It might be a good speaker but that’s it. Siri is not a selling feature, Apple is woefully behind in the voice assistant realm. Worse, their software launches have been google-like. I hope iOS12 focuses on improving the software, not adding features to have features. Like gimmick Animojis.
Siri is not a selling feature on the iPhone either yet that sells hundreds of millions. There is no such thing as voice assistant “realm”, that is an urban legend. If you need a voice assistant there it is, in the palm of your hand.
One of those “Apple can do no wrong people” eh? Even voice dictation is poor against google now.
If there is no such thing as a voice assistant, then why does Siri exist? What is Siri? But you know what Steve Jobs would ask? “What should Siri be?”
I love my Apple products but to pretend everything about them is better than everyone else’s product is moronic.
Bravo for this comment.
I really don't understand people going all in with defence for Apple. Do you people get money from Tim Cook???
Apple makes great products. But they also make couple of really bad products like maps, SIRI, apple mouse, pages and you could still find few more that are useless. Defending Apple for any cause is really stupid. Apple is capitalistic super power house and they deserve to be criticised from all users. They virtually have unlimited resources to make some things better and they don't.
This speaker could be a beautiful product for your home, but instead is just not delivering on features that Alexa and Google are having for years.
As a Hifi speaker, it’s not even in the game. As a ‘smart’ speaker, not so smart.
It is the best sounding speaker made by Apple with Siri on it thou...
As a Hifi speaker, it’s not even in the game. As a ‘smart’ speaker, not so smart.
It is the best sounding speaker made by Apple with Siri on it thou...
LOL! Nice.
Without even having heard it, I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say it's Apple's best sounding speaker, period. The only other one is the Pill, and it's... well... you kinda have to feel sorry for the poor little guy.
A part of me would like to buy one but I don't see why I would and get the use out of it. I don't use Siri at all 90% of daily life if not more than that and i don't listen to music at home mostly but when I do its on my phone and I'm wearing my Bose QCII's. Maybe there is a use for this in my apt but I haven't found it.
After a couple of weeks of honeymoon with Siri in your HomePod, you'll get tired of shouting commands to Siri and you'll prefer using the AppleTV Remote.
Not in my case. The reason for me having a HomePod at all would be to have a device that can play music without requiring a device between the music library and the speaker. Right now I have to fire up the Mac (which is in another room) or pull out my phone to control playback. I want to be able to walk into the kitchen and say "Hey Siri, shuffle the playlist Blues" or "Play me something by Bruno Mars." If it plays something I don't feel like hearing at any given moment, just telling the HomePod to skip is easier than reaching for a device, especially in the kitchen where one's hands may be full and/or covered with ick.
Using the phone or Mac as a controller is obviously not what one might describe as a hardship, but it's a minor nuisance that the HomePod is specifically designed to overcome. If that feature is not available, the most compelling reason to choose a HomePod over any high-quality Bluetooth speaker is defeated.
I never understood why AirDrop required BT, Wifi and iCloud to even work at all. That's when it works, of course.
Bluetooth for proximity, Wi-Fi for file transfers, iCloud to identify you.
I will never understand why Apple didn't produce its own - flexible - NAS solution to handle backups, cloud access, media serving etc
Apple Services should co-exist with other services its users might be using and the user should be able to decide, so flexible means supporting Plex Server, .mkvs etc.
My 2009 Mac mini does all those things.
QuickTime never fulfilled its consumer potential because of its lack of flexibility.
Years ago, one of the biggest (and most stupid) obstacles for Mac users was having no HFS support in Windows. Apple should have had a Windows utility to provide support on Windows from the start.
HomePod in its current state does not appeal to me.
Ok
Requiring all three elements (BT, WiFi, iCloud) for a device-to-device transfer to work is bad design.
There is no reason for any outside network intervention.
A computer can act as a NAS as it can act as many other things but real NAS options have grown in popularity over the years and are very much consumer options nowadays at the lower end.
Much like Apple took a lot of the pain out of WiFi configuration with the excellent Airport Utility (in its day) they could easily produce a NAS offering that consumers would find attractive. Mesh networking too.
Much like Apple took a lot of the pain out of WiFi configuration with the excellent Airport Utility (in its day) they could easily produce a NAS offering that consumers would find attractive.
I get the impression that Apple thinks cloud storage is better than local for most of its customers. Base model Macs and iDevices provide only paltry amounts of on-device storage, and both operating systems invisibly offload certain files to iCloud.
I don't know enough about the usage patterns of a "typical" Apple customer to say whether that approach is good or bad. It's not well suited to my particular needs and preferences, but maybe it is for others.
As a Hifi speaker, it’s not even in the game. As a ‘smart’ speaker, not so smart.
