Amazon is experimenting with renaming Echo speakers to Alexa speakers, and it’s about time
In the decade-plus since Amazon introduced its line of Echo smart speakers, we’ve been using “Alexa” to address them. It’s the default wake word, and soon, as Alexa+, will be the name that marks its most significant AI glow up.
However, the hardware is still officially known as Echo Dot, Echo Show, and so on – but if a new report is any indication that might change, and we could end up calling an Echo Show an Alexa Show.
After a tip-off from a reader, The Verge was able to confirm that sometimes you might see an Echo Show listed as an Alexa Show on Amazon.com, as part of a test the online retail giant is running. I’ve tried without success to get Amazon.com to show me such a result, but I truly hope the name change becomes a real thing.
The reality is, no one thinks about their Amazon smart speakers as ‘Echo’ devices. We call them Alexas because that’s the name they respond to. We’ve never said, “Echo, what’s the weather tomorrow?” Perhaps if Amazon had gone that route back in 2015, we might be arguing that these are truly all Echo devices.
Echo has never been a great name. The Oxford Dictionary defines Echo as:
“A sound or series of sounds caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the listener.”
If all the various Echo devices were simply speakers, this might make some sense. But Echo smart speakers are not simply reflecting our voices and requests; they’re listening, thinking, and they’re responding, and not simply bouncing back what we said.
Also, the combination of names isn’t much better. “Echo Show” is not great. It ends up sounding like the “an echo you can see.” Nothing in it says, “intelligence plus a display.”
Now, let’s try out “Alexa Show”. We already know what Alexa means, and the combo instantly becomes “smarts you can see”.
Just imagine
Even though Amazon is rolling out a much smarter and more generative AI-infused Alexa with Alexa+, I do not see the need to squeeze a ‘+’ into the various product names. However, putting ‘Alexa’ front and center on products is probably a smart way to incentivize more Alexa+ adoption.
It tickles me to imagine the entire Amazon line of the best Alexa speakers, many of which are part of our best smart speakers list, refashioned around the ‘Alexa’ brand ideal:
- Alexa Dot
- Alexa Spot (for more simplification, combine with above)
- Alexa Studio
- Alexa Pop
- Alexa Frames
- Alexa Earbuds
- and so on
I’d even argue that the branding could extend to other Amazon native devices like the Fire Stick line (Alexa Fire Stick) and Fire tablets (Alexa Fire Tablet). Kindles would make sense only if Amazon decides to integrate some basic Alexa features (not likely, though, since most people read their kindles offline).
A dose of reality
As much as I want Amazon to fully adopt the Alexa branding across all these devices, it’s not likely to happen. When I asked Amazon directly about the test they threw a giant bucket of cold water on the idea of a major product category rebranding.
An Amazon spokesperson told me: “I wouldn’t read too much into this. Customers love both Echo and Alexa, and search for our products in a number of different ways – we’re running an experiment to better understand product discovery, but that doesn’t mean anything is going to change.”
As I read that, though, the message is not “it will never change.” Instead, they said, “…that doesn’t mean anything is going to change.”
It’s like when I ask my wife if she thinks we’ll win the lottery and she says, “Almost certainly not,” and I always answer, ‘So, you’re saying there’s a chance…”
Dropping Echo and adopting Alexa everywhere would be a smart move, and I still hope Amazon takes it from experiment to strategic update. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
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