re: I just got an echo dot... What can I do with it?

Dots, Echos and Taps are just finely tuned microphones and varying degrees of quality speakers. The internals almost literally don't matter. They listen and then use back end, internet connected machine learning/AI to become more and more adept and giving you what you want when you ask for it.

In that sense, there isn't much of a concern to continue to refine the hardware. It listens, interprets and then hopefully responds with what you want. The secret sauce is the back end stuff that has nothing to do with the hardware per se.

I can control my video monitoring/alarm system, turn my speakers on and off, play music, set timers and soon we'll control the temps in the house and the lights using the skills they keep adding.

Plus you can voice order without pressing a button. I'm an Amazon Dash user and now I don't even have to tap the Dash button. I just say, "Alexa, order All detergent," or, "Alexa, order Charmin toilet paper," and it's just like the Dash.