It is the best sounding speaker made by Apple with Siri on it thou...
Nor is it priced like a real Hifi speaker. The key to great audio is the room/listening position (as I'm sure you know). The magic of the HomePod is that it does away with the "listening position" and minimizes the effect of the room. My HP has the same great sound almost anywhere I stand/sit/walk in my living room/kitchen. True, it isn't quite Hifi but it gets really close (IMO) for relatively little money and hassle. Of course little money is relative and the market/internet has decided it must compete against budget Alexa speakers.
The biggest problem with the HomePod is not the price (it is actually competitive if you look at other airplay speakers of similar quality) or the lack of innovation (it is one of Apple's most innovative products if you really drill into what they're doing sound-wise). The problem is that it doesn't solve any pain points that most consumers understand/appreciate. AirPods are ridiculously priced ear-pods with similar innovation as HP but they sell like mad because they overcame a common pain point—the awful state of pairing and reliability with wireless headphones. HomePod is great, but it isn't really any more convenient than other solutions.
After a couple of weeks of honeymoon with Siri in your HomePod, you'll get tired of shouting commands to Siri and you'll prefer using the AppleTV Remote.
Not in my case. The reason for me having a HomePod at all would be to have a device that can play music without requiring a device between the music library and the speaker. Right now I have to fire up the Mac (which is in another room) or pull out my phone to control playback. I want to be able to walk into the kitchen and say "Hey Siri, shuffle the playlist Blues" or "Play me something by Bruno Mars." If it plays something I don't feel like hearing at any given moment, just telling the HomePod to skip is easier than reaching for a device, especially in the kitchen where one's hands may be full and/or covered with ick.
Using the phone or Mac as a controller is obviously not what one might describe as a hardship, but it's a minor nuisance that the HomePod is specifically designed to overcome. If that feature is not available, the most compelling reason to choose a HomePod over any high-quality Bluetooth speaker is defeated.
I never understood why AirDrop required BT, Wifi and iCloud to even work at all. That's when it works, of course.
Bluetooth for proximity, Wi-Fi for file transfers, iCloud to identify you.
I will never understand why Apple didn't produce its own - flexible - NAS solution to handle backups, cloud access, media serving etc
Apple Services should co-exist with other services its users might be using and the user should be able to decide, so flexible means supporting Plex Server, .mkvs etc.
My 2009 Mac mini does all those things.
QuickTime never fulfilled its consumer potential because of its lack of flexibility.
Years ago, one of the biggest (and most stupid) obstacles for Mac users was having no HFS support in Windows. Apple should have had a Windows utility to provide support on Windows from the start.
HomePod in its current state does not appeal to me.
Ok
Requiring all three elements (BT, WiFi, iCloud) for a device-to-device transfer to work is bad design.
There is no reason for any outside network intervention.
A computer can act as a NAS as it can act as many other things but real NAS options have grown in popularity over the years and are very much consumer options nowadays at the lower end.
Much like Apple took a lot of the pain out of WiFi configuration with the excellent Airport Utility (in its day) they could easily produce a NAS offering that consumers would find attractive. Mesh networking too.
AirDrop works fine for me, or at least better than some imaginary product from an armchair engineer in an Internet forum.
Apple doesn't have an interest in providing you with a NAS, especially one that supports Plex and MKV etc (how does that benefit them? Their interest is in iTunes streaming). There are plenty of other affordable 3rd party options out there so why should they?
After a couple of weeks of honeymoon with Siri in your HomePod, you'll get tired of shouting commands to Siri and you'll prefer using the AppleTV Remote.
Not in my case. The reason for me having a HomePod at all would be to have a device that can play music without requiring a device between the music library and the speaker. Right now I have to fire up the Mac (which is in another room) or pull out my phone to control playback. I want to be able to walk into the kitchen and say "Hey Siri, shuffle the playlist Blues" or "Play me something by Bruno Mars." If it plays something I don't feel like hearing at any given moment, just telling the HomePod to skip is easier than reaching for a device, especially in the kitchen where one's hands may be full and/or covered with ick.
Using the phone or Mac as a controller is obviously not what one might describe as a hardship, but it's a minor nuisance that the HomePod is specifically designed to overcome. If that feature is not available, the most compelling reason to choose a HomePod over any high-quality Bluetooth speaker is defeated.
I never understood why AirDrop required BT, Wifi and iCloud to even work at all. That's when it works, of course.
Bluetooth for proximity, Wi-Fi for file transfers, iCloud to identify you.
I will never understand why Apple didn't produce its own - flexible - NAS solution to handle backups, cloud access, media serving etc
Apple Services should co-exist with other services its users might be using and the user should be able to decide, so flexible means supporting Plex Server, .mkvs etc.
