Today we’ll try and pick up where we left off with Game Changers:  The Things We Didn’t Know We Needed.  These are the things we’ve purchased that have changed the way we do our every day and are indefinitely intertwined into said every day.

In our first chapter, we sang praises to our wonderful, Janice.  She’s our iRobot Roomba and most days she is the hardest working family member.  She doesn’t talk back or have to be told to do her chores—-which means I don’t have to talk to the walls and waste my breath.  If you missed the first chapter, that’s OK, you can find it here. 

Alexa.

Aidan, our 16-year old, asked for an Amazon Alexa for Christmas last year.  At the time, they came in two sizes:  Alexa, is bigger and has a fancier speaker, and Echo Dot, who is smaller, not as loud, but does the same thing.  Since we already have a few Sonos speakers throughout the house, Aidan didn’t need the decibel value of the Alexa, he just needed (wanted) the technology.  

In case you’re just waking from 2-year coma, or were living in a cave cut-off from the internet-of-things and decided my blog would be the first thing you would do with your newly found access to the world wide web (btw, thank you), Alexa is a digital assistant.  Besides the technology (which we’ll get to) Alexa is a speaker and has a built-in microphone that can hear you from across the room.  She’s sort of like Siri from Apple but different and better.

Since Aidan got his Alexa, we’ve purchased two more, one for our bedroom and one for the kitchen.  She’s awesome and has forever changed the way we function around the house.   To interact with her you basically wake her up by saying her name first.  We've also connected Alexa to a few of our smart devices around the house, like our lights.

Here are some of the ways we interact with Alexa:

• Alexa, what’s the weather going to be like today?
• Alexa, when's the next full moon?
• Alexa, tell me the news.
• Alexa, start a timer for 7 minutes (when the timer goes off, our lights blink along with her timer noise)
• Alexa, how many cups are in a quart?
• Alexa, bark like a dog.
• Alexa, how many days until Christmas?
• Alexa, play some Christmas music.
• Alexa, drop in on Aidan’s room.  —-which opens the speaker in Aidan's room and it's like a walkie talkie intercom system.  Which means I don't have to yell through the house, "DINNER!!"  
• Alexa, play the La, La Land Soundtrack.
• Alexa, turn on the kitchen lights.
• Alexa, put the table lamp at 30%.
• Alexa, goodnight. --- (she turns all the lights off on the main floor and sets two of our lights at 30%.)
• Alexa add printer paper to my shopping list.
• We’ve used her twice for an Amazon Now delivery.

You do have to take the time to read instructions, research her skills, and set her up to link with your smart devices on your home network via an app on your phone.  Trust me, it's pretty easy.  It is helpful that we get nifty, weekly emails highlighting Alexa’s new skills or popular skills.  Setting up a new skill is as simple as saying, “Alexa, enable <name the skill>.”  She does have her limitations.  When she doesn’t know something she’ll say, “Hmmm, I don’t know that.”  So, she’s not Google.  Which brings me to Google’s version of a digital assistant, Google Home Assistant.  I have a feeling we’ll be gifting one of these to someone at Christmas.  But I also have a feeling Alexa is still much more useful and advanced than Google’s Home, but I’ll let you know how it compares…stay tuned.

Regardless of which digital assistant is invited to stay and live in the Woodward household, I do know that it’s really changed the way we do everyday things (and it’s fun) and when you live with Derek, it can even be hilarious.  I won't tell you the list of things he adds to my shopping list, but this SNL skit can probably give you a good idea.  

What’s your favorite or most useful Alexa skill?