‘Alexa, Why Do We Keep Buying You?’

The company had big hopes for the technology when it was first released. The company said that the voice assistant could succeed as a consumer interface.

One of the most popular voice assistants is Amazon.

Questions about the usefulness of voice assistants have arisen over the last decade. Some of the layoffs that took place at Amazon in November were related to the division that makes the voice activated speakers.

An Amazon representative said that the company will continue to develop new features for it and that it is not giving up on the voice activated device.

Readers will be asked how they use and interact with Amazon's virtual assistant. The United States and Europe had nearly 200 responses.

The voice assistant was mostly used for mundane tasks, such as setting timers and checking the weather. Many people said that when they were away, they missed out on a lot of things. Most people said they didn't use Amazon's voice assistant to shop. They told us that they wouldn't use an Amazon device.

The responses have been edited andCondensed for clarity.

Susan Jackson has a home on the island. She has a couple of devices with an Amazon voice assistant.

I don't have anyone else to help me, so I use Amazon's voice assistant to tell me the weather, turn on the lights, and tell me the time in foreign countries. There are a lot of cooking problems solved byAlexa. She helps me cut down recipes, but she doesn't tell me how much is in a spoon.

It's always used for my Christmas tree. It's better to crawl under the tree to turn it off.

He or she would have to fit in with my life. If they loved my house, my dogs, my drawing, my friends, they could go to hell.

David and his family live in Cornwall, England. They use their devices multiple times a day, according to him.

It's used for many things. Without it, we wouldn't be found.

It's similar to timers. I know that if the oven is on, there is a timer on. Many of my wife's recipes are from American books and she will need to convert them to the metric system.

It was possible to do it on the phone. My wife has flour on her hands. The oven is open. It is so convenient to talk to a device.

If we are talking at the dining room table and she is in the next room, shout out "Alexa"

She is from Minneapolis. She didn't want her last name used to protect her mom's privacy. Elizabeth has two devices in her mother's apartment that are connected to the internet. She and her sister use their phones to control their mom's devices.

To keep my mother safe, to give her companion, to make her days brighter with music, the list goes on and on, and so on and so forth. It's true that it helps us keep her out of a nursing home.

We use the app to make announcements, which are phrases we type into the app. This feature is used on a repeat schedule. My mother can read the announcement text on the screen because the announcement text is shown on the screen. She keeps her company by announcements about the weather. A warm voice in the room with her seems to give her a sense of belonging that the phone doesn't.

We can use the app to appear on one of her devices and initiate a call without her having to do anything. If she leaves the phone off, or if we feel it is necessary, we will use this.

The lights in my mother's apartment are controlled with the "routines" feature. Her doctor says keeping her home well lit is important to managing her confusion and avoiding napping. We don't have to remind her of her activities when we use the routines feature.

Maria lives in Miami with her family. They have more than one device.

She feels like she is on staff at the moment. She is used for music, but also as a timer for the weather, to play white noise, and we use it to lock and set the alarm for our doors. I have never purchased it off it.

On vacations that are longer than two days, I have takenAlexa with me

There is a man in Burien with two dogs. He has a lot of devices in his home that are controlled by Amazon's voice assistant.

I read The New York Times when I wake up. I walk into the kitchen and say the wake word, "shake", which turns on and dims three fixture, one in the kitchen, one in the living room and one in the bedroom The coffee is being made by the coffee house.

While I lay in my bed with my laptop I can hear a jazz station on the radio. I use the music as my alarm clock if I get too sleepy.

When I first get to my office at 7 a.m., I look at my calendar to see when I'm going to have a meeting. If I need to remember to buy dog food, call the doctor, or something else during the day, I'll ask Amazon to remind me.

All the lights in the condo go off when I go to sleep.

Yiu Wai Chan and his family live in Brooklyn. They own a number of devices that are connected to the internet.

It's used to turn on and off our living room lights, and to drop in to check on our kids when we're not at home.

We don't plan on shopping with it as we like to research our purchases and see items in person or online before buying.

A man named Michael Redmond lives in Delaware with his spouse. They have a number of smart devices, including a few from Amazon and a few from Google.

The feed from the Wyze camera in the crawl space is displayed on the show. It's difficult to check the pump in the basement.

It isn't used to shop on Amazon. The device is hard to use to compare prices.

When we travel, we bring an Amazon device with us.

Her husband and cat live in Brooklyn. They have a number of devices that can be used with the voice assistant.

Automatic blinds are set up by my husband. She can adjust the shades up and down as well. She will open the shades if we tell her to set the blinds to 3 percent.

Lawless and his family live in Springfield, Va.

I don't think it's worth the risk to have an always-listening device in my house in this day and age.

My 10-year-old has mentioned that it might be fun to have a voice assistant, even though my wife and I don't want one. He listens to his friends talk about having a smart phone. We both agree that it isn't happening.

Heather Keever has a husband and son.

Keeping devices out of our family is very important. We don't want them, we returned them.

When we were at my brother's house, I tried to set an oven timer. Setting the timer on the oven worked just as well.

I don't want to give up my privacy for things I don't need.

Richard and his wife live in Shelburne Falls.

Don't ask for one. Don't even think about it. I wish they would leave.

I don't want a machine to turn on the lights or lock the doors for me. My legs and fingers are in good shape.

I don't want a device to be used by corporations to learn more about me.