HomePod is a total failure and disaster! The speaker itself sounds great... however Siri has been lobotomized. Amazon Alexa is far superior. For an apple product it's completely unacceptable. It's clear Apple is only focusing on Wallstreet, and that means shafting all of you. iPad/iphone is what apple has the lead in, and THAT is where all their attention, money, and resources go. Quite sad. The only thing apple has going for it is that they suck less than the rest. Truth.
And the notion that Apple is a company that caters to Wall Street is also absurd. You clearly don’t follow Apple very much.
Stock repurchase program.
$100B (thereabouts) in cash that will serve no other purpose than pleasing Wall Street. It's something very important to the Street and to the individual Apple executives whose primary payment is in stock grants AFAIK, so don't kid yourself.
You mean returning value to the people that actually own the company? This is to the benefit of all shareholders, including me, so I'm fine with that.
HomePod is a total failure and disaster! The speaker itself sounds great... however Siri has been lobotomized. Amazon Alexa is far superior. For an apple product it's completely unacceptable. It's clear Apple is only focusing on Wallstreet, and that means shafting all of you. iPad/iphone is what apple has the lead in, and THAT is where all their attention, money, and resources go. Quite sad. The only thing apple has going for it is that they suck less than the rest. Truth.
Holy hyperbole, batman. It’s not a failure if it’s generating revenue. It’s not a disaster if people are happy with them. We have two and think they’re great. I use Siri on it for home automation, music sometimes, and basic requests.
And the notion that Apple is a company that caters to Wall Street is also absurd. You clearly don’t follow Apple very much.
The HomePod is less useful than a Sonos One which can be had for around $169 on sale. The sound quality is the same. The HomePod is a complete waste and a non-starter, even if an all-Apple household. The only people who have HomePod, or multiple HomePod, are people who simply don't know what else exists beyond Apple.
Nonsense, of course. I had a $2,000 Gallo Acoustics system (five A'Divas plus sub on a quality receiver). I retired that system in favor of dual HPs. Sure the Gallos produced bigger sound, but for the hassle and space costs, the HP just became a more appealing solution. I sold all that equipment, with zero hesitation or regret.
But nice try at claiming ignorance.
As for the Sonos One, the HP sounds much better. You do you tho.
HomePod is a total failure and disaster! The speaker itself sounds great... however Siri has been lobotomized. Amazon Alexa is far superior. For an apple product it's completely unacceptable. It's clear Apple is only focusing on Wallstreet, and that means shafting all of you. iPad/iphone is what apple has the lead in, and THAT is where all their attention, money, and resources go. Quite sad. The only thing apple has going for it is that they suck less than the rest. Truth.
And the notion that Apple is a company that caters to Wall Street is also absurd. You clearly don’t follow Apple very much.
Stock repurchase program.
$100B (thereabouts) in cash that will serve no other purpose than pleasing Wall Street. It's something very important to the Street and to the individual Apple executives whose primary payment is in stock grants AFAIK, so don't kid yourself.
Errrnnnt. While stock buy backs do make stocks more valuable, to cite that single example and hold it up as proof that Apple caters to Wall Street is simply idiotic. Well done.
Their cash hoard is also considered a liability.
Apple famously doesn't manage to its stock price, it manages for "delight the customer". This has put them at odds with Wall Street investors and there has been more written about this than I care to explain to the ignorant. As usual, I'll just link to the same link I've shared countless times. Read it some time.
The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value.
HomePod is a total failure and disaster! The speaker itself sounds great... however Siri has been lobotomized. Amazon Alexa is far superior. For an apple product it's completely unacceptable. It's clear Apple is only focusing on Wallstreet, and that means shafting all of you. iPad/iphone is what apple has the lead in, and THAT is where all their attention, money, and resources go. Quite sad. The only thing apple has going for it is that they suck less than the rest. Truth.
And the notion that Apple is a company that caters to Wall Street is also absurd. You clearly don’t follow Apple very much.
Stock repurchase program.
$100B (thereabouts) in cash that will serve no other purpose than pleasing Wall Street. It's something very important to the Street and to the individual Apple executives whose primary payment is in stock grants AFAIK, so don't kid yourself.
You mean returning value to the people that actually own the company? This is to the benefit of all shareholders, including me, so I'm fine with that.
