S and his GF have one, and I love the way it can be used as a kitchen timer. Especially because it will tell you how much time is left.
Pedestrian, I know. 
This thread has made me realize how great it could be to have one…
@gatormama - we had Prime also. The unlimited music on Alexa is a different thing.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201549700
You can hook up Spotify Premium to Alexa too.
@Consolation - that may be pedestrian, but setting timers is one of my most frequenty used functions. I also use it when dying my hair at home – it’s really nice to be able to set timers by voice when one’s hands are otherwise occupied. I also no longer have a bedroom clock because Alexa is always happy to tell me the time when I ask.
@OHMomof2 - I know about unlimited, but for those who may not know:
Amazon has two tiers of music. One is like Spotify, but without ads, and it is free with Prime. Amazon Music Unlimited is ~$10 a month, like Spotify Premium. My kids have been happy with the version that doesn’t cost extra. (Both versions work fine with Alexa)
@Gatormama for some reason my parent’s tap started telling them they needed to upgrade. Not sure why…?
Upgrade their music?
Or the Tap itself? Because i know there are software/firmware upgrades happening (we took ours out of the box Christmas morning and it had to upgrade itself before we could do anything)
Maybe they’ve been listening to too much Barry Manilow!
Their music. It said the free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited had ended every time they tried to play music by saying “Alexa play Mozart” or whatever.
I got it to work by linking Pandora but now I have to say “Pandora” and the station/artist/genre.
Does your play Prime Music without any additional command?
Yep, @OHMomof2, no additional commands … You might have to go into their account via computer and activate plain ol’ Amazon Music (not Unlimited)… sounds like they never had that version actually set up.
I’ll try that, thanks @Gatormama !
omg omg omg. I’m DYING.
Hubby and I were sparring, humorously, about stuff, and he ordered Alexa to play me one of his crappy country songs (we have huge differences in our musical tastes) - and I immediately countermanded him, saying “Alexa, no,” and told my husband: “It’s my day off - I don’t want to hear any of your s— music.”
The song stopped and there was a brief pause and then Alexa said:
“would you like to hear ‘any of your s— music’?”
So this thread got me looking into the Echo again and with the price drop I went a head and picked one up last Friday. I was actually surprised by the sound quality for music and what you can do. I like the weather updates and I also have it linked to Life360 so I can ask where my kids are and get an update. I found the games to be fun, played a few trivia games over the weekend. I don’t have any of the extra smart home devices but I might look into some light bulbs for a few of the rooms to give that a try next.
I have to admit, now having one I do like it better than asking Siri.
If I were buying my own, I think I’d get a Google Home. I use an Android phone, Chrome browser, etc. Alexa often tells me she doesn’t understand my question.
After watching the video of the Italian Grandmother trying to use her Google Home, not sure I’m compatible with it being Italian myself. “Hey GooGoo, Okay GooGoo”.
H bought us an echo dot for Christmas. I just set it up tonight but have only tried the weather, jokes, and music so far. It seems interesting and the tips from others are very helpful.
I think there needs to be a portable Alexa for our phones. I am spoiled. I was driving yesterday, trying to get a phone number for a place I never call, and I asked Siri for the number. Got nowhere. She couldn’t understand me at all. I had to pull over and type in the place. First-world probs.
Glad I saw this thread - I received 2 dots in the mail today i* who said some compatible plugs are also on the way! Not sure why they thought I need 2, but maybe I’ll figure it out once I figure out how the first one works. :>
Two is nice simply because you can have them in different rooms – so unless you have a really small house or apartment, once you get the hang of things you’ll probably be happy you have two. I’ve had a first generation Echo (tall) for a couple of years, but bought a Dot last month when they were on sale … I’m listen to my local public radio streaming on it right now as I post.
We got one for Christmas as well…immediately saw how useful it would be for my 91 year old mother, so I bought one for her. She’s legally blind, so having something like that to be able to ask the time and weather etc is really helpful. She is already finding the alarm and timer useful to wake her from her naps (normal alarm clocks are too difficult for her to set). I’m hoping to get her to use it to create as shopping list as she thinks of items. I do her shopping for her, and it’s such a chore for her to try writing (and reading!) a list. Also set her up with music so she can just ask Alexa to play some and connected a google calendar that I will put her doctor’s appointments on and she can ask Alexa about.
For us, I am already loving the OurGroceries skill. (We’ve used the app for a long time, now using it with Alexa is great!). And we’ve had some fun with playing Jeopardy and Head’s Up. We are always looking up random stuff on our phones (“who starred in…”, “what year did…”) so now we don’t even have to have our phones handy to ask these questions.
I purchased Tiles for my mother (she’s always misplacing her keys) and for us. I think that will come in handy as well.
I will be checking on this thread for more ideas.
You’re a thoughtful daughter, @ClaremontMom.