Monday, April 30, 2018

She-who-shall-not-be-named

In our household, we often refer to our Echo device as "she-who-shall-not-be-named." This isn't because Alexa is evil (although I've had my fair share of arguments with her). It is because she is always listening to us. We've learned not to use her name unless we need to.

As I've mentioned before, my son has learned how to interact with our home device by example: He asks her the weather and asks for alarms (like I do), asks for music (like we all do) and makes announcements throughout the household (like his Daddy does). He has never (thankfully) asked for his own device.

And I am not sure I would give him his own device if he ever did ask for one, even though they've started making devices for children now. I don't think he has a reason for needing one, even though the devices for children do encourage the use of the word "please."

In the meantime, we still explore the ways that our device fits into our home: She tells bad jokes, she defines words and she sometimes randomly interjects into conversations even though no one was talking to her. I know that it is still early days for home devices, and it is hard to think through all the ways they will be used in the future.

For now I can say that we will share one. And we will not say her name aloud unless we need her.

Would you get your child their own personal device? Why or why not? Tell me in the comments.

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