The Amazon Echo has to be constantly plugged into a wall outlet to receive power and turn on. But what if it didn't? Mission Cables has built a small stand that you can place the Echo on, called the Battery Base, that plugs into the speaker and gives it enough power to play music for six hours.

But is a portable Echo really practical or cool or necessary? Amazon clearly thinks a portable Echo is a good idea — it made one, but without an always-on Alexa — so maybe the Battery Base is the perfect product. It lets you have a portable speaker, albeit a kind of large one, whenever you want, wherever you want.

Mission Cables recommends several locations you can bring the Echo now that it's portable. Let's review the ideas, some of which are good and some of which are not:

Garage: Solid idea. Garages are bland, miserable places. No one wants to be in one except maybe dads, and I really question whether they want to be there either. Now the next time you're cleaning out the garage (I think that's the only reason people are ever in garages? Side note: why do they exist? Side note: ban cars), you can bring out the Echo to play music and use Alexa to get some questions answered. Cool!

Bedroom: Questionable. Why not just plug it in there in the first place? You've clearly already made the decision not to do that, so I'm not sure how often you'd temporarily want music or a talking speaker. Unless Mission Cables is implying that you'll use the Echo for, ya know, mood music. In which case, let me go ahead and state unequivocally, you should not be installing a battery stand on an Amazon Echo before heading into the bedroom if you care about your partner's view of you and ability to stay in the mood.

Patio: Great. Love it. You're grilling. You're having drinks. People are over. Now you have a portable speaker to play some music. Perfect.

Pool: Please, do you know how electronics work? This battery adds more electronics, not waterproofing. Do not do this. Rating: 0/10.

Garden: Not sure about this one. Gardens are typically decorative spaces that you visit for brief periods of time. You're there to move some dirt around and get on with your life. You're probably getting up and down a bunch. You don't want to be moving a speaker every few minutes as you go along. You don't want to get dirt in the Echo's zillion holes either. Verdict: plausible but eh.

Gym: Are you kidding me? Do not do this. Do not unplug your Amazon Echo, load it into your gym bag, drive to the gym, carry it out of the locker room, and set it up on the floor beside your treadmill so that you can play music in a communal room while running. Buy headphones like everyone else. You can afford a gym membership and Amazon Echo and Battery Base. You can afford a pair of headphones, too.

Park: Yeah, sure. Seems good for picnics.

In conclusion, I still don't understand what it is that makes people love this device so much and want to have it everywhere. But as we learned last week, when someone put an Echo on their ceiling, people will go to no ends to have this device where they want it. The Battery Base allows that. So thank you, Mission Cables, for fulfilling people's ludicrous desires to stay close to their Echo.