I love technology.
The Sonos One speaker with Alexa built-in.
You may have heard of her. She’s the voice that can make life so much easier. When I tell her “good morning,” she tells me a fun fact about the day. When I ask her “how’s the weather?” she replies with a straightforward and repetitive Florida-eqsue forecast. “It’s currently 72 degrees with an expected high of 88 today and lots of sun.”
Alexa has gained a lot of attention recently, as people around the country are posting videos of what they’ve been able to get Alexa to do (mine is coming up). Have a Tesla and want her to get your car out of the garage? She does that. Have lights by Hue, Insteon, or Lutron? She turns them on and off. Selecting your comfort using a Nest or Ecobee? She’ll set the temp you request.
Initially, she was a fun companion, but more and more she’s become an indispensable assistant. She plays requests. “Alexa, play my weekend music.” She provides valuable information. “Here’s your news briefing from NPR.” And she can make things happen.
Among her responsibilities in our household are controlling the lights, adding things to our shopping list, and setting the thermostat.
For those times when a guest leaves on a remote light somewhere, Alexa will “turn off all of the lights” without my so much as lifting my head from my pillow.
And now, she plays the piano.
The setup was incredibly easy and the reaction from friends is priceless which, to be completely honest, was my initial motivation for teaching her the skill. She can play the Cloud Player system by QRS Pianomation and I even figured out how to get her to play PianoDisc and Yamaha’s Disklavier – which means we can now breathe new life into player pianos that many people stopped using because they were too complicated.
Best of all, Sonos recently added Alexa to their new Sonos One speaker, beautifully blending the convenience of voice control with outstanding sound quality.
But now, well, I’m addicted to the convenience of not having to reach for the remote or unlock my phone when what I really want to do is just enjoy the music.
“Alexa, ask piano to play Diana Krall.”
“Ok.”
What will Alexa learn next?
Do you have an older player piano that is just too complicated? Visit our gallery to see how easy it can become or contact us for a free in-home demonstration.
That’s right, we can bring new life to your piano!