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Re:The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this ... by walterbell on Wednesday December 27, 2017 @10:30AM (#16015279)
What isn't obvious at first look/listen: there is no user-driven exploratory discovery for voice-activated devices. You must memorize the exact command needed for a particular "skill". Some words may be selectable (e.g. Echo vs Alexa). If an elderly person has trouble remembering dozens of voice commands, only a tiny subset of the device's functions can be used.
Re:The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this ... by amclennon on Wednesday December 27, 2017 @11:33AM (#16015742)
> only a tiny subset of the device's functions can be used

If that small subset is sufficiently useful to that particular individual, I don't think it really matters. The average person only uses a small subset of Microsoft Word for example.