Improving QoL with Gadgets - Echo Show Edition

I love gadgets, I'm Taishi (a middle-aged man with big ambitions)! (👉Self-introduction)

Gadgets are works of art that bring together human ingenuity.
I have written about my favorites so far, such as super ultra-wide monitors, keyboards, charging setups, smartphones (Galaxy Z Fold 5), gadgets and pouches I carry to work, and sous-vide gadgets.

The day before yesterday, I learned that generative AI is planned to be integrated into Alexa, and my dreams were expanding.

This time, I'm talking about the smart speaker Echo Show.

The household penetration rate of such smart speakers was 6.91 million households (13.5%) in 2021, and it is expected to increase further. (Source: ReTech Media)

(Supplementary note) The star of today's show, the Echo Show, is this little guy.

It's convenient because it can do so many things, so I placed them where I wanted them in my house, and now I have 4 of them: in the kitchen, study, children's room, and bedroom.
I actually tried to put one in the washroom (to listen to music in the bath), but my wife pointed out that it might be a waste, so I'm holding back. lol

Things you can do with an Echo Show that are often mentioned

These are the things often mentioned as what you can do with an Echo Show.

Things you can do with an Echo Show that aren't often mentioned but have skyrocketed my QoL ~ Calling out to children instead of parents!!

Although it's not often mentioned, what skyrocketed our QoL with the Echo Show is the Routine feature.

Using this feature, I call out to my children by voice at set times instead of the parents. A usage I want to recommend to parenting generations.

Examples of what our Echo Show calls out every day

If I extract what our Echo Show calls out from morning to night in chronological order.

• 5:00 "Son, it's 5 o'clock. Time to wake up." + play son's favorite song
  ⇒ Wake up my son who sleeps in his room. This is based on my son's request, as he is an early-bird student who wants to wake up at 5:00.

• 6:50 "Son, it's time to stretch your back."
  ⇒ Encourage him to lie on the stretch pole and stretch his back. I'm concerned about his slouching.

• 7:00 "Taishi-san, it's time to weigh yourself. Today is a new record for being cool!"
  ⇒ Encourage myself to step on the scale. Since this is said in front of my family, it's a style of pushing myself so I absolutely cannot slack off. lol

• 7:05 "Taishi-san, Son, are you folding the laundry? Let's stop using the TV's data button."
  ⇒ It's our daily routine to fold our respective laundry before breakfast. This is to deter us from getting too absorbed in the data button games on news programs.

• 7:30 "Son, please check if your mobile phone is charged."
  ⇒ Remind him to charge his kids' phone before going to school. If I don't, he'll leave with it dead, so I make him check every morning. lol

• 7:50 "Son, it's time to go to school." *Weekdays only
  7:50 "Son, it's time to go to the pool." *Saturdays only
  16:05 "Son, it's time to go to cram school." *Specific days only
  ⇒ Prompt action at the necessary times.

• 18:00 "Eldest son, let's draw a bath."
  18:30 "Second son, let's put away the laundry."
  ⇒ Encourage my sons to help out. They find it annoying when a parent says it, but they don't mind when Alexa says it. lol

• 20:50 "Son, did you do your checklist? If not, do it right now."
  ⇒ Prompt him to check if he has completed his daily tasks.

• 21:00 "Taishi-san, Son, let's prepare for school tomorrow right now." *Sun-Thu only
  ⇒ Prepare for school before bed. It's tough to prepare while crying in the morning...

• 21:30 "Son, it's time to sleep. Good night!"
  ⇒ Automatically turn off the lights in the children's room. Prevents him from getting absorbed in manga.

5 things that improved my QoL thanks to the Echo Show

5 things that improved my QoL by having it call out to us from morning till night.

1. No need to worry about the clock!
   Before introducing the Echo Show, I would constantly check the clock, thinking, 'It's time for school,' 'Oh, 3 minutes left, I'm okay,' 'Oh, it's past time, I'm going to keep my friend waiting, hurry!' Even for just one task, I had to check the clock over and over to get the timing right. Now, it can be a simple structure where I just 'Go!' when Alexa speaks to me.

2. No need to call out to them!
   Before introducing the Echo Show, the parent's voice was the trigger for the children to start school, lessons, chores, etc. Now, because Alexa says it at a set time, the task management memory in the parent's brain is freed up.

3. It's okay if parents or children forget!
   What's more, once you set it up, Alexa will never forget, so you can rest easy. However, sometimes when lesson schedules change, it still calls out as usual, which leads to accidents where my son goes to a lesson that no one is at... lol

4. Making it a habit to do the obvious things!
   Since it reminds us every day what to do and when, we've developed the habit of doing obvious things, like folding laundry in the morning, without even needing Alexa to tell us.

5. No more arguments!
   Before introducing the Echo Show, there were many arguments where my son would say "what a pain" when I told him to do something, and I would reply "just do what you're supposed to do!" That has been replaced by an Alexa vs. child structure instead of parent vs. child, and this stress has completely disappeared. lol

Summary

So, the Echo Show can do a lot of things. In our home with two elementary school-aged sons, it is exceptionally effective for QoL by calling out to the children instead of the parents.

I think this is a significant burden in every household.Please consider getting one for your family to help keep the peace!
If you have an Echo Show but aren't using it this way, it's extremely effective for doing set tasks at set times, so please try setting it up!
👉 For how to set up routines, refer to this official website. The key is to set the execution condition to a specific time!

(Reference) Echo Show
I personally use the 5-inch Echo Show 5. If your main use is watching videos, a larger screen might be good too!

To be continued

👉Improving QoL with Gadgets Series