Category: Technology

Hey Alexa-Sing Me A Song!

alexa
The Amazon Echo Spot greets us daily.

The house we built two years ago has its share of electronic doodads. It has Wi-Fi linked sound bars and electronic lighting schemes. I can check on the garage door status from anywhere in the world (the farthest from home I have used this feature is a football field length down the street,)  and we have finally figured out how to use the electronic code on our back door. But one thing we have never had is an electronic digital assistant.

Yes, I talk to Google on my phone (I prefer her to Siri) but we have never had one of those stand-alone devices. I never saw the need. But this year the prize (for which I no longer feel guilty) for my fundraising prowess (thanks to all of you) with SEABlue was an Amazon Echo Spot. It is a little gizmo, the reviled baby of Amazon’s Echo Series. In fact, the negative reviews I read compared both its appearance and usefulness to an old-fashioned alarm clock. Wrong!

We have had little Alexa (that’s the name of the voice inside her) for a week now. We set her in the kitchen window box above the sink, hooked her up to our always balky home Wi-Fi and let her rip.

We have kept it simple so far. “Hey Alexa, play some U2.” Out comes “One,” a favorite of mine, with all the lyrics showing up on the Spot’s face.

“Hey Alexa, play Sweet Caroline.” Out comes a very odd rendition of Neil Diamond’s classic.

“Hey Alexa, play a lullaby to our grandson.”  Out comes Brahm’s “Lullaby” followed by “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

“Hey Alexa, play Shawn Mullin’s Lullabye.” Out comes “Sorry, you will have to subscribe to our costly music service for that song.” OK, so Alexa isn’t perfect.

Need a quick answer to a question? The more specific the query, the better the response. When I asked what movie the line “Leave the gun, take the cannoli” is from  the answer “The Godfather” wass instantaneous. But ask for a recipe for Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes and 53 suggestions pop up, also instantaneously. It’s a little too much information.

Since we have had a busy week,  I haven’t had a chance to delve into Alexa’s other capabilities. I’m sure that with more time and effort I will have her feeding the dog, taking out the garbage, and making the bed. Hey Alexa, you can do all that, can’t you?

What have been YOUR experiences with digital assistants?  Share them! And for all my trivia friends out there, yes, I DID actually know the source of that movie quote, I was testing Alexa.

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The Election is Over. Now Thinking Outside the Box for Amazon HQ2

election-and-amazon-2
Maps of congressional districts (left) and Amazon HQ2 choices (right.)

Amazon must be seeing blue.

One election is over. It’s the big one, with decisions on federal, state, and local elections. There will be a change in our next Congress with the Democrats winning the majority in the House of Representatives. But what I see when I look at an electoral map is lots of blue on the coasts, but a big red middle. Oh sure, there are some Democrats away from the Atlantic and the Pacific, but it is mostly in urban areas, our own metropolitan Chicago for example.

But one more election, or more properly, a selection, is coming. Amazon will soon choose HQ2,  the second headquarters of one of the biggest success stories of the last 20 years. The pins in the green map above are areas that have met Amazon’s list of requirements, from available big buildings to abundant labor to transportation to quality of life. These are the 20 locations still in the running for the billion dollar Amazon lottery prize.

Put one map on top of the other and what do you see? With the exception of Toronto (and do we really think the headquarters will be in Canada?) all of Amazon’s choices are rolling in the blue. That’s where the facilities, labor, and culture that Amazon wants for its headquarters seem to be located.

But what if Amazon had taken a different approach? What if Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had said “We want to be pioneers. We want to find a city, a region, a state that needs us more than we need them. We can bring jobs, help create infrastructure, attract top-notch engineers. We can provide a stronger tax base that will lead to better schools and improved healthcare. We might not have a symphony overnight, but we can learn of, and support, the local culture. We can be the new frontier.”

And what if Amazon were only the first? What if all those new unicorns looked beyond Silicon Valley and Wall Street and brought their economic might to all areas of the country? They could stop making “liberal elite” dirty words to half the population.

Oh, I know it is a terrible short-term business proposition. Sthareholders would hate it. They would want to replace the Board of Directors, cast out the CEO. The Dow Jones would feel the ripple.

But wouldn’t it be nice if the world were a little more purple?

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