HomePod is a total failure and disaster! The speaker itself sounds great... however Siri has been lobotomized. Amazon Alexa is far superior. For an apple product it's completely unacceptable. It's clear Apple is only focusing on Wallstreet, and that means shafting all of you. iPad/iphone is what apple has the lead in, and THAT is where all their attention, money, and resources go. Quite sad. The only thing apple has going for it is that they suck less than the rest. Truth.
And the notion that Apple is a company that caters to Wall Street is also absurd. You clearly don’t follow Apple very much.
Stock repurchase program.
$100B (thereabouts) in cash that will serve no other purpose than pleasing Wall Street. It's something very important to the Street and to the individual Apple executives whose primary payment is in stock grants AFAIK, so don't kid yourself.
You mean returning value to the people that actually own the company? This is to the benefit of all shareholders, including me, so I'm fine with that.
Unmeasurable in truth so you have no idea if you benefitted or not, unlike a tangible dividend. But yes the stockholders, and that means Wall Street, may be fine with it. So yeah, Apple thinks it's important to please "Wall Street".
HomePod is a total failure and disaster! The speaker itself sounds great... however Siri has been lobotomized. Amazon Alexa is far superior. For an apple product it's completely unacceptable. It's clear Apple is only focusing on Wallstreet, and that means shafting all of you. iPad/iphone is what apple has the lead in, and THAT is where all their attention, money, and resources go. Quite sad. The only thing apple has going for it is that they suck less than the rest. Truth.
And the notion that Apple is a company that caters to Wall Street is also absurd. You clearly don’t follow Apple very much.
Stock repurchase program.
$100B (thereabouts) in cash that will serve no other purpose than pleasing Wall Street. It's something very important to the Street and to the individual Apple executives whose primary payment is in stock grants AFAIK, so don't kid yourself.
Errrnnnt. While stock buy backs do make stocks more valuable, to cite that single example and hold it up as proof that Apple caters to Wall Street is simply idiotic. Well done.
Their cash hoard is also considered a liability.
Apple famously doesn't manage to its stock price, it manages for "delight the customer". This has put them at odds with Wall Street investors and there has been more written about this than I care to explain to the ignorant. As usual, I'll just link to the same link I've shared countless times. Read it some time.
The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value.
Ah, you consider what Forbes has to say as the end-all. When did you start believing that?
Anyway, of course that not Apple's biggest concern, it would be "pleasing the customer". Pleasing Wall Street too does not need to be at odds with that. Obviously Apple and its Executive team pay close attention to how Apple stock is performing on Wall Street. It's disingenous of you to say they don't care when you know better but don't want to admit it for the sake of an argument. It's OK to say you might have misspoken.
As an aside I'm a bit surprised there's not been SEC concerns about stock repurchase programs where the company leaders have a vested interest in putting it in place, not referring to Apple specifically. It's a not uncommon practice particularly when a company stock price may be languishing. That would not apply to Apple.
I have 6 homepods and 2 Echo devices. Former are great speakers but Siri is so far behind Alexa it is at times incomprehensible that a company like Apple allow this state of affairs.
Apple need to up their game otherwise they remain as now just speakers that I use for basic HomeKit tasks.
I have a pair of HomePods in my master bedroom; a pair of Alexa-enabled Sonos Ones in my living room which controls my Logitech Harmony that controls my home theater. I'm always hearing and reading how "far behind" Siri is to Alexa and I wonder exactly how far?
In my usage Siri has performed on par with Alexa. In fact the most frustrating thing about Alexa is the numerous times it gets activated by dialog coming from the TV. When I'm watching "Schitt's Creek" it constantly gets activated when it hears the name, "Alexis" for example.
I have many HomeKit devices that also have Alexa skills so I'm able to ask Siri or Alexa to do the same things. My experience is I have to repeat my commands more often with Alexa. Also, there was an instance back in November right before Thanksgiving, where my Logitech Harmony skills just stopped working for a few days. I checked on Twitter and discovered I wasn't alone. This was after I had already wasted about an hour of my time troubleshooting. When I got back from the holiday, it was working again.
All said and done, in my experiences, I can't say that Alexa is far superior to Siri. Maybe because I use them both generically. That's not to say I don't believe you when you say Siri is far behind. I would just like some examples that I can try out myself.
