Seri, Google Home, And Amazon Alexa Echo

I'm sure you're familiar with Seri: the voice assistant that comes on many devices, such as iPhones and iPads. You probably also know about Google Home and Amazon Alexa Echo by now too: the systems you can set up in your home to have them control things like your lights, the speakers on your music system, etc. If you haven't heard of them, look it up; there's plenty of information out there on them if you just do a simple online search.

I have Seri on my iPhone, and Alexa on my Kindle, because my iPhone came with Seri on it, and Alexa came with an update several months back. I don't use them as much as I potentially could, but I've spent a reasonable amount of time "playing" with them both. I also had some fun trying out my Mam's Google Home system, and saw Dad's Alexa setup in action, while I was in Wales at the start of January.

I'm not going to go in to details on a comparison, becauseI don't see the point. Quite frankly, the main difference I can see is that Seri isn't as advanced as the other two, so can't perform as many functions. Other than that, they all seem the same to me. Maybe I'm missing something? I don't know. But from what I can tell, they all do basically the same things, but Google Home and Alexa take us a step closer to the houses controlled by technology that were invisioned for mankind's future, and often appear in science fiction stories. Plenty of others seem to have gone in to more detail on comparisons though, so you'll find those posts in your online search - assuming you're interested enough to do one.

My Dad swears by his Alexa though, and proudly tells everyone about it whenever he can. I'm not complaining, and don't blame him really: it is a cool system. But I mention it because of something that happened during my visit to Wales.

At dinner on the Saturday, having already told us adults about it, my Dad decided to go and tell Bird, Pip, and Dolly. Those are the children of my cousin, Shane, and his wife, Donna. No. Those aren't their real names. Those are the names they get called most though, and I'm not 100% certain how to spell Bird and Dolly's real names, so I'm sticking with those names.

Anyway, my Dad explained to them how having Alexa is, "Like having a little person to do things for you around the house."

Now, for Bird, who's about ten years old if I'm remembering correctly, this was an easy concept to grasp. I think Pip, who recently turned seven, got it too (though since he said very little, I'm not entirely certain of his thoughts). However, Dolly, who's about four, misunderstood.

The three children ran over to tell Donna - who was sat next to me - all about Alexa, and how wonderful she sounds. Adding that they get to play with her the following day, since my Dad had promised them they could do so.

A conversation followed where Bird repeated my Dad's words on the capabilities of Alexa, while Dolly just kept repeating that they'd get to play with her next day, and it became increasingly obvious that - while Dolly had grasped that Alexa wasn't a person in the same sense that we all were - the little girl was expecting a person of some sort to be waiting to play with her at my Dad's place next day. When questioned about what she thought Alexa looked like, she even kept insisting Alexa was, "Like a little person, but round."

In an attempt to make it clear that Alexa was actually a machine, Donna started explaining some of the things my Dad had said she could do. Finishing with, "She can turn the lights on too, Dolly."

To which Dolly replied, in a voice of utter amazement, "Can she reach?"

Once Donna and I could stop laughing long enough, Donna pulled out her phone and went online to find a picture of what the Amazon Alexa Echo really looks like, and showed it to Dolly.

Dolly was very disappointed to find it's just a square box, and not like a little person at all.

After that she lost interest in talking about Alexa. Some of her enthusiasm returned when she was putting Alexa through her paces with Bird and Pip at my Dad's place the following morning though.