Then they head to the kitchen, where an Amazon microwave heats up dinner – made from food bought at Amazon-owned Whole Foods, naturally – as you turn down the volume on the Amazon Fire TV Edition television.

You ask Alexa to dim the smart lights, using the one smart product in the home not owned by Amazon (yet), the Hue system by Philips.

And the Wi-Fi, the guts of the system, without which none of the other products could operate, is being controlled by the latest device bought by Amazon, the Eero.

Are you comfortable with Amazon controlling so much of your home?

Amazon and Eero have downplayed privacy concerns, saying the mesh router doesn't share Wi-Fi information. But Amazon, as Eero does now, will soon know how you use your Wi-Fi, whether that's on computer or a mobile, just by being in your home network.

Techies loved Eero because it solved an important problem: helping to wipe out spotty Wi-Fi service across the home.

The Eero was the first such product in a category soon emulated by Google, Netgear, Linksys and others.

Now, with Amazon taking on Eero, "you can't really escape Amazon in the home," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies. "One big company is delivering too many devices."

Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights, isn't bothered, however.

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"Amazon may have most of the home but this is no different from the iPhone or android phone or (smart)watch worn in the home," he says. Because every step and move is being monitored by Apple and Google through the smartphone.

Rival Google only has two smart home products, its Eero-like Google Wi-Fi system, and the Nest thermostat, while Apple doesn't market any under its brand name.

Neither Apple nor Google have been as aggressive in acquiring smart home products. And when a company like Amazon has dibs on more products in your house, that means rival ones can't be easily used. Once you're all in on Alexa, is there room for a Google Home Hub video speaker, which operates on the Google Assistant? Because you can't use both interchangeably.

A perfect example is Sonos One, the connected speaker that currently takes Alexa commands. Later this year, Sonos will update the product to accept Google commands as well – but not at the same time. The user will have to assign one or the other as the personal assistant of their choice.

Amazon famously missed out on smartphones by trying to get into the market too late after Apple and Google. It since built a giant device business with e-readers, tablets, connected speakers, security cameras and now, smart home products.

Lots of options for consumers. But at what cost?

McClatchy