When Amazon launched Alexa in 2014 the company had huge hopes of the new technology. Alexa, as the company claimed, could succeed smartphones as the next crucial user interface for consumers.

Alexa is a voice assistant that was integrated within Amazon's voice activated Echo Smart Speakers, quickly came to be one of the talked about voice assistants in addition to Siri from Apple Siri and Google's Assistant.

Yet, a decade later the issue has been raised concerning the value of voice assistants, such as how often people utilize Alexa to buy products or to purchase subscriptions. On November 1, Amazon announced a series of corporate reductions that targeted the division that manufactures Alexa as well as the Echo speakers.

A Amazon spokesperson referred to remarks the company's executives made to show that Amazon is not abandoning Alexa and will continue to create new features for it.

We chose to inquire of readers to share their experiences using or interact using Alexa and how it integrates into their lives. Around 200 people from both the United States and Europe responded.

The people who relied on Alexa's voice assistant reported they used it mostly for everyday tasks like setting timers or monitoring the weather. Many claimed to have become dependent on Alexa and had a hard time letting it go while away. The majority of them said they did not utilize Alexa to assist with their shopping. Some told us the same way, that they wouldn't ever utilize an Alexa device.

Here's a selection responses from readers' own words, that were reduced and edited for clarity.

A couple who lives together

Susan Jackson lives on Bainbridge Island, Wash. She owns two devices with Alexa capabilities.

I'm 73 and live on my own and utilize Alexa every day to inform my the temperature, switch up the lighting, inform that I am in different countries, so that I can contact people in those countries, and also to cook. Many cooking issues solved with Alexa. She assists me in cutting down recipes, and she patiently informs me how many teaspoons in a teaspoon.

I use it to light some lighting for reading and to decorate my christmas tree. There is nothing worse than crawling underneath your tree to switch off and turn it back on.

If I ever met someone, they should fit in my world. They'd have to be a fan of my home as well as my dogs and my Alexa and my drawings and my family ... Or else they could end up in hell!

An arbiter during debates

David Webster lives in Cornwall, England, with his wife and three children. He told me that they utilize their Alexa devices several times per every day.

There are many things we depend on it for. It would be a complete loss without it.

It's the things like timers. I'm sure that if the oven is running there's at minimum an Alexa timer on. If Janine my wife cooks something, a lot of her recipes come drawn from American cookbooks and she'll have to convert them into the metric system.

I could accomplish it via the phone. But my hands are wet or my wife has the flour on her fingers. We're getting ready to open the oven. I'm afraid to be able to reach for another gadget -conversing with it is so easy.

If we're having a conversation around the dining table when she's on the other side, you can call out "Alexa ..."

Helping a parent who has dementia

Elizabeth is a resident of Minneapolis. She has requested to not allow her last name to be used in order to safeguard your mother's privacy. Elizabeth is not using Alexa in her house, however she owns two devices that have screens at her mother's house. Elizabeth and her sister both utilize the Alexa application on their phones to manage the devices of their mother remotely.

My mother is suffering from dementia and Alexa helps us keep her safe, provide her with companionship, bring her joy by listening to music -- the list goes on. It's not overstating it to say that it helps us keep her from nursing homes.

We mostly use the app to create " Announcements" which are the phrases that we input into the app which it then reads out loud. This feature is used at the moment, and when we have a repeating timer. This Echo device also displays the announcement's text on its screen so that my mom could read it (a huge aid). Some examples are small announcements about the weather, and other things which keep her entertained. The warmth of the voice that is there with her gives her a sense of belonging that the phone cannot.

By using it's " Drop In" feature, and the feature of "drop in" and iPhone cameras, we are able to appear on the Echo devices (using Blink cameras that are also available and we can determine which space she's located in) and then make a call without having to take action on her part. We'll do this when she's let the phone go on the phone or we think it's appropriate or useful for her to talk to us.

We also utilize our " Routines" feature to regulate the lighting in my mother's home. According her doctor maintaining her home illuminated is crucial to reducing her anxiety and avoid naps throughout the daytime. The routines feature can help us keep from having to make calls every time to keep her apprised of the activities.

