During
the holiday season at the end of 2019, Google and Amazon introduced a multitude of promotions in partnership with Spotify, Tile, Frozen II, and others where
you could receive a free smart speaker. Many people have jumped at these
opportunities, including 4 of my 5 roommates, but I couldn’t help but wonder
why top tech companies were so desperately giving away these pieces of
technology for free. If there’s one thing I’ve learned growing up in this age
of information technology, it’s that nothing that is free is really free.
So,
what are these companies gaining from this? After some research, it became
clear that there is a lot that’s up for grabs. More than anything else, these
companies want our data: our search queries, what items we purchase, our music
preferences, etc. Now, why are we so willing to give up this information
despite the large importance of privacy in society today? According to Duke University
behavioral economist Dan Ariely, “If somebody does something for you, you
really feel a rather surprisingly strong obligation to do something back for
them.” In other words, receiving a smart speaker for free causes us to feel
obligated to use it and share our data.
 |
| Smart speaker penetration rate in the United State from 2014 to 2025 |
Data collection aside, I also discovered that around 35 percent of households in the United States had at least one smart speaker by the end of 2019. The first smart speaker was released in late 2014. This piece
of technology’s quick and steady rise in popularity over the last 5 years begs
the question: Would James Moor consider smart speakers to be a subrevolution within the computer revolution like mobile phones and the world wide web? This
technology has progressed from the IBM Shoebox that was able to recognize 16
words and digits in 1961 to a collection of smart speakers across the top tech
companies that are projected to reach 75 percent of US homes by 2025. Smart
speakers have not reached the power stage yet as they don’t have a large enough
reach or significant social impact, but I think it’s safe to say that they will
reach the power stage of a technical revolution in the near future.
I’ve recently bought an Amazon Alexa device and haven’t realized the extent to which it gathers data until recently. I would log onto Amazon or social media and products that I recently would have talked about are suddenly advertised to me. I can only assume that our phones do the same thing, as I’ve seen multiple YouTube videos putting the theory to test. I guess the following question ultimately must be, are we ever truly disconnected from the infosphere? By voluntarily introducing smart devices like you said, it seems almost impossible. I like that you also mention that it’s not at its power stage either, which could only mean it’d become even more difficult for us to be disconnected, if we so choose. Great article, really eye opening!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job of taking a recent current event - the rise in promotions of smart speakers - and tying into the course material. I found your point from Dan Airly particularly interesting. You use Airly to argue that people are motivated to give smart speakers data out of obligation after receiving them for free. It's interesting to me because I had never thought of smart speakers in that way before. I always considered the data we give up to Amazon Alexas and Google Homes and part of a convenience trade off. We're willing to give up data on what we buy and what we do on a daily basis because the device is convenient. However, I think the benefits that companies get from our data vastly outweighs the slight conveniences of the device. I'm curious to know how the idea of a convenience trade-off factors into your Airly arguement if at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic, I've often wondered why these companies are so willing to give their smart speakers away for free! The image is catching too, it helps me quickly know what the topic of this post is and it is visually appealing.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that could be improved is your use of the term 'power stage.' From the context you used it, it is not clear whether that term comes from a reading or if it is a pop culture reference. Adding a definition would be helpful to round out your argument.