I was one of the earliest Alexa users, I was invited to buy the first Echo before it was generally available. It was handy mostly as a kitchen timer, occasionally for random questions when my hands were too busy/gooey to whip out my phone (e.g., "What is the safe cooking temperature for chicken thighs?").

But then one day the LED ring on the top of the Echo was flashing yellow, and when I asked Alexa why, it responded with an ad. I haven't used it since.