I&#x27;ll agree that the sale of Echo caught both Apple and Google with their pants down, but I don&#x27;t think it&#x27;s going to last long. Apple could, quite easily, make a Siri standalone (and so could Google). Tying it to the phone was a great idea, but the implementations of both weren&#x27;t the greatest. Plus, with Apple keeping Siri as a closed environment for so long probably hurt it as well.<p>But all that said, Echo is a neat device but not unique. It can be easily outpaced by either company if they choose. Amazon&#x27;s &quot;Skill Store&quot; for Alexa is piss-poor and the ability to add skills is horrendous. Getting a skill approved is a nightmare, and they basically have to be &quot;free&quot; skills to have any potential.<p>If Amazon can figure out how to monetize skills, they may be able to pull ahead. But as it stands, right now, Echo is a novelty device that appeals (mostly) to kids.