Making Sense of Amazon’s Alexa Spaghetti Strategy

SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 20: Dave Limp, Senior Vice President of Amazon Devices, intoduces the "amazonbasics microwave," which can be controlled by an Alexa, at the Amazon Spheres, on September 20, 2018 in Seattle Washington. Amazon launched more than 70 Alexa-enable products during the event. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)Photographer: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images North America

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By Brad Stone

September 24, 2018 at 11:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Last week, in the span of about an hour, Amazon.com Inc. introduced 70 new devices and services to an inundated tech press at its Seattle headquarters. There were new Echoes, an Alexa-equipped subwoofer, a DVR, Alexa for the car—even a microwave. It felt a little like the e-commerce giant was throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what would stick. And “now you can reheat the spaghetti in an Alexa-powered microwave,” quipped my colleague Alistair on Twitter.

But this is Amazon, and there’s usually a method behind the madness. So let’s look a bit closer.