@RubaDub, they are worth the money because once the elderly person learns to talk to it, Alexa/Echo will read all that stuff...... so you don't have to. And they can listen to news, their own music, all sorts of stuff, and can get it started on their own.
These devices save me lots of time and aggravation at home.
Meanwhile, I use mine to listen to music (and drown out the sound of the JW stuff being played downstairs).
A win for me, in any case!