re: Who ended up with an Amazon Echo

Decided to keep mine, it's pretty nice. I hope I can integrate it more outside the app eventually, but for $90 after the $10, I am happy. Sounds pretty good for music too.

I have had mine since Thanksgiving. With the Echo, Amazon has taken an Apple approach. It doesn't do a lot of things yet, but the things it does do, it does them well. It would be nice if Amazon would open it up so others could integrate with it, so maybe you could just say "Alexa, turn the living room lamps on" instead of looking for a remote/tablet/phone, but hopefully they will allow it one day.

I have set mine up in the dining/kitchen area. It is really nice when cooking to just be able to say, "Alexa, set timer for XXXX minutes" without having to stop whatever I am doing, possibly wash my hands and fiddle with the timer. Another thing I like is the shopping list. It has been really useful when digging thru the cabinets/pantry, realizing you are out of/low on an item and just say "Alexa, add XXXX to the shopping list." Unfortunately, Amazon hasn't made anyway to rearrange/export a shopping list to a better app that will arrange items in an efficient manner, but I try to go to the grocery store before I have to buy a buggy full so this isn't too big a problem, for me anyway. It also makes a surprisingly good music player, as I have been really impressed with the sound.

All that said, I really think it is certainly worth $100. My cousin has bought me another with his Prime account and I plan on giving that one to my mother. I took mine over to her house during Thanksgiving and she really like the radio and reminder features.