Be smart, stay dumb.

Back to the sheet Electronics Radio · B3
Amazon Echo Dot
B3 · Hall of smart-shame Oh no, you didn’t?

Amazon Echo Dot

By Amazon.

$80
Amazon US, October 2026. Prices change.

A speaker with far-field microphones that waits for its name. It streams the radio station you could have tuned with a knob.

Online
Wi-Fi, Ethernet or cellular. An attacker can be anywhere, and it can collect data.
Cloud-dependent
Needs the maker's servers or app to work, so the maker can switch it off.

Buy the dumb one instead

We do not link to the smart one. You can find it.

Survival checklist

What it survives, next to the dumb one.
1
=SURVIVES(threat)Survives…
ThisAmazon Echo Dot
The dumb oneDumb oneCrystal radio kit
2
Power cut
FALSE
TRUE
3
Wi-Fi goes down
FALSE
TRUE
4
The company switches off its servers
FALSE
TRUE
5
Someone tries to hack it
FALSE
TRUE
6
A firmware update goes wrong
FALSE
TRUE
7
Twenty years from now
FALSE
TRUE
8
=COUNTIF(TRUE)Total
0 of 60/6
6 of 66/6

The dumb one is the Crystal radio kit.

Row 3

See it in the sheetIn the sheet
You are here

Plays the radio. Listens to everything else.

Amazon Echo Dot

$80
Online · Cloud-dependent A radio that listens back.