Up For Review: Amazon Echo

    The Amazon Echo is a ~10 inch tall smart speaker that quickly becomes and integral part of your home. It comes loaded with a personal assistant named "Alexa" that operates in cloud space. Don't worry. If you have an ex-girlfriend named "Alexa", you may change the Echo's wake word in the settings to either "Amazon", "Computer", or "Echo". This smart speaker can help you with a wide variety of things such as: making to-do lists, streaming music from Amazon, Spotify, or Pandora accounts, letting you know about traffic on your route to work, updating you on weather conditions, and even give you a flash briefing of the news based on your news info profile.
    The way my house is set up Alexa sits on my bar top that divides my kitchen and living room. I use it every day. Whether I want ambient music while I am reading or playing my guitar, or if I am on my way out the door and need to know what today's weather is going to be like for the day. When I'm not using her in my living room, she helps me with cooking in the kitchen. Measurement conversions, adding things to my shopping list so I can run out and get those items I forgot for the party, or setting a timer so I don't have to touch my phone or microwave because my hands are covered in food. The speaker is incredible in the Echo. It will easily fill my living room and kitchen with sound at 1/3 volume. 
    Recently, I decided to get an Echo Dot for my bedroom. Standing at only 1.5" tall, the Dot has a small speaker but really needs to be connected to an external speaker by either Bluetooth or auxiliary cable. For my application, I should've gotten another Echo instead of the Dot. Having an Alexa in my bedroom is wonderful. I use her every day in there as well. Every morning she wakes me at 5:30 with a super loud alarm, and every night she puts me to sleep with music. I just ask her to play music and because she "knows" me she picks something I'll like. Usually, she does a pretty good job. However, I've told her a thousand times I don't like The Lumineers but I get the feeling she is wanting me to start liking them. 
   Like with most good electronics, I forget what life was like before I had Alexa. I'm so glad she will always be there to help me out. She's always listening and always ready. Skynet... online. 

90% - Must have in the home. It's different when you start using it but after a while it becomes second nature!

Please help me by RETWEETING/SHARING THIS!

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