Tell me why an echo dot would be a fab present of elderly parents

[GingerPigz]

Inspired by a fabulous thread about Christmas gifts for older parents, please tell me what an older person could use an echo dot for? We don't have one (DH doesn't trust them and you can't miss what you've never had) so I really have no idea what they do... My dad is okay(ish) with tech, mum not so much (she has a smart phone and fit bit but both are merely decorative).

My mum is blind as a bat without her glasses and loves the radio so means she can put it on in bed without having to try and find her glasses. Loves it

She is nearly 80

My parents use theirs for the radio. No more faffing around with the dial, just ‘play classic fm/ radio ulster/ whatever’. I’m not sure they use it for much else but they wouldn’t be without it now.

If they will pay a monthly subscription for prime or music unlimited they can access loads of music and podcasts and also listen to the radio.

It can answer questions about the news, traffic, weather etc, general questions/facts, set alarms and timers, keep a shopping list. There's all sorts.

My grandparents (mid 80s and 90s!) love theirs - they can listen to music and we set up medication reminders when one was in hospital. We’ve also linked it to their mobile so they can call us in an emergency by saying ‘Alexa call xyz’

My Dad listens to the radio, asks for the time and date, the weather, who sang X measurement conversions, the weather and does drop in. Oh and the weather.

my parents enjoy it for the ease of the radio, setting timers for cooking and baking.

actually recently upgraded them to the echo show which they like for watching old music videos, using as displaying loads of photos and making video calls much more clearly than trying to get them to both fit on a smartphone screen.

Radio
Timers for cooking
Reminders (to take tablets, put bins out, take library books back etc)
Shopping lists
Controlling lights etc
I have my iron connected to a smart plug so I can always make sure it's off

Thank you... And does she just verbally ask it to play Radio X out loud? I guess you would need one in each room - or do you carry it from room to room? (I am suitably ashamed about my ignorance!) Can you ask it questions like you do Siri?

And it's also worth mentioning there are only a few basic buttons as it's mainly voice controlled so there's no need to learn how to use it after the initial set up.

You can literally just say

Alexa, play talk sport.
Alexa set a 40 minute timer.

Etc

I recall the biggest issue was my father remembering to say ‘Alexa’. He kept talking at it without saying the name, then he kept calling it Alexandra. But we got there in the end.

Just factor in how much they’re going to have in hidden costs!

DS uses his for listening to audiobooks (with an Audible subscription - about £7 a month).

and music (with an Amazon Music subscription - about £10 a month)

He also uses it to set alarms and reminders and find out the weather, do sums and spellings and tell him facts (free!)

They're not portable as need to be on the mains. I have one in every room, but one on its own works too.

Yes - just say "Alexa, play radio 2" or whatever.

If you do have more than one, you can use them as an intercom - saves shouting up and down the stairs!

Oh wow! (A whole load of new answers came in while I was writing my last post!) thanks everyone... sounds pretty awesome!

Listening to the radio

Setting cooking timers

Weather forecast

Playing music

You can change the name so it doesn’t have to be Alexa

You can get a battery base so you can move it from room to room rather than buying multiple devices. The base is about £30 from memory.

Just had a look online... so many to choose from, any recommendations???

I have the basic ones (wait for Black Friday they usually drop in price) and I have an echo show in the kitchen (again wait for Black Friday)

We've never paid extra for Amazon music and there's plenty you can listen to for free, as well as radio stations.

We have 2 dots in our house and then an echo show in the kitchen. Our ring doorbell connects through it so we can see who's at the door on the show. We also control our nest heating and smart lights on it. In the kitchen I use it for timers when cooking, Skype, random cooking questions! DC uses theirs as an alarm everyday.

The small ones have an ok speaker but if they will listen to a lot of classical music a bigger speaker would be better.

also I forgot audiobooks and asking if X celebrity is dead, and the weather ofc.

Ours had the dot bug upgraded to the Show as you can video call them (it has a camera built in!)

My mum has two, one in the living room, one in her bedroom.

She has advanced vascular dementia and Alexa is great for reminding her to go to the loo, to get washed and dressed, take her pills, etc. I can operate it from my phone, so I can send announcements to her.

At bedtime, I ask Alexa to play a bit of music for her.

It's brilliant. Just got the round flat ones.

We are an Alexa household! We have an echo dot in the lounge downstairs, an echo flex in our bedroom and then my DH has an echo show in his office on the top floor. The echo flex is linked to a little Bluetooth speaker so if I want to listen to music in another room I carry it with me. However then I can hear the music but obviously Alexa can’t hear me until I go back into the room where she is. This may be harder to grasp.

Oh, and the time/day. My mum asks Alexa fairly frequently what day it is. This is the original reason I got one!!! She was driving me potty.