I try to live simply and avoid unnecessary technology for myself, but I think one of these products could help my relative. She is now in Asst Living (yay!) due to physical breakdown, including very limited vision due to AMD. Mentally she's pretty much okay, but is bored because she can't read, and every movement (such as getting to and turning on the CD player) is a huge effort, so she doesn't do it.
I have bought her a tablet but haven't given it to her yet; I'm worried that the 8x11 screen is too small to be effective, and I don't know what the setup requirements (for me) and the learning curve (for her) would be to make it serve as a low-vision aid for telling the time, playing music, and reading books aloud. Maybe an Amazon Echo that is voice-activated would be better? I am morally disinclined to give money to Amazon, but I am also burned out by frequent phone calls of the "What day is it? What time is it?" variety, and the Echo sounds like a good solution for that.
I appreciate any advice. Here are some specific questions I have:
For the Echo, does it require private wifi, or will it work on the facility's wifi?
I am just learning about the National Library Service and Braille and Audio Reading resources, which apparently enable free audiobooks to be accessed via the Echo. Has anyone had experience with that?
Is there free music content (classical) that it could access, or does it have to be purchased through Amazon for the Echo?
Or just general thoughts/advice would be welcome. She lost most of her eyesight pretty quickly and I'm having a hard time figuring it all out. Thank you!
There will be a bit of a learning curve, of course, with either a tablet or an echo dot, but it might be worth it in the long run.