” Why We May Soon Be Living in Alexa’s World” written by Farhad Manjoo and published in The New York Times, February 21, 2018, discusses the voice assisted computing service (artificial intelligence) referred to as Alexa, and the multitude of tech gadgets that currently employ Alexa. Initially, this article uses pathos to gain the reader’s attention when the writer humorously recalls a recent glitch in his Amazon Echo Dot. Quoting Manjoo, “…the voice assistant began to wail, like a child screaming in a horror-movie dream”. Moving to his main thesis, Manjoo theorizes Alexa has so thoroughly invaded the lives of consumers, himself included, that they are willing to overlook the glitches in favor of the convenience offered by the artificial…show more content… Limp stated, referring to the 2017 holiday season, “We had a spectacular holiday.” Reporting comparable results was, M.G. Siegler of the blog 500ish Words, "The Echo Dot was the number one selling device across all of Amazon during the holiday shopping season." However, Manjoos conversation with Limp calls into question why he didn't inquire about his malfunctioning Echo Dot unit from a top executive at Amazon, rather than calling Amazon tech support to report the Echo Dot glitch as he states he did earlier in his article. This oversight is an example of self-contradiction, making the reader question Manjoo's credibility. Furthermore, quoting Amazon prices, as he does, is irrelevant, (red herring), which, in turn, makes the reader question Mr. Manjoos integrity. Including prices makes the piece read like a paid advertisement, rather than an article meant to inform the reader on the future of…show more content… Also, according to Manjoo, third-party devices generally get lower reviews on Amazon’s website because they don’t have those capabilities, one example, setting a reminder for an appointment. Manjoo's use of and first-hand technical knowledge of Alexa, lend credence to his piece, he discusses features that he likes and would miss if he owned a third-party device. Further, the writer's logical reasoning for using the real Alexa, versus a third-party, is an example of a Toulmin argument, he uses the claim, (not all features), the reason, (not available on third-party), the warrant, (less desirable to
