there’s pretty much no point in them right now! they are absolutely a device for the sake of having a device and they’re super cheap and a fun little toy that plays music. but the future applications of these are wide-ranging and massive. the reason they’re so cheap right now is because both google and amazon (and whoever else major is selling these things, i have lost track) want to be the first smart speaker in your home.
once they’re the first, you’re going to (eventually, when it becomes available) buy the stuff that will be compatible with it. maybe lightbulbs, or blinds, or a front door lock. when you have to replace your thermostat or fridge or oven, there might be one available that is linked in w google home or amazon and it might be pretty cheap, even cheaper than the regular appliances. if you have to get a new car and you already have alexa, and the car you’re looking at is a friend of hers, why not just do that? smart stuff is expensive now, but this is a very brief bubble. it’s going to get very, very cheap, just like the regular stuff. over time, you will have accumulated more stuff that is compatible with it. there will be an amazon or google technological ecosystem in your home and in your car and in your phone and it will all be interconnected.
the incredible amount of pieces of data these companies already have about you personally will be multiplied tenfold, and if you bought into their system early, and not their competitors’, they will be the ones who are making money off of you, not someone else. if it’s amazon, they will have already made a stupid amount of money off you because they will know exactly what you want and need and think about and talk about, and they will be the ones to show it to you—at amazing prices!—and deliver it right to your door. or into your home, because you gave them the key a while ago
they haven’t even tried to hide how fucking useless these things are rn, which is what scares me the most, bc it is Such a transparent power grab
gummygunk
kianamaiart