My 2009 Mac mini does all those things.
QuickTime never fulfilled its consumer potential because of its lack of flexibility.
Years ago, one of the biggest (and most stupid) obstacles for Mac users was having no HFS support in Windows. Apple should have had a Windows utility to provide support on Windows from the start.
HomePod in its current state does not appeal to me.
Ok
Requiring all three elements (BT, WiFi, iCloud) for a device-to-device transfer to work is bad design.
There is no reason for any outside network intervention.
A computer can act as a NAS as it can act as many other things but real NAS options have grown in popularity over the years and are very much consumer options nowadays at the lower end.
Much like Apple took a lot of the pain out of WiFi configuration with the excellent Airport Utility (in its day) they could easily produce a NAS offering that consumers would find attractive. Mesh networking too.
AirDrop works fine for me, or at least better than some imaginary product from an armchair engineer in an Internet forum.
Apple doesn't have an interest in providing you with a NAS, especially one that supports Plex and MKV etc (how does that benefit them? Their interest is in iTunes streaming). There are plenty of other affordable 3rd party options out there so why should they?
It is still bad design. Moreso with all the options open to them. A device to device transfer should work seamlessly for the transfer with nothing more than the devices themselves. Any posterior sychronisation tasks can be remedied as other services become available.
As for NAS options. Apple could do great things in that space. It's not about providing me with options but options for its user base but Apple has shown us time after time that it knows what is best for users, right?
To me, there are two problems. The quality of the product is no doubt pretty good, but 1) the price is beyond what I want to pay for a wireless speaker and, 2) for privacy reasons, I'm just not interested in any smart speaker that's always on and listening, even though I trust Apple to protect my privacy more than I do Amazon or Google.
After a couple of weeks of honeymoon with Siri in your HomePod, you'll get tired of shouting commands to Siri and you'll prefer using the AppleTV Remote.
Not in my case. The reason for me having a HomePod at all would be to have a device that can play music without requiring a device between the music library and the speaker. Right now I have to fire up the Mac (which is in another room) or pull out my phone to control playback. I want to be able to walk into the kitchen and say "Hey Siri, shuffle the playlist Blues" or "Play me something by Bruno Mars." If it plays something I don't feel like hearing at any given moment, just telling the HomePod to skip is easier than reaching for a device, especially in the kitchen where one's hands may be full and/or covered with ick.
Using the phone or Mac as a controller is obviously not what one might describe as a hardship, but it's a minor nuisance that the HomePod is specifically designed to overcome. If that feature is not available, the most compelling reason to choose a HomePod over any high-quality Bluetooth speaker is defeated.
I never understood why AirDrop required BT, Wifi and iCloud to even work at all. That's when it works, of course.
Bluetooth for proximity, Wi-Fi for file transfers, iCloud to identify you.
I will never understand why Apple didn't produce its own - flexible - NAS solution to handle backups, cloud access, media serving etc
Apple Services should co-exist with other services its users might be using and the user should be able to decide, so flexible means supporting Plex Server, .mkvs etc.
My 2009 Mac mini does all those things.
QuickTime never fulfilled its consumer potential because of its lack of flexibility.
Years ago, one of the biggest (and most stupid) obstacles for Mac users was having no HFS support in Windows. Apple should have had a Windows utility to provide support on Windows from the start.
HomePod in its current state does not appeal to me.
Ok
Requiring all three elements (BT, WiFi, iCloud) for a device-to-device transfer to work is bad design.
There is no reason for any outside network intervention.
A computer can act as a NAS as it can act as many other things but real NAS options have grown in popularity over the years and are very much consumer options nowadays at the lower end.
Much like Apple took a lot of the pain out of WiFi configuration with the excellent Airport Utility (in its day) they could easily produce a NAS offering that consumers would find attractive. Mesh networking too.
AirDrop works fine for me, or at least better than some imaginary product from an armchair engineer in an Internet forum.
Apple doesn't have an interest in providing you with a NAS, especially one that supports Plex and MKV etc (how does that benefit them? Their interest is in iTunes streaming). There are plenty of other affordable 3rd party options out there so why should they?
It is still bad design. Moreso with all the options open to them. A device to device transfer should work seamlessly for the transfer with nothing more than the devices themselves. Any posterior sychronisation tasks can be remedied as other services become available.
As for NAS options. Apple could do great things in that space. It's not about providing me with options but options for its user base but Apple has shown us time after time that it knows what is best for users, right?
Remember QuickTime and why Perian became popular?
Like I said, AirDrop works fine for me. I don't know what your problem is, but there are a ton of 3rd party file sharing apps for various purposes out there as well.
