Month: July 2017

July

What happened to June? Seems like I closed my eyes for a few minutes (cat nap) and June was gone! It didn’t seem any busier than usual: just quicker. Now, I’m a week into July and thinking the summer’s nearly half over … wait, no! There’s still half of summer left! THAT’S much better perspective!

So, how are YOU spending your summer? We retired folks spend it like we do the rest of the year:: doing whatever we want, whenever we want. Ah, retirement! Just keep busy so your muscles do contract and make moving around challenging. My WWW.Boomer.Life site is up and running. That’s my consulting venue. It’s a static site with information about me, the work I do, and how to contact me. Wait! Above I indicated that I am retired. True. However, one method I use to stay alert is to provide computer/digital device training and service. Nice to have a skill set that’s in demand!

I just posted a new product review: Amazon’s Echo Show. You can find it under the Product Review menu. Take a read and save a few dollars!

More later.

Take care of yourself and anyone special!!

Amazon Echo Show

I’ve had “Alexa” from day ONE. As an Amazon Prime member, I was offered, and accepted, pre-order of the original Echo. Never looked back! It’s was love at first conversation, request, question … and now, again using my Prime account, I pre-ordered Echo Show. My experiences with it begin in the next paragraph.

Overall: I find no compelling reason to own it. There. That’s said.

It IS Alexa with a screen. OK, so what! I have other devices with screens. I have other devices that are akin to Alexa (Google Home, Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana, and soon, Samsung Bixby). They all perform the same with varying degrees of success.

What makes “Show” better or worth more than Echo? Nada. (IMHO).

Yes, it can make phone calls. I believe the original Echo can now do that, too. It can make video calls (hello, Skype! GoToMeeting, oovoo, webex, FaceTime … just to name a few). So, what makes Echo Show better. Again, I say: nothing makes it better than the original Echo. THAT is a cool device!

I’m not knocking the platform. I believe Echo has dominated the market. It has “skills” providing myriad capabilities with new ones being introduced daily. I frequently use it as a timer or to play music while I cook. Recently, I learned that it can control my Visio TV. Now THAT’S pretty neat! (Guess you can tell by my vocabulary I’m not a millennial).

So, I’m suggesting that, if you already own an Echo, don’t spend your money on the version with the screen. There’s nothing there that you can’t do with any of your other digital devices that have screens!

I’ll play with it a little longer and post an update. And, I’ll keep an open mind about it. As of today, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone just yet.

More to follow.