Smart Audio Report from NPR and Editor Research

I just read this report from Edison Research about smart audio.Here are some interesting stats from the report:

35% of Americans 18+ own a smart speaker
62% use a voice assistant on a variety of devices, including things like smart speakers, smartphones, tv remotes, in-car systems, a computer or laptop, tablet, etc.
57% of voice command users use them daily
People request an average of 12.4 tasks on their device each week from smart speakers, and 10.7 tasks from smartphone voice assistants.

Why? Well … 86% of smart speaker owners say the devices “allow for a more convenient living.”

Check out the report for anything I left out!

Do you use a smart speaker or voice assistant? I do, just a bit:

I own an Amazon Echo Dot and have played with a Google Nest Mini (the photo included with this post show both of them off!). I bought the Amazon smart speaker, and one of my kiddos was given the Google speaker, I think with her Spotify subscription. I mostly use it to stream music.
I use Siri a bit – mostly for texting when I’m driving (so I can keep my hands on the wheel!).
I hooked my tv remote up to Google Assistant, but haven’t used it other than to verify that it works.

That’s pretty much it. But I know that some of you use smart speakers and voice assistants a LOT more than I do!

I think it’s important for libraries to be familiar with smart speakers and voice assistant technology. Here are some reasons why:

Your customers use both, and they might need help with them!
You can teach classes about voice technology (and help those people from #1).
Your website really needs to use conversational language, because that’s what voice technology works best with. So make sure you type like you talk.
It’s an easy way to keep up with technology changes. Most everyone reading this post owns a smart phone. So start purposefully using a voice assistant to see what it does (I’m talking to myself here, too).
I know of a couple libraries that are creating (or purchasing) Amazon Skills (voice apps for Amazon Alexa devices), and have also read about a library or two experimenting with language translation at the reference desk, using smart speaker technology.

Give it a try – you might like what you hear!