I'll admit that I'm polyamourous when it comes to technology. I always have been as far back as the days of owning an Osbourne CPM based computer and then a MS-DOS based Compaq at the same time. That quickly morphed into a Mac (1984) and PCs and a Radio Shack TRS-100, the world's first real smart device that sold massive numbers.
So when a neighbor asked what was the best way for her to communicate with her grandchildren I was betwixt and between as Google's Gmail and Calendar platform is what more and more people are using for email and scheduling, either paid G Suite or FREE, but the Home Hub doesn't have a camera, and the idea my neigbor had was to be able to see her grandchildren.
After some back and forth on possibilities, I suggested the Amazon Show. Yes we thought about the Facebook Portal, but since the neighbor already has one Amazon Echo in the living room, I suggested moving that to the office and adding a show in the kitchen and one at their granchild's home.
What made the decision was the video, but also the familiarity with Alexa already, and the prospect of being able to watch videos for recipes to cook with, Skype calling already being enabled and the idea that what's already been invested in won't be wasted.
As I think back to Sunday's conversation, it's more and more obvious how Amazon is taking a big page out of Apple's playbook from the iPod era. That was the device that won over so many users of Windows PC's to start to use something that came from Apple. Then came the bump with the iPhone, followed by a dramatic upswing in MacBook sales.
I see Amazon doing the same thing with the Echo just as Google is doing with the Home Mini and the voice assistant. We're seeing two companies use the razor blade strategy to perfection, and Apple too isn't sitting idle. So while they're playing catch up, the two biggest competitors are already duking it out.
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