Alexa is on staff

Maria Kinaman lives in Miami with her husband and two daughters. They own the six Alexa devices.

Alexa seems to be in the company at this point. We use her to play music but also as a timer for the weather, and to play white noise. We have synchronized it with our security system at home and make use of it to secure and set up the door alarm. Never once have I purchased anything from it, however.

I have brought Alexa along on my trips that last more that two full days.

Total immersion

Brendan T. Freeman lives in Burien, Wash., with his two dogs. He controls 60 gadgets by Alexa at his house including fans, lights and heaters.

I rise every morning at 3:30 am to have a cup of tea and to go through The New York Times. I enter the kitchen and repeat the word that wakes me -"shake "shake" -- which will turn on and dim three lights (one located in my kitchen to ensure I can see, another in the living area and one for the bedroom). The coffee is hot, switched on by the Alexa app at 3:20.

When I am on my sleeping position with my laptop and read the news and watching TV, the Alexa app is turned on to play a Pandora gentle jazz station around 4 a.m. If I fall asleep it will serve as my alarm timer.

When I sit down to work at 7 a.m. I glance through my schedule and request Echo to set an alarm 10 minutes prior to any scheduled meetings I'm scheduled to attend. If I have to remember to accomplish during each time of the day (buy the dog's food, or call an appointment with the physician) I'll request Alexa to create a reminder for an exact time.

When I am ready to go to bed I say, "Echo bedtime," and the lights in the condo go out.

Checking on kids

Yiu Wai Chen lives in Brooklyn together with his partner and their two kids age 11 and 7. They have 13 Alexa-enabled devices and nine other smart phones.

We make use of it to switch off and on the lights in our living area as well as to connect (talk via our phones through our Alexa Dot device) in the car and check on our children at times.

We do not plan to purchase anything using it because we like to study our purchases and look at things in person, or at the very least in video or images online prior to making a purchase.

Clever life hacks

Michael Redmond lives in Rehoboth Beach, Del., with his wife. They own seven Alexa devices as well as 3 Google intelligent devices.

We have an Wyze camera, which is trained to monitor the sump pump located in our crawl space. Its feed we present on an Alexa Show. It's difficult to have to physically enter the basement to look at the pump.

We don't make use of this device for shopping on Amazon. It's difficult to find a good price using the device.

We carry an Alexa Dot along when we travel.

A total of four gadgets in one Brooklyn apartment

Kerry Hoffman lives in Brooklyn with her husband and cat. They have four Alexa-enabled gadgets.

My husband installed automatic blinds managed by Alexa. She is not only able to move the blinds open and shut completely, but she is able to change the shades' position both up and down. We'll say, "Alexa, set living room blinds to 3 percent," and she'll then open the blinds so that we can look out the window.

It's too risky.

Aaron Lawless lives in Springfield, Va., with his wife and two kids.

In the midst of huge hacks and data breaches the idea of having a device that is always listening to the internet and sitting in my home is not worth the risk.

My wife and I are both in not having an Alexa My 10-year-old son has suggested that it could be fun to own Alexa. He's heard his friends discuss having Alexa and is impressed by the novelty of it. Mom and me agree that this isn't happening however.

And not even helpful

Heather Keever lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and 15-year-old son.

It's crucial to ensure that Alexa, Echo, etc. devices out of the family. We've returned some "gifted" to us; we do not want them.

My brother's Alexa when we visited him to set a timer for the oven. It worked, however setting the actual timer for the oven performed just as well (maybe simpler).

I'm not ready to compromise my privacy to get things I could easily get rid of.

My fingers function perfectly.

Richard Feury lives in Shelburne Falls, Mass., with his wife.

Do not need one. Do not want one. I wish they would stop.

I'm not as lazy as I'd love a machine that could light the room and lock the doors, or change between Hulu in to Netflix on my behalf. My fingers and legs perform just fine.

I'm not interested in an app such as Alexa being used by companies to find out more about my life, my habits and political views. I am grateful for the privacy I've got, and Alexa can erode that.
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