Reply to post:

I'm not surprised. These things are at best tools.

I do make some use of Siri (it is handy for turning things on and off if you don't have a hand free, and can be used to query things like apps (which is what I need it for). It doesn't have many of the bells and whistles of Alexa or Google (Cortana is pretty much gone anyway), and isn't trying to be a friend, but I don't need it to be.

I did try Alexa, Google and Cortana, but, TBH, once I got over the novelty of being able to get a device to sing or tell jokes, and acting like a friend, I found I didn't really use them.

That said, I am not disabled, so am able to use physical controls, whether on my devices or on remote controls. I can understand that a voice interface is handy for those who can't.

The downside to the likes of Alexa, Google and Cortana is the monitoring. The device needs to send recordings to Amazon, Google or Microsoft for processing. It's listening constantly, at least for it's activation phrase. While it doesn't necessarily need to send data back to base to process this, it may send that data anyway. You only have the assurance of Amazon, Google or Microsoft that they are handling the data securely, and not using it for nefarious purposes. Note: The same does apply to Apple for Siri, but you can require Siri to only react to a physical button press, and I have.