Yep, those are scary too. But with phones I can instantly connect to anyone on the planet and make photos and write up stuff I would otherwise forget and browse the largest human knowledge bases on the planet.

For this I have to give in a lot of my privacy and hope that I can trust the device/software manufacturers - meanwhile prevent what I can.

What does google home or amazon echo brings to my life that is so ground breaking that I need another data-gathering device? I may come off as ignorant because I probably am. But I'll reconsider if somebody seriously can tell me how vastly these devices improved their life.

Just like cellphones, it adds convenience to one's life. I can ask it to play an album or my favorite news while cooking or driving without having to stop what I'm doing to deal with a small graphical interface.

The killer feature for me is being able to add stuff to our family grocery list. It's so much better than opening an app, swiping around and typing on a tiny keyboard.

Once you get used to doing things via voice it's hard to go back.