Amazon's new Alexa update means it can bring you beer in two hours
"Alexa, we're going to need more booze"
The Amazon Echo is an impressive, if inessential gadget.
Some cool things it can do: tell you the football scores in real-time; fire out inspirational quotes as you’re leaving the house; warn you about how terrible the weather is going to before you incorrectly decide to debut those brand new white trainers; reel off some impressively bad jokes; tell you the first rule of Fight Club.
All instant life improvers, but the robot butler is arguably still lacking a killer app.
Until now.
A recent update to its functionality means that, as of now, Alexa is compatible with Prime Now, Amazon’s rapid two-hour delivery service. That means that Prime subscribers who own an Echo device can order ‘tens of thousands of daily essentials’ to their front door just by barking in its general direction.
There are conditions, obviously. The service doesn’t operate all day and you can’t do all of your online shopping with it – just everyday consumer items. But get a load of this, reader: Amazon counts booze and crisps as essentials, so all you need to do is say “I want a beer” and Alexa will oblige. The future is now.
The other issue is that the service is only available in the US right now, though we’d be surprised if it doesn’t make it over here soon.
This is just the latest development in what seems like tech’s ongoing mission to make our lives hit peak laziness. Want to try that new IPA? Ask your speaker to bring you one. Need to pick up some toilet roll? Your drone has been dispatched. By 2117, the hoverboard-riding cyborgs will only have to think about something they want before the transaction is complete. Let’s just go with it.
