So we are bombarded by these little boxes you yell at in your house, and they do everything. There is Alexa, and I forget the other names. I think Amazon has one and Google, and I don't know who else.
They have things like calling out a TV show. of dimming the lights. Alexa, turn the living room blue. Or Alexa, play wake-up music in Junior's room. Alexa, lock the doors.
I see the things advertised for as little as $49 or $99. So I got to wondering, how much does it cost for that $49 thing to run your life. ANything it controls must have an interface to either wifi, the internet, or some other remote system or LAN. That means my living room has to not only have multicolor lighting, but also an interface to control it. My door locks must have electronic actuators installed and that interface. Same with the garage door. And waking up the kid with loud music? I have to have an XM or Sirius account, plus amplifiers and speakers in his room. Motorized windows? You bet.
How many tens of thousands of dollars worth of electronics and actuators must I invest in so Alexa can check the mailbox for hearing aid ads?
They can order groceries, so I'd have to establish grocery shopping accounts.
Seems like a lot of work and expense to save a little effort.