Here’s Why Amazon Bought a Doorbell Company

Last week Amazon.com Inc. bought the Santa Monica, California-based smart home equipment maker Ring for an estimated $1 billion in cash. Though filled with less import than the company’s $13.4 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market last year, the deal was the second-largest in Amazon’s history. And like all acquisitions, it gives us a rare glimpse into the way Jeff Bezos sees the future.

In the short term, Ring gives Amazon another piece in its Alexa puzzle and a leg up in its race against Google and Apple to control homes that will increasingly be filled with connected appliances. Alexa is a nice novelty now, great for serving up the weather, reading the news and hosting the occasional trivia game. But it will be really useful when it’s the hub that lets people use their voice to arm their security systems, open locked doors and flash video of the person who’s ringing the doorbell out front. Google understands this as well; the new $229 Nest doorbell will come with a free Google Home Mini when it starts shipping this spring.