If you subscribe to Amazon Prime, you already know that for $99 a year, you get free two-day shipping on orders from the company's massive catalogue of products, which range from lawn mowers (bought one today) to electronic devices, such as the new, second-generation $50 Echo Dot (ditto).
If Amazon had a paper catalogue, you'd need a forklift to bring it in from the mailbox.
Prime subscribers also know about all the free movies and TV shows included in the service. (Some new releases cost extra.) Indeed, if you don't already have Prime, you're missing out.
But it's the new Echo Dot that I'm specifically gushing over today. Like its big sister, the $180 Amazon Echo, the Dot features a humble, voice-activated expert named Alexa.
Ask her what the weather in Los Angeles will be like next Tuesday, and in an instant, she'll tell you it'll be a balmy 76 degrees and sunny.
The devices hook up to your wireless network and, if you have the right smart home hardware, will control your dining room lights. And, using Amazon's music streaming service ($8 a month for Prime members), Alexa will find virtually any song you want to hear, even if you don't know who sings it. Just hum a few lyrics and watch Alexa work.
The hockey puck-sized, second-generation Dot does everything the bigger, heavier Echo can do, and its microphone is more sensitive. Plus, it costs $40 less than the first-gen Dot.
One downside is that its sound isn't great. But you can solve that by connecting the device to external speakers through Bluetooth or a cable.
Since space is tight in my home office, I connect that room's Dot to a portable JBL Flip speaker. Folks who hook up the Dot to even better sound systems will get even better audio quality.
If you have numerous Echo devices, you can play different music in different rooms. And if you order six Dots, you get a seventh free. For a family with varying music tastes and alarm clock settings, making use of seven Dots wouldn't be a stretch.
As with the bigger Echo, you can use the Dot to arrange Uber rides, order pizza, and, of course, order products from Amazon. "Alexa, order an Echo Dot," for example.
All the devices respond without you needing to repeat yourself. Summon Alexa from across the room, and she's at your service.
Unlike the portable, Alexa-enabled Amazon Tap, which requires a tap on the microphone button, the Dot isn't portable; it's tethered to a power outlet.
For all the positives of these devices, privacy remains a concern. In a troubleshooting call to Amazon, I learned that the company knows which home control devices I have and when they're programmed to work. They also know my musical tastes and can tell me the last commands I used.
That said, that hasn't stopped me from ordering Echo devices big and small.
Like all Amazon-branded gadgets, the Dot is packaged beautifully and efficiently. Setup, done via a smartphone app, couldn't be simpler. And, unlike some gadgets from other manufacturers, the Dot worked right out of the box.
