I don’t mean to sound like Mister Grumpy but I’m wondering about whether the era of the voice-controlled fully automated home is really here.

I’m talking about the technology that lets us turn our lights on, control our home heating, start our car, find programs on TV or even ask a magic 8-ball to make crucial decisions about our lives — all available by using our voice to control these functions. You also can do your banking, get a wake-up call, order a pizza, call for an Uber ride or even summon up an audio book to be read to you just by talking to a machine. And that’s just the beginning. The buzz is that this is technology’s Next Big Thing.

The leading device in this arena is the Amazon Echo, a $179 voice-activated personal assistant. It’s a black cylinder with a built-in speaker that responds to your queries when you say, “Alexa.” It does most of what I’ve described above plus more. Amazon is about to have big time competition from Google, which announced it will release its own Echo-like assistant named “Home” later this year. Apple already has a voice-activated system based on its Siri voice assistant, but plans to bolster its system to compete more effectively.

I’ve had “Alexa,” my Amazon Echo, for three months. Here’s what I’ve found: It gathers dust most of the time. Initially my family and I enjoyed goading Alexa by asking it stupid questions, i.e., “Alexa, what sex are you?” But the novelty factor quickly died out.

When I ask a question such as, “Alexa, what are the soccer teams in New York City?” it responds: “Hmmm. I’m not sure what you mean by that question.” That’s usually Alexa’s stock answer. The lesson here: Alexa needs to be asked the “right” questions. It can also be programmed for about 1,500 “skills” but then you need to remember the precise question to make it work. Is it “OK Google?” In a word, no.

Voice-activated home control can be expensive. I took a tentative step by buying a Wemo “smart” wall plug to turn our hall lamp off and on, and paired it with Alexa. The plug was about $40. Do the math: every wall plug you add to extend your home control system will cost at least $25 and probably more

Voice-activated home control can be expensive. I took a tentative step by buying a Wemo “smart” wall plug to turn our hall lamp off and on, and paired it with Alexa. The plug was about $40. Do the math: every wall plug you add to extend your home control system will cost at least $25 and probably more. And voice-controlled devices can be a little too smart. When the lamp is under Alexa’s control, you can’t manually operate it. It can only be turned on and off by Alexa. What if Alexa can’t hear you? What if the room is really noisy? I’ve taken the lamp from Alexa’s control so I can manually turn it off and on.

Conceptually the idea of voice-controlled home devices is attractive, but my experiment thus far is turning out to be no blockbuster, at least for now. Maybe it will work for you. Let me know.

Contact technology writer Skip Ferderber at sferderber@gmail.com.