Huh I didn't know Alexa+ existed because it apparently launched with zero fanfare. But I did notice that all my echos seemed gimped for a while now and basically gave up on using them.

> Alexa+ will stay free for Prime members or cost $19.99/month as a stand-alone subscription.

They are offering a standalone subscription for more than the cost of prime. So basically they are saying that customers who aren't on prime aren't welcome to use Alexa at all.

Well thanks for showing me the door Scamazon, I'm for sure going to throw away my echos now it's just a matter of time.

Alexa was abandoned bout 5 years ago and has continued to wither on the vine. This smells like nothing more than a money grab. The device and its services are little more useful than turning on the lights. Amazon has abandoned Alexa and there's zero reason to put more money into it as a consumer.

This is certainly the future!

Where the internet gave advertisers data on your surfing habits, smart devices + AI will give them every intimate detail of your life: calendar events, email, shopping, friends/family, health data, car travel... all combined into one holistic package up for sale.

Not really via Alexa though, it sucks.

...as long as you're in the US. The website doesn't do anything for rest of world and they can't get Alexa+.