Reviewed for Shelf Awareness. Full review to be found via Shelf Awareness: https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers/2020-09-11/smart_wife:_why_siri_alexa_and_other_smart_home_devices_need_a_feminist_reboot.html

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from these authors in the future though.

As someone who works in voice tech, I found this book to be really informative and interesting. I also appreciated the perspective from outside the US, by these Australian authors. I think companies select voices based on what people respond best to, but they don't consider WHY people respond that way or if they should. I hope that this book starts to change that conversation.

It's an interesting read, full of food for thought and ideas. I found some part quite engrossing and some part a bit dull, more like research notes.
Siri/Alexa are disembodied female voices and I appreciated the ideas and how it reflect on our way of life and gender roles.
I recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher MIT Press in exchange for an honest review.

The Smart Wife was a little disappointing to me. It looks at the concept of 'smart wives' through a feminist and sociological lens, discussing the implication of giving devices such as Alexa female voices. I found the idea of this fascinating as it's not something I've really thought about before and that in itself indicates how it is worthy of analysis. Why should robot servants have primarily female voices? And why don't people question it?

Sadly this book didn't really discuss these elements beyond the surface level. I appreciate that there haven't been any studies or detailed experiments about this topic, but the book felt a bit empty without those. I was looking forward to finding out what the public opinion was on these devices and whether those with a female voice are viewed differently or not, but there is almost nothing of that nature included. Instead there is some speculation but the bulk of the book seems to just be discussing different devices without much of the feminist angle applied beyond the basic concept of 'these devices are sexist'.

One chapter I did particularly enjoy was the section on sex robots. This did go into deeper discussion and I think it was the best chapter because of that. It explored some frankly quite disheartening statistics and what these might mean for the wider world. It was well-crafted, informative and gave me a lot to think about.

Overall, I think this book has a lot of promise but sadly it didn't do exactly what I expected it to. It lacked that depth to really hold my interest, but I think it is a fantastic introduction to the topic and I look forward to what else the authors (and other researchers) will do in this area. If you are intrigued by the subject matter, this is still well worth the read. Just be aware of its limits and enjoy it for what it is.

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

I just might need a reboot myself after reading this one.

I think you can best describe this book as half research, half manifesto. There is a tremendous amount of notes in this book, it almost makes it hard to read for me. Some of the research and information the authors pulled together is fascinating and enlightening but at some point, it reads as if they are just droning on the same point over and over. I guess it is sort of needed to make their point and because all the tech shares the same faults.
It's interesting to read about all the tech that is out there, but how it is formed to traditional female roles, a 1950's ideal housewife type. I never think about my smart tech that way, but I guess you could.

I found that this was like reading a study book, it wasn't necessarily what I was expecting. I thought it'd be more social commentary and a lot less scientific. It has interesting outcomes and certainly opened my eyes to some things, but it wasn't the nicest read.