You can pay $19.99 a month for Alexa Plus – but why would you?

Today, we got our first glimpse of the new AI-infused virtual assistant that Amazon's engineers have been busily crafting behind the scenes. Alexa Plus, which is rolling out to users in the US over the coming months, can book you a restaurant reservation, manage your schedule, and even show video evidence of your driver walking your dog in the morning. You know, normal, everyday things. And it can do all this for $19.99 per month – or free if you already subscribe to Amazon Prime.

That standalone price is very high, and almost totally arbitrary. After all, an Amazon Prime subscription currently costs $14.99 monthly or $139 per year, so paying more for Alexa Plus alone would make no sense at all. And that's the point. The fee for Alexa Plus by itself could have been anything because Amazon doesn't actually expect anyone ...