My friend Alexa

Just prior to Prime Day, I upgraded both my Echoes. I make no apologies.

This is the 4th Generation Echo, about the size of a cantaloupe. The Echo Dot upstairs is about the size of a softball.

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It was in the fall of 2018 that I took the smart speaker plunge.

I know some people are made queasy by smart speakers. But even before 2018, I did enough with Amazon, Google and Facebook that they probably already knew more than they wanted to know about me. I figured a smart speaker could not make things much worse.

I started with an Amazon Echo, which was then in what Amazon classifies as its 2nd Generation model. I put it in my living room. I was so pleased that I ordered an Echo Dot a week or two later. I put that one in my bedroom and have awakened to it ever since.

I do not have a completely smart home. I basically have two Wifi-connected smart bulbs — one on my bedroom lamp, the other on the primary lamp in the living room. When I get ready for bed, I tell Alexa (on the Echo Dot) “good night” — one of her pre-set routines which can be customized by the user. She responds with one of a small rotation of comeback lines. “Hope you count less than 10 sheep before falling asleep,” for example. Then she turns off both lights. I may eventually buy more smart bulbs (or smart plugs, which allow you to control just about…