Vocal Assistance

Have you fallen for this ‘home assistant’? Have you wired your house so you can walk around like Captain Kirk and just ask the computer to turn on your lights?

If you phone wasn’t smart enough and your GPS wasn’t smart enough; now there is a speaker that can answer any question and do any task with a mere word. Does this make hectic lives easier or just pure laziness?

These seem the latest ‘must have’ technology to conquer our personal lives. No one remembers the warning of unsecured Wi-Fi or remember whatever pings out can come back in. We put chinks in our firewalls to get easy access.

Are these ‘smart speakers’ or ‘vocal assistants’ our Trojan horse?

Are these ‘assistants’ necessary? Do you have one at work? Do you have one in your car? Do you take it on vacation? Do you kids have one?

What other ‘assistants’ can you call out? Your refrigerator? Your shower? Your music? Your children? Are they listening?

The remote control was bad enough, even when it was the size of a brick. Then every electronic came with another remote control and they all look alike. Making the selection, losing the connection, banging the plastic number pad, changing the batteries or ultimately throwing it against the wall in frustration. If that doesn’t work, your dog will take on away from the stack and hide it.

These ‘smart assistants’ are just Santa’s elves. They know when you are sleeping. They know when you’re awake. They know when you’ve been bad or good and also know your contacts, bank account, serial number and pant size. They are listening.

My wife laughed at my joke.

My children laughed at my joke.

My father laughed at my joke.

Alexa laughed at my joke.