I don’t know anybody who has one to “communicate with Amazon”. They have one to listen to music, make grocery lists, set timers, etc. Who wants to communicate with Amazon?

I’m being downvoted, but the parent comment asked “why would you buy it” and I gave reasons.

I guess people who buy an iPhone do it to communicate with Apple, since people buy apps and Music subscriptions?

> They have one to listen to music, make grocery lists, set timers, etc.

[... through an amazon-provided service]

For the examples I listed, the fact that they’re serviced by Amazon is an implementation detail. People are not buying it to communicate with Amazon, they are buying it to get something done. Many would probably be just as happy “to communicate with Google” instead. The point I’m trying to make is that Amazon is not the motivating factor.

Ok, but they are necessary implementation details... if you want to stream music on a voice controlled device, it is going to have to send your request to the streaming service

It doesn't have to be Amazon, but it has to be someone... and it makes sense the Amazon device communicates with Amazon services

People who purchase music and groceries from Amazon, for one.

Yes, those are valid use cases. I listed alternative use cases for which communication with Amazon is irrelevant. Besides, I would imagine that “purchasing things with voice” is used much less frequently than the functions I listed.