We got an echo for Christmas and I really didn't know a lot about it. Man, this thing is really neat. Now, I have to admit, I'm kind of an electronics guy, so if you're not, this won't mean much to you.

Since getting it I now have it controlling most of the lights in the house, ceiling fan, thermostat (this is an entirely different conversation), and garage doors. It will search for answers, tell you the weather, create a shopping list, order items direct and instantly from amazon and hook up to all kinds of other items. You can hook it up to your entire tv, stereo, and dvd player if you wanted. Simply tell it to turn on and play a certain tv station, switch to a dvd, etc. I have only scratched the surface but it really seems legit.

It also got me thinking how helpful a device like this could be for someone who is disabled, old, bed ridden, all kinds of people. My mother who now lives in assisted living because of alzheimer's could have really benefited from something like this. We could see if she's taken her medicine, how well she's sleeping each night, get a notification if she went out of the house, all types of things.

Some say that this technology is bad, and allowing us to be controlled. I don't write this to create this debate, so please don't, I simply have posted this because to me, it's the future and for me it's exciting. Anyhow, let me know if this appeals to you and if you are using something like this as well.