The First 'Alexa'

If William Safire, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Safire the legendary NYT columnist was around today - who prior to joining the progressively-liberal media company was a speechwriter for Richard Nixon – I wonder what fun Mr. Safire would have with the digital brand word, Alexa, since Safire also published a weekly column in the NYT Magazine on etymology (the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history).

As compared to how the term, Alexa is used today, entering - as it has - into America's consciousness as Amazon’s current listening device, few of its consumers today who use it would know that its initial path in digital began as a digital audience traffic metrics “listening” tool, in 1996, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexa_Internet. 

Around the dawn of the 21st century it was bought by Amazon for $250 million. I have often fantasized about being a fly on the conference room wall, that the team used who re-framed this “listening” tool, from its original singular use.

Specifically, it's clear that they knew that it could "listen" initially to us, as it cataloged our un-personalized web traffic, in abstract form for marketer use. But what was the path that the Amazon Product Team took with Alexa to turn "it" into a person and then have "her" learn to talk back https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Alexa???

In my own exploration, I learned that Alexa’s original founders said they chose the name "in homage to the Library of Alexandria of Ptolemaic Egypt (graphic above)," drawing a parallel between the largest repository of knowledge in the ancient world and the potential of the Internet to become a similar store of knowledge. 

Wait, I’m confused. I thought that was Google’s job. (Hmmm, we’ll leave etymology on the word “googol” for another time).

To my ears, I have always thought Alexa, the name, originated on human tongues in the area once known as the Soviet Union, since to me I had seen so many James Bond-like espionage films that had a spy named Alexa or Alexei; which is also found in Tolstoy’s works.

So I was surprised to learn that 'Alexa' is actually “a female form of Alexander. which comes from the Greek, Alexandros, meaning “defender of man” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexa_(name).

Taking this point in today’s etymological digital landscape to the extreme, in word-jumbling this out, I wonder if Safire would see any irony that "we Americans today openly invite and install this Soviet-sounding Alexa device (in ever-increasing quantities), which we are asked to believe means “defender of man” while it listens to our every word, in the privacy of our own homes; and in return it promises to remember everything relevant about us, never use it against us and guarantees to use our personal information to be even smarter, as it answers every request with the absolute truth."

Wow, it's never been painted in such a dark way. And no one, including me seems to think that there’s anything strange to that? I wonder what Bill might think...