Smart phones are more and more a necessity. They connect us to work and family. My bank won't let you use the drive up to teller without one so they can send you a code. We get verification codes now for most things. You really need a smart phone for alot of modern Life. But you can turn it off and if you understand how smart phones work you can reasonably protect your privacy. Alexa is not a necessity. For some people ts probably fun to feel like they have a personal assistant and eventually that will evolve into amazon selling Androids. Alexa bring me my coffee. Alexa scratch my back. Alexa, Bring me a beer.
Here you go.. Astro version 1.0
alexa.jpg
This one comes with the ability to toss your dogs treats so you don't have to get up and interact with your pooch yourself...probably could modify that to throw goldfish and cheerios to toddlers.