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I bought my firstAmazon Echosmart speaker a decade ago, not long afterAmazonunveiled it in late 2014.
But what if that ends tomorrow?
My OG Echo
It’s been more than a year sinceAmazon teased this transformation.
In the interim, the company saw some changes at the top.
Founder and former CEO Bezos stepped away in 2021.
This original Echo still works like a charm.
Since 2015, Amazon has delivered well over a dozen different Echo devices.
Some are simple, smart speaker tubes or orbs, while others have screens.
I’m not implying the Alexa service has been stagnant.
The build was made to last.
Soon after launch, Amazon added the ability to shop on Amazon through the platform.
It’s gotten more conversational and able to carry on brief conversations.
It’s possible that some vintage of Echos could be rendered useless by this impending Alexa update.
My decade-old Echo still has the answers.
Without Alexa to drive operations, my Echo would become an inert plastic tube.
The iconic “Alexa is listening” blue ring at the top might turn a permanent, disconnected orange.
Just look at the specs of the original Echo.
It has anARMCortex A8 processor, 4GB of storage, and just 256MB of RAM.
None of that is enough processing power or memory to handle local machine learning or generative operations.
And trust me, the next Alexa will not be a minor intelligence upgrade.
It’s potentially a brain transplant where Alexa’s new generative AI capabilities are powered by Antrhopioc’sClaude.
But that’s not a given.
First of all, most people work with generative AI differently than they do digital assistants.
They share details you might not want in the cloud.
I hope I’m wrong.
