Bringing Alexa Home: Pros and Cons to Buying a Smart Speaker for Your House
As technology becomes more and more prevalent in our lives, virtual assistants like Alexa and
Google Home will appear in more homes. Before you consider bringing in one of these devices and exposing your children to them, it’s imperative that you understand this technology and make sure it’s necessary to bring them into your home.
Google Home will appear in more homes. Before you consider bringing in one of these devices and exposing your children to them, it’s imperative that you understand this technology and make sure it’s necessary to bring them into your home.
What are virtual assistants?
Virtual assistants are smart speakers that will respond to voice commands that you give it. You can
activate the device by calling it by its name and asking it a question or giving it an instruction. These
devices have been gaining popularity among
activate the device by calling it by its name and asking it a question or giving it an instruction. These
devices have been gaining popularity among
Pros
Keeping Organized
If you’re a busy mom with a family to keep track of, every day can be a challenge to stay organized.
There are a thousand little things to keep track of throughout the day like making sure you stop to pick up eggs from the grocery store, get the car inspected, and make sure you pay the bills on time. For these small things you need to remember, many people rely on their day planners, but it’s much
There are a thousand little things to keep track of throughout the day like making sure you stop to pick up eggs from the grocery store, get the car inspected, and make sure you pay the bills on time. For these small things you need to remember, many people rely on their day planners, but it’s much
easier to get one of these virtual assistants to make a quick note to remind you to complete these
specific tasks.
Saving time
Many phones now have the talk-back feature that allows us to ask the system to give us the
information we need. Things like the local weather, how our favorite team fared at last night’s game,
local listings for businesses, and much more, many of our phones already have this feature. Virtual
assistants take it further and make it even more convenient for us to find out what we need to know,
and we don’t even need to look at a screen.
information we need. Things like the local weather, how our favorite team fared at last night’s game,
local listings for businesses, and much more, many of our phones already have this feature. Virtual
assistants take it further and make it even more convenient for us to find out what we need to know,
and we don’t even need to look at a screen.
Added security
More and more people are opting to sign up for a smart home security system to help add an extra
layer of protection to their homes and family members. These virtual assistants can sync up with
these smart home systems and be armed at your request.
layer of protection to their homes and family members. These virtual assistants can sync up with
these smart home systems and be armed at your request.
Cons
Privacy concerns
When you buy one of these virtual assistants, you should pretty much think of it as another person in
the house. While the machine won’t record what you say unless you call it by its name, when it is
recorded, it uploads these recordings to the cloud. Since the cloud is not hack-proof at this time, this
material has the potential to be compromised.
the house. While the machine won’t record what you say unless you call it by its name, when it is
recorded, it uploads these recordings to the cloud. Since the cloud is not hack-proof at this time, this
material has the potential to be compromised.
Technology will improve
The technology is by no means perfected right now. These speakers, much like the voice recognition on
your phone, will misunderstand your requests at some point. This can be frustrating since you’ve already
spent a lot to get this technology in your house.
your phone, will misunderstand your requests at some point. This can be frustrating since you’ve already
spent a lot to get this technology in your house.
It’s expensive
The initial expense of buying the smart speaker is expensive, and on average you’ll be spending over
$100 just on the speaker itself. After you have the speaker, upgrading other parts of your home to
interact with it is where the real expense lies.
$100 just on the speaker itself. After you have the speaker, upgrading other parts of your home to
interact with it is where the real expense lies.
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