totally be down with that. "Colin, what time is it?"...answer "12:00 noon, Elizabeth, and you look smashing today". Yeah, that would be MY kind of Echo.
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