When I first purchased the Amazon Echo, I had just come off of a very bad relationship with an Ivee Sleek. A connected "Smart" clock that didn't really live up to its billing. It didn't really do much of anything actually. Frustrations with that appliance, Google Now, and Siri had almost completely put me off the voice activated virtual assistant thing. So it was with much hesitation and admittedly a lot of curiosity that I signed up for the wait list, and eventually bought an Amazon Echo.