Amazon Echo and Google Home — both Personal Digital Assistants — could be a great help to seniors. Or maybe not.
The jury is somewhat out on the usefulness of these devices for seniors.
The devices, which can serve as a smart librarian or DJ for your home, still have some limitations for seniors but they do have some useful features:
* Time, date and weather – Ask any time you want and ask how many times you want. Echo's Alexa and Google's Home will answer every time.
* Encyclopedia – Information is big with these devices. Ask about history, famous people, literature, anything and you'll get an answer.
* News – Both devices will read the news, even local news.
* Jokes – They will tell you one (or more) every single day.
* Music – Great for playing music from accounts like spotify.
* Books – Buy books from Audible.com and these devices will read them.
* Buying supplies – You can buy things like paper towels from Amazon with the Echo. Google Home also has some ordering capabilities.
* Coming next: telephone answering with emergency calling.
Some observers are enthusiastic about what these devices can do for seniors, saying they can help replace aging memory.
Still, the devices are simply not no-fuss technology. Close, but not quite. A senior with little technological experience will need help from a caretaker with a smartphone to set up the system. Once set up, the devices can be accessed with voice with fairly good results.
But, buying new books or adding a music account will require a smartphone, computer or a helper.