And I don't think Apple is somehow beholden to provide you a NAS solution just because you think so. Again, what's wrong with any number of solutions readily available? Nothing.
Its a shame Apple killed off Airport, it would have been good to see them move to a WiFi Mesh and have HomePod double as a WiFi Satellite. I like what Netgear have done with Orbi Voice, if you are going to put speakers around the house having a combined speaker/WiFi satellite seems like a great idea to me.
Still loving my HomePods! That it is the best sounding smart speaker goes without saying and my HomeKit and Apple Music experience with the platform has been top-notch. I'm hoping this product stays around for a long time and I'm inclined to believe that rumored Siri improvements (hopefully announced at WWDC) which have been indicated by reports of Apple beefing up the personal assistant's team should go along way to ensure that. Fingers crossed!
Seriously? Fingers crossed? Many of us are still waiting for FaceTime to become an open standard...like Jobs promised back in 2010.
"We're going to the standards bodies, starting tomorrow, and we're going to make FaceTime an open industry standard."
... If this was not an Apple product people would be saying how great it is!
HomePod is a well-engineered product with fairly poor market fit + a terrible launch strategy.
The market fit is phenomenal. What the HomePod is supposed to do is be the multiroom audio controller for a wide variety of vendor products. As of now the system with the most vendor support is DTS Play-fi and it's software is some of the weakest out there but it's nice to have a choice of hardware.
The HomePods value increases sharply when we understand how many existing products can be upgrade to Airplay 2 and how the benefits of audio support in HomeKit play out. Right now it's hard to see the value over a more mature platform like Sonos.
Used to love Sonos, but their software just gets worse and worse. Great sounding speakers, god awful app.
Apple seems to have always had issues with speakers. In addition, Siri seems to have stalled. Perhaps Apple is trying to do too many things? iTunes, Siri, smart speakers, increasingly complicated interfaces with both OSX and iOS, a really unhealthy reliance on iPhone... They are an impressive company but to me they have lost something. Just not quite as magical anymore.
What I HATE about HomePODS is the lack of an audio input which would allow for zero latency playback. Apple makes Logic, one of the greatest pieces of audio production software. They own Beats now and are making the new Mac Pro-- why not an audio in jack so we can plug these awesome speakers directly into the Mac Pro --- yeah yeah, i know they're not studio monitors, so make a pair of studio pods.
Making music on Macs used to be awesome. DJing is awesome. I'd love to do it with a pair of 2 or more HomePods daisy chained with an audio cable. Would probably sound awesome.
Comments
I really don't understand people going all in with defence for Apple. Do you people get money from Tim Cook???
Apple makes great products. But they also make couple of really bad products like maps, SIRI, apple mouse, pages and you could still find few more that are useless. Defending Apple for any cause is really stupid. Apple is capitalistic super power house and they deserve to be criticised from all users. They virtually have unlimited resources to make some things better and they don't.
This speaker could be a beautiful product for your home, but instead is just not delivering on features that Alexa and Google are having for years.
Without even having heard it, I'd be willing to go out on a limb and say it's Apple's best sounding speaker, period. The only other one is the Pill, and it's... well... you kinda have to feel sorry for the poor little guy.
There is no reason for any outside network intervention.
A computer can act as a NAS as it can act as many other things but real NAS options have grown in popularity over the years and are very much consumer options nowadays at the lower end.
Much like Apple took a lot of the pain out of WiFi configuration with the excellent Airport Utility (in its day) they could easily produce a NAS offering that consumers would find attractive. Mesh networking too.
I don't know enough about the usage patterns of a "typical" Apple customer to say whether that approach is good or bad. It's not well suited to my particular needs and preferences, but maybe it is for others.
The biggest problem with the HomePod is not the price (it is actually competitive if you look at other airplay speakers of similar quality) or the lack of innovation (it is one of Apple's most innovative products if you really drill into what they're doing sound-wise). The problem is that it doesn't solve any pain points that most consumers understand/appreciate. AirPods are ridiculously priced ear-pods with similar innovation as HP but they sell like mad because they overcame a common pain point—the awful state of pairing and reliability with wireless headphones. HomePod is great, but it isn't really any more convenient than other solutions.
Apple doesn't have an interest in providing you with a NAS, especially one that supports Plex and MKV etc (how does that benefit them? Their interest is in iTunes streaming). There are plenty of other affordable 3rd party options out there so why should they?
As for NAS options. Apple could do great things in that space. It's not about providing me with options but options for its user base but Apple has shown us time after time that it knows what is best for users, right?
Remember QuickTime and why Perian became popular?
And I don't think Apple is somehow beholden to provide you a NAS solution just because you think so. Again, what's wrong with any number of solutions readily available? Nothing.