Amazon Alexa: Brands must be careful before rushing in

Amazon Echo and the intelligent assistant, Alexa, are the most interesting development in digital communications today. Unlike previously-hyped hardware such as Google Glass, Echo made a surprisingly quick entry to the market and has seen strong sales. The chart below from Business Insider shows estimated worldwide unit sales of 2.4m in 2015 and more than double that in 2016. What makes Alexa so interesting to me is not just the confluence of science fiction and reality, but the uncertainty about just how far this technology will be admitted into our lives. Most coverage of Alexa and most anecdotal user feedback (from my friends who have splashed out) suggests that the Echo is used for relatively limited functionality - chiefly, productivity and entertainment.