My experience is just the opposite, although I only use Siri/HomeKit to control my Smart home devices.
example Siri
’Turn living room lights off’
75/25 - correct action/‘it doesn’t look like that scene has been setup yet’
example Siri vs Alexa ‘Play TalkRADIO’
(TalkRadio is a dedicated speech channel and is the fastest growing in the UK against some Stiff competion)
Alexa - every time plays TalkRADIO Siri - sometimes chill radio, sometimes another talk radio station, sometimes TalkRADIO
Just one example off the top of my head as it frustrates me daily. I wonder if this reflects the US centric nature of Siri? (don’t start just my thoughts!)
Amazon have a strong UK prescence and maybe it plays to that?
I feel Apple had the lead initially but perhaps the bargain basement device strategy of Amazon means they get more sample data to work with regarding accents, typical queries etc? After all I suspect it is listening a lot more often than Siri...
I’m totally bought into the concept and I find HomeKit enabled products to be stable and ‘just work’ unlike previous smart home experiences! Current Siri limitations mean I control mainly on my iOS device which is frustrating.
I have 6 homepods and 2 Echo devices. Former are great speakers but Siri is so far behind Alexa it is at times incomprehensible that a company like Apple allow this state of affairs.
Apple need to up their game otherwise they remain as now just speakers that I use for basic HomeKit tasks.
I have a pair of HomePods in my master bedroom; a pair of Alexa-enabled Sonos Ones in my living room which controls my Logitech Harmony that controls my home theater. I'm always hearing and reading how "far behind" Siri is to Alexa and I wonder exactly how far?
In my usage Siri has performed on par with Alexa. In fact the most frustrating thing about Alexa is the numerous times it gets activated by dialog coming from the TV. When I'm watching "Schitt's Creek" it constantly gets activated when it hears the name, "Alexis" for example.
I have many HomeKit devices that also have Alexa skills so I'm able to ask Siri or Alexa to do the same things. My experience is I have to repeat my commands more often with Alexa. Also, there was an instance back in November right before Thanksgiving, where my Logitech Harmony skills just stopped working for a few days. I checked on Twitter and discovered I wasn't alone. This was after I had already wasted about an hour of my time troubleshooting. When I got back from the holiday, it was working again.
All said and done, in my experiences, I can't say that Alexa is far superior to Siri. Maybe because I use them both generically. That's not to say I don't believe you when you say Siri is far behind. I would just like some examples that I can try out myself.
My experience is just the opposite, although I only use Siri/HomeKit to control my Smart home devices.
example Siri
’Turn living room lights off’
75/25 - correct action/‘it doesn’t look like that scene has been setup yet’
example Siri vs Alexa ‘Play TalkRADIO’
(TalkRadio is a dedicated speech channel and is the fastest growing in the UK against some Stiff competion)
Alexa - every time plays TalkRADIO Siri - sometimes chill radio, sometimes another talk radio station, sometimes TalkRADIO
Just one example off the top of my head as it frustrates me daily. I wonder if this reflects the US centric nature of Siri? (don’t start just my thoughts!)
Amazon have a strong UK prescence and maybe it plays to that?
I feel Apple had the lead initially but perhaps the bargain basement device strategy of Amazon means they get more sample data to work with regarding accents, typical queries etc? After all I suspect it is listening a lot more often than Siri...
I’m totally bought into the concept and I find HomeKit enabled products to be stable and ‘just work’ unlike previous smart home experiences! Current Siri limitations mean I control mainly on my iOS device which is frustrating.
Yeah, I use Siri mainly for HomeKit automation in my home and it always works. I will use Alexa sometimes just for variety and comparison and there are times when I have to repeat a command; most of the issues are with Logitech Harmony, Lutron Caseta, and Eocbee thermostat.
All said and done, in my experiences, I can't say that Alexa is far superior to Siri. Maybe because I use them both generically. That's not to say I don't believe you when you say Siri is far behind. I would just like some examples that I can try out myself.
I find Siri is actually superior to Alexa when giving basic commands to control connected gadgets. For example when I ask Alexa to “turn on the lounge plug” she will sometimes do it or else she will reply “lounge doesn’t support that”. With Siri the same command goes through 100% of the time.
Where I find Siri falls down is outside of these specific commands for home automation.
Let me give a couple of examples:
Ask Alexa what Gas Mark 3 is in Celsius and you’ll get the correct answer. Ask the same of HomePod and you get the generic Sorry, HomePod does not know this type of answer. It’s amazing how many seemingly simple questions Siri just does not know!
