Egypt's Library of Alexandria, possibly built around the fourth century BCE, was reputed to hold the wealth of humankind's accumulated knowledge in the ancient world. That makes "Alexa" an inspired choice for the name of the voice-activated virtual assistant that debuted with the Amazon Echo smart speaker in 2014. Yet this was hardly the only name strongly considered by Alexa's developers — nor even the favored choice of the company founder who pushed to bring the project to life.
As told in Brad Stone's Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire, the project's speech-science team had specific criteria for an appropriate "wake word," a vocal signal that would bring the virtual assistant to life. This word needed to have a distinct combination of phonemes — units of sound — and be at least three syllables, to diminish the likelihood of the program being accidentally triggered by everyday conversation. Bezos, the hands-on head honcho, offered several suggestions: "Finch," the title of Jeff VanderMeer's fantasy detective novel; "Friday," the helpful companion of Daniel DeFoe's Robinson Crusoe; and "Samantha," the enchantress played by Elizabeth Montgomery in the hit 1960s sitcom Bewitched. Bezos also came up with "Alexa," but seemed especially attached to "Amazon," reasoning that it could spark favorable feelings toward the company.
Despite the objections of his staff, Bezos clung to "Amazon" as a wake word until finally giving the go-ahead for the switch to "Alexa" a few weeks before the 2014 launch. As the company now proudly notes, the virtual assistant's name "was inspired by the Library of Alexandria and is reflective of Alexa's depth of knowledge." Yet certain Alexa-infused products offer the option of changing the wake word, reminiscent of that great learning center of antiquity, to one of a small list of replacements that still includes the choice of "Amazon."
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