Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I resisted buying any personal assistant until now. I don't have a 'connected home' and my entertainment system is on Google Player / Chromecast so it won't integrate with the Echo. So why 5 stars if I don't have even a few of the peripheral devices? It costs $49.99 and I'm a Prime member - that's enough to make it worthwhile. "Alexa, play 70s Rock Classics station". And for the next several hours I'm entertained. Note to anyone in the digital advertising world: Echo uses Bing search and provides local results based on Yelp. All answers are also sent to the app on the smartphone paired to the Echo device. Geez, Bing? Yelp? Oh well, Echo can answer most questions... Four years ago I was given a very good Vizio accessory speaker that worked with the iPad version 2. That iPad tanked last year and the newer Apple products don't use the larger USB connector so I thought the speaker was trash. Using the mini-pin output from Echo to the speaker I now have enough sound to fill the first floor of our house and reclaimed a speaker that would have been tossed to the curb. One advantage of the corded speaker connection - I don't have to re-do pairing ever, a common occurrence with any of my Bluetooth speakers. I am looking for a white-light set of wi-fi enabled bulbs (boring, but useful) as a first step toward home automation. I really want an Echo solution that can manage our TV with Hulu / Amazon / Netflix / Sling / YouTube. (Google Play would be a huge bonus. Because competitors). If I could replace the massive (and to some confusing) Harmony TV remote with voice commands life would be good. I can't find anyone who says they have successfully managed this set of tasks. Yes, the new Fire Stick is Alexa-enabled, but I'd prefer one listening device rather than two. <edit 8/15/17: Some TV control capabilities have emerged for Echo devices paired to Fire TV devices. OK functionality but Alexa can get your request wrong as often as right. Maybe time will improve this feature> I considered the Google product and chose the Amazon Echo instead. While Google may have better search capabilities, I'm pretty well covered between phone and computers. I saw the Echo Dot as a low-cost entry point where I could salvage a good sounding compact speaker system AND dip my toe into home automation without spending a fortune. Next year? Who knows, but for right now the Echo Dot was exactly what I was looking for. <Update 10/2018> Since this review I've purchased another Dot, two Taps (both discounted refurbished units), and a Show for my home plus three more Dots as gifts!