I feel like the best audience for the product is elderly people. The Portal has a serious shot and helping to fight isolation and loneliness. The downside of the Portal is giving up a bit of privacy. Isolation with elderly is such a big problem that for me at least, it's worth the potential downside. I tried setting my 94-year-old grandparents with an Echo Show last December and what unfolded was hilarious:
https://nanagram.co/blog/echo-show-unboxing
But in all seriousness, in the coming weeks, when I was able to get the Echo Show to actually work, it was an incredible tool for communicating with my elderly grandparents. The two main problems with it (besides being unable to say "Alexa") were them hardly ever being in view of the fixed camera and the volume buttons not being user-friendly. Ultimately it didn't work out. My grandmother is now between assisted living / rehab / hospitals and I'm seriously considering the Portal.
But in all seriousness, in the coming weeks, when I was able to get the Echo Show to actually work, it was an incredible tool for communicating with my elderly grandparents. The two main problems with it (besides being unable to say "Alexa") were them hardly ever being in view of the fixed camera and the volume buttons not being user-friendly. Ultimately it didn't work out. My grandmother is now between assisted living / rehab / hospitals and I'm seriously considering the Portal.