I Spent The Last Week with Alexa...and my wife was OK with it

UPDATE: You can now purchase the Amazon Echo with no wait list here: http://amzn.to/1Nr5tLU

NOTE: I freely interchange the terms "Echo" and "Alexa" in this article to describe the device - I mean the same thing either time. 
Let me just be up front about my excitement for the Amazon Echo before I even get started.  From the moment it was announced I was already interested. That excitement grew to a fever pitch when I finally saw the video (to the right).  I quickly signed up for an invitation to purchase. I was ecstatic when I got the email that I had been selected to be an early buyer. The real trick (I thought) might be convincing my wife that we "needed" it. Upon showing her the video it was apparent that I needed to buy it right away. I took this as subtle hint when she said "OMG YOU NEED TO BUY IT NOW".

Can I lay my head on your shoulder @AmazonHelp ?

Being an Amazon Prime member for many years now it is safe to say that I am a fan of the company. I have had nothing but good experience with the general use of purchasing, the other devices such as Kindle Fire, and especially the customer service. Having said that, I wanted to try and go into this review subjectively and not give away any "free passes" on this product. In an effort to contain my excitement I patiently waited and even had Amazon officially consoling me in the meantime.

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I decided to break out my review into some categories so I can speak to the specifics of each area I thought noteworthy:

• Music Streaming

At this point, I would say the Amazon Echo is the most useful as a music streaming device. This is even more the case if you already have your music on the Amazon Cloud (as I do).  One of my side business ventures is as a live music DJ and therefore I have quite a large and prolific library of songs. This has been extremely helpful as we are able to tell "Alexa" (which is the keyword to turn the device on) to play almost anything we want to hear. (Finally my meticulous naming and organizing of digital content has paid off!)  Your own library is supplemented by other services that include the Amazon Prime Stations and iHeartRadio (of which you need to have an account). We have managed to find a list of songs that it was not able to play from any of the sources, but adding them is easy (and you can even have the Echo make the purchase for you via your Amazon account).  

• Sound Quality

Some of the early reviews I had seen mentioned the sound quality breaking up when listening at higher volumes. I am not sure if they had units with issues or if I just got lucky, but I have not seen this at all.  We have played music at very loud volume and even tested different styles (rock, soft, metal, rap, etc.) and they all sounded great. If nothing else, this device is a decent mid-to-high range quality speaker. Building on this is your ability to sync another device with it via Bluetooth and stream other content directly. Nice!

• Voice Control

The Echo uses an array of 7 microphones "under the hood" that are very good at picking most things up. (Be sure and view the main site for detailed info on the technology they use). We put Alexa on the bar that separates our living room, dinning room, and kitchen.  From this point it is usable in any of the rooms mentioned as well as our bedroom (which is just off of the kitchen). The only time it has trouble hearing is if audio is currently playing at a higher volume.  It seems that you have to be pretty close to it in order for it to hear it's name and turn on. Amazon compensated for this by providing a remote that has a button to make it "listen".  The same applies if there are lots of people around talking at the same time. This can sometimes be annoying but albeit understandable.  I am not sure if Amazon can increase the sensitivity of the microphones or provide improvements on this but most of the time it is not an issue. Other than the volume issue, the only time I have noticed it does not hear well is if the person speaking does not speak forcefully and with adequate volume.  You do not need to yell at it to be heard but when my young daughters (between 4 and 7) try sometimes to give it commands, it simply does not hear them. Maybe that has something to do with the octave of their voice and the clear pronunciation. It does well, probably 90%+ of the time, hearing what you say and actually getting it right.

• Personal Assistance (Timers, Quick Facts, To Do and Shopping Lists)

So far, this category of features has been the most "handy" - especially for my wife. We are now already in the habit of using these on a daily basis. By quickly saying "Alexa set a timer for XX minutes", you can time cooking, putting the dogs out to use the bathroom, or even timeouts for your kids (I am so mean!). Additionally, we have utilized the quick facts to have Alexa spell words, give Wikipedia defintions, basic math problems, history synopsis, and even my kids favorite "Alexa, how many days are left until Christmas?" Beyond that my wife LOVES being able to say "Alexa, add ITEM to my shopping list". She has the corresponding app on her phone that she is then able to just pull up at the grocery store and get the items.  For those people who randomly think of things they need and then forget to write them down...this should have you at hello. Lastly in this category, I have found myself using the To Do List (which works the same as the shopping) and also getting news reports and streaming NPR as I work. 

Where it could go from here?

• Control Your "Smart Home"

From what I have read (and want to believe), Amazon is positioning this device to be the first entry into a line of devices to provide a "smart home" environment. It would be pretty awesome to be able to use voice commands to Alexa and have it set the thermostat, run your Roomba type vacuums, dim your lights, or a whole host of other connected devices. Very soon I could see them interfacing with your DVR to record shows (or more likely the "Fire TV Stick" or "Fire TV").

• General Internet Searches

Right now any questions you ask are limited to whatever Amazon has allowed the Echo to have in it's "brain" and anything that is currently on Wikipedia. Turning on general internet searches would be pretty cool although there might be some competition thing with not wanting it to use Google or something like that. (That is just my guess and opinion I do not know that in any official format).

• Current Info

Building on the internet searches, even breaking out specific searches for sports scores, movie listings, or stocks would be a very valuable add-on that I personally would use regularly. 

• Further Customization 

Having the ability to eventually customize the voice style (male/female/robot/or whatever) would be pretty neat. Also being able to change the keyword (I just want to be able to say "Jarvis") would be nice. Maybe having the device be able to "recognize" people's voices and have different preferences for each voice (or being able to turn off functions for recognized voices - I am looking at you my kids).
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The greatest thing about the device is that it has the potential to constantly update itself (scary for some) and any of these potential improvements or changes can happen seamlessly and without any effort on the user's part. Amazon definitely has made something that has the potential to become a central part of people's lives. Take this from me as my wife has already informed me she loves Alexa more than me. Strangely, I am OK with that.

Watch below for the video I made just minutes after we hooked it up for the first time: