Amazon’s Echo looks promising. I’ve been a huge proponent of a ubiqutous, always-listening, ambient presence personal assistant experiences. There are many articles on the web speculating on the reasons Amazon is doing this.* Whether it’s about making it easier to order things from Amazon, to collect speech data, to take over home automation, etc. it doesn’t change the fact that this effort is all about helping users achieve things using speech as the primary mode of interaction. The operating system and applications become second citizens in this world. Information and services are consumed through speech with the personal assistant being the enabler. I love it! I wish Amazon all the best.
* Some of the articles out there
- Amazon Echo Is A $199 Connected Speaker Packing An Always-On Siri-Style Assistant
- Let’s Call The Amazon Echo What It Is
- Amazon just surprised everyone with a crazy speaker that talks to you
- Here’s why people would buy Amazon’s Echo, the weird device that listens to everything you say
- Exclusive: Amazon tests smart home gadgets, expands hardware lab