Another prime example, and one where the HomePod should absolute destroy Alexa is with Apple Music. If I say to Siri “Play shotgun” it plays the version from the 60’s by Junior Walker, which is not the song I want and is in fact a song I have never played. I ask Siri to play a different version of shotgun, it just plays the same damn song. In the end I have to specify, Siri, play Shotgun by George Ezra.
Now my children love Shotgun by George Ezra, I’d not be surprised if they have listened to it a 100 times or more and yet for some reason, on the HomePod, it insists on playing a song that we have never listened to instead of using logic to work out the one we want.
If we ask Alexa to play Shotgun it gets the George Ezra version every time and on the odd occasion where we ask it to play a song where the name has been used a few times over the years the command of play a different version actually plays a different bloody version!
I could give so many more examples, but I think you get the point. It’s crazy how Apple Music is better via Alexa than via Siri, that’s just embarrassing for Apple!
I use Siri mainly for home automation and it always works. Sometimes I'll ask for sports scores, weather, and occasionally liquid measurements and conversions when I'm cooking something. I'm always successful with it.
Last night however, since I posted, I did some testing and comparisons. For example, I asked Alexa to name the 5 Great Lakes and it named all of them. Siri couldn't answer the question on the HomePod; on my iPhone Siri just presented me with links to the answer.
Then, I asked Siri to tell me how much 78,000 kronor was in U.S. dollars and it gave me the answer courtesy of Yahoo Finance as the source. Alexa did the same without giving me the source.
I don't understand why Siri can't name the 5 Great Lakes like Alexa can. So I'm beginning to see the areas where Siri lags behind Alexa.
All said and done, in my experiences, I can't say that Alexa is far superior to Siri. Maybe because I use them both generically. That's not to say I don't believe you when you say Siri is far behind. I would just like some examples that I can try out myself.
I find Siri is actually superior to Alexa when giving basic commands to control connected gadgets. For example when I ask Alexa to “turn on the lounge plug” she will sometimes do it or else she will reply “lounge doesn’t support that”. With Siri the same command goes through 100% of the time.
Where I find Siri falls down is outside of these specific commands for home automation.
Let me give a couple of examples:
Ask Alexa what Gas Mark 3 is in Celsius and you’ll get the correct answer. Ask the same of HomePod and you get the generic Sorry, HomePod does not know this type of answer. It’s amazing how many seemingly simple questions Siri just does not know!
Another prime example, and one where the HomePod should absolute destroy Alexa is with Apple Music. If I say to Siri “Play shotgun” it plays the version from the 60’s by Junior Walker, which is not the song I want and is in fact a song I have never played. I ask Siri to play a different version of shotgun, it just plays the same damn song. In the end I have to specify, Siri, play Shotgun by George Ezra.
Now my children love Shotgun by George Ezra, I’d not be surprised if they have listened to it a 100 times or more and yet for some reason, on the HomePod, it insists on playing a song that we have never listened to instead of using logic to work out the one we want.
If we ask Alexa to play Shotgun it gets the George Ezra version every time and on the odd occasion where we ask it to play a song where the name has been used a few times over the years the command of play a different version actually plays a different bloody version!
I could give so many more examples, but I think you get the point. It’s crazy how Apple Music is better via Alexa than via Siri, that’s just embarrassing for Apple!
I use Siri mainly for home automation and it always works. Sometimes I'll ask for sports scores, weather, and occasionally liquid measurements and conversions when I'm cooking something. I'm always successful with it.
Last night however, since I posted, I did some testing and comparisons. For example, I asked Alexa to name the 5 Great Lakes and it named all of them. Siri couldn't answer the question on the HomePod; on my iPhone Siri just presented me with links to the answer.
Then, I asked Siri to tell me how much 78,000 kronor was in U.S. dollars and it gave me the answer courtesy of Yahoo Finance as the source. Alexa did the same without giving me the source.
I don't understand why Siri can't name the 5 Great Lakes like Alexa can. So I'm beginning to see the areas where Siri lags behind Alexa.
Honestly, I think it comes down to whether you value conversation or privacy with your home speaker. I love my HP with female British Siri. She gets my home automation done confidently, sets my kitchen timers and lets me know the temperature. She values my privacy. I am not looking for a wikipedia conversation. By the way, were you offered any vacations around the Great Lakes recently?
Also as someone that listens to vinyl via tubes through electrostatic speakers, the HP sounds great with my Apple Musoc subscription. If I was younger I probably never would have collected my record collection. Count me happy.
