And the voices for Siri? There is a long list—from English to Arabic and many more. Within English, there are American, British, Australian, and Indian accents, among others. Then there are male and female voices in each category, sometimes more than one option, and even enhanced versions of each voice. Oophs. Eventually, you settle on one voice that suits you.

I use Siri often in the browser. You can select a portion of the screen to be read aloud or have the entire screen read. However, it will start reading everything, including menus and other elements. I still haven’t figured out how to have only the main content read.

I use Siri to open apps, but when I ask it to close an app, it simply says it can’t do that! One of the best features, though, is the typing feedback, which can be set to read letter by letter, word by word, or sentence by sentence. This has been one of the most useful tools I’ve found. It’s truly a splendid innovation for visually impaired people like me. Thanks to all those who developed these technologies.

I also have an Apple Phone that’s always near me. Whenever I call out to Siri, both Siris wake up—on my iPad and my iPhone! Without any conscious effort, I’ve set up different voices on each device, so I either have to whisper to one or move to another room to avoid confusion.

With a host of unread Kindle books, I needed to find a way to have them read aloud. Enter Alexa! But there was a catch—I needed an Amazon device to use the Alexa app, so I got an Echo Dot.

Voice commands could be given to the Echo device. Inevitably, I would get confused, calling Alexa “Siri” and Siri “Alexa,” which would result in a terse reply: “You are calling for the wrong assistant.” Many times, these voices and devices might have been frustrated by my mix-ups. Luckily, they weren’t physically present to scold me!

Occasionally, my wife would say, “I’ve been with you for over fifty years, and I’ve never heard you use such a soft, gentle voice as you do for Alexa and Siri!”

Yet, they have made my life a little easier. Maybe, in due course, I’ll learn all the tricks of voice usage.

To be continued... Part 36: Waking While Walking.