Before the gift-giving day rolled around last year, I had a Google Home in my place, and I was using it every once in awhile. I had fun setting it up, and there were some genuinely great moments when I played a few games with the smart speaker. But, it didn't take me long to realize that, ultimately, the device was just going to be a speaker.

I really like the idea of Google Home and the Amazon Echo, and it's a device that I think Apple should definitely jump on board with at some point in the near future. (As long as Siri gets improved in a big way, first.) But the benefits for me, personally, just aren't there.

I don't need another thing in my house to play music, basically.

But, after using it for about a week, I realized that it was just about perfect for my mother. I did the anti-surprise thing last year, and I told her what I was going to get her in advance. (I know, I know...) And, as I suspected, she was pretty adamant that she didn't need another device in her life, either. She kept telling me how she didn't think she'd use it, and so on and so forth.

Now, almost two months later, she tells me whenever she gets a chance about how much she loves it. She plays the trivia game with Assistant all the time, and she loves being able to just ask what her schedule's going to be like for the day. It took her about a week, but now she loves the thing, and she's happy to have it.

I was talking with her recently about the things she could do with it, and she specifically asked me about shopping. If, for instance, she remembered she needed something, and instead of writing it down in a list, she could "just ask Google." Of course, at the time, I told her that wasn't a thing, but maybe one day. After all, Amazon's Echo offered it, so I told her that it would make sense for Google to offer it, too, at some point.

And here we are, Google making shopping a new feature with its smart speaker.

I haven't let her know about the update just yet, but I'm sure she'll be excited to have it. And it got me wondering: is this something that other Google Home owners have been wanting? Is being able to quickly order paper towels, or whatever else it might be, just with your voice, a big bonus for you? Moreover, Amazon Echo owners, have you done a lot of shopping from your smart speaker? Let me know!