HomePod is a total failure and disaster! The speaker itself sounds great... however Siri has been lobotomized. Amazon Alexa is far superior. For an apple product it's completely unacceptable. It's clear Apple is only focusing on Wallstreet, and that means shafting all of you. iPad/iphone is what apple has the lead in, and THAT is where all their attention, money, and resources go. Quite sad. The only thing apple has going for it is that they suck less than the rest. Truth.
And the notion that Apple is a company that caters to Wall Street is also absurd. You clearly don’t follow Apple very much.
Stock repurchase program.
$100B (thereabouts) in cash that will serve no other purpose than pleasing Wall Street. It's something very important to the Street and to the individual Apple executives whose primary payment is in stock grants AFAIK, so don't kid yourself.
Errrnnnt. While stock buy backs do make stocks more valuable, to cite that single example and hold it up as proof that Apple caters to Wall Street is simply idiotic. Well done.
Their cash hoard is also considered a liability.
Apple famously doesn't manage to its stock price, it manages for "delight the customer". This has put them at odds with Wall Street investors and there has been more written about this than I care to explain to the ignorant. As usual, I'll just link to the same link I've shared countless times. Read it some time.
The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value.
Ah, you consider what Forbes has to say as the end-all. When did you start believing that?
Anyway, of course that not Apple's biggest concern, it would be "pleasing the customer". Pleasing Wall Street too does not need to be at odds with that. Obviously Apple and its Executive team pay close attention to how Apple stock is performing on Wall Street. It's disingenous of you to say they don't care when you know better but don't want to admit it for the sake of an argument. It's OK to say you might have misspoken.
As an aside I'm a bit surprised there's not been SEC concerns about stock repurchase programs where the company leaders have a vested interest in putting it in place, not referring to Apple specifically. It's a not uncommon practice particularly when a company stock price may be languishing. That would not apply to Apple.
Oh please Gator, stock purchases are an incredible conservative way for a company to invest in itself. It is sign that the executives have faith in the future of the company and increases value for all the shareholders. What do you want Apple to do with the money? Waste it on acquisitions like how Alphabet eroded shareholder value by purchasing Motorola? Put it a bond for a 3% return? Pay it out in direct executive compensation? I am an Apple investor because the company is incredibly well managed with executives who are appropriately compensated. A share repurchases might be a way to enrich a dominant Bezos like shareholder but that does apply to Apple. When Apple pays $200 for a share of stock that is worth $320 within a year that is good for all shareholders which probably includes you if you own a mutual fund.
HomePod is a total failure and disaster! The speaker itself sounds great... however Siri has been lobotomized. Amazon Alexa is far superior. For an apple product it's completely unacceptable. It's clear Apple is only focusing on Wallstreet, and that means shafting all of you. iPad/iphone is what apple has the lead in, and THAT is where all their attention, money, and resources go. Quite sad. The only thing apple has going for it is that they suck less than the rest. Truth.
And the notion that Apple is a company that caters to Wall Street is also absurd. You clearly don’t follow Apple very much.
Stock repurchase program.
$100B (thereabouts) in cash that will serve no other purpose than pleasing Wall Street. It's something very important to the Street and to the individual Apple executives whose primary payment is in stock grants AFAIK, so don't kid yourself.
Errrnnnt. While stock buy backs do make stocks more valuable, to cite that single example and hold it up as proof that Apple caters to Wall Street is simply idiotic. Well done.
Their cash hoard is also considered a liability.
Apple famously doesn't manage to its stock price, it manages for "delight the customer". This has put them at odds with Wall Street investors and there has been more written about this than I care to explain to the ignorant. As usual, I'll just link to the same link I've shared countless times. Read it some time.
The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value.
Ah, you consider what Forbes has to say as the end-all. When did you start believing that?
Anyway, of course that not Apple's biggest concern, it would be "pleasing the customer". Pleasing Wall Street too does not need to be at odds with that. Obviously Apple and its Executive team pay close attention to how Apple stock is performing on Wall Street. It's disingenous of you to say they don't care when you know better but don't want to admit it for the sake of an argument. It's OK to say you might have misspoken.
As an aside I'm a bit surprised there's not been SEC concerns about stock repurchase programs where the company leaders have a vested interest in putting it in place, not referring to Apple specifically. It's a not uncommon practice particularly when a company stock price may be languishing. That would not apply to Apple.
Oh please Gator, stock purchases are an incredible conservative way for a company to invest in itself. When Apple pays $200 for a share of stock that is worth $320 within a year that is good for all shareholders which probably includes you if you own a mutual fund.
What did Apple do with that share of stock and how did it "invest in itself" by purchasing it? The way you worded it sounds like you believe Apple now has a share of stock worth $120 more than it paid. Perhaps you don't know how this thing works.
Anyway, don't lose sight of the claims. StrangeDays said Apple doesn't care about Wall Street, which includes you as an investor along with millions of others. I replied that Apple cares very much, and that includes the executives personally. What do you believe?
All said and done, in my experiences, I can't say that Alexa is far superior to Siri. Maybe because I use them both generically. That's not to say I don't believe you when you say Siri is far behind. I would just like some examples that I can try out myself.
I find Siri is actually superior to Alexa when giving basic commands to control connected gadgets. For example when I ask Alexa to “turn on the lounge plug” she will sometimes do it or else she will reply “lounge doesn’t support that”. With Siri the same command goes through 100% of the time.
Where I find Siri falls down is outside of these specific commands for home automation.
Let me give a couple of examples:
Ask Alexa what Gas Mark 3 is in Celsius and you’ll get the correct answer. Ask the same of HomePod and you get the generic Sorry, HomePod does not know this type of answer. It’s amazing how many seemingly simple questions Siri just does not know!
Another prime example, and one where the HomePod should absolute destroy Alexa is with Apple Music. If I say to Siri “Play shotgun” it plays the version from the 60’s by Junior Walker, which is not the song I want and is in fact a song I have never played. I ask Siri to play a different version of shotgun, it just plays the same damn song. In the end I have to specify, Siri, play Shotgun by George Ezra.
Now my children love Shotgun by George Ezra, I’d not be surprised if they have listened to it a 100 times or more and yet for some reason, on the HomePod, it insists on playing a song that we have never listened to instead of using logic to work out the one we want.
If we ask Alexa to play Shotgun it gets the George Ezra version every time and on the odd occasion where we ask it to play a song where the name has been used a few times over the years the command of play a different version actually plays a different bloody version!
I could give so many more examples, but I think you get the point. It’s crazy how Apple Music is better via Alexa than via Siri, that’s just embarrassing for Apple!
I use Siri mainly for home automation and it always works. Sometimes I'll ask for sports scores, weather, and occasionally liquid measurements and conversions when I'm cooking something. I'm always successful with it.
Last night however, since I posted, I did some testing and comparisons. For example, I asked Alexa to name the 5 Great Lakes and it named all of them. Siri couldn't answer the question on the HomePod; on my iPhone Siri just presented me with links to the answer.
Then, I asked Siri to tell me how much 78,000 kronor was in U.S. dollars and it gave me the answer courtesy of Yahoo Finance as the source. Alexa did the same without giving me the source.
I don't understand why Siri can't name the 5 Great Lakes like Alexa can. So I'm beginning to see the areas where Siri lags behind Alexa.
Honestly, I think it comes down to whether you value conversation or privacy with your home speaker. I love my HP with female British Siri. She gets my home automation done confidently, sets my kitchen timers and lets me know the temperature. She values my privacy. I am not looking for a wikipedia conversation. By the way, were you offered any vacations around the Great Lakes recently?
Also as someone that listens to vinyl via tubes through electrostatic speakers, the HP sounds great with my Apple Musoc subscription. If I was younger I probably never would have collected my record collection. Count me happy.
Agreed. My HomePods have Australian Siri voices. I don't need Siri for anything more than home automation and in that, it exceeds my expectations. And no, I've not been offered any vacations or anything associated with the Great Lakes recently. I mainly have the mic turned off on the Sonos unless I'm in the living room watching TV and movies. I never leave the mic on 24/7.
This particular "beautiful woman who leads you to victory" simply won’t deliver this time… Whatever little "steps" Apple has made in any and all Siri interface ware, like HomePod, the sales will never shift its status from "expensive uselessness" to raw, "shameful consumer gullibleness". Even Microsofts’ late entry to the game with Cortana poops heavily on Siri and HomeKit. Reliant on CalDAV was Siri’s fatal flaw at launch and the first decade of its existence. How well could an assistant possibly cope with work schedules comprising multiple appointments in the same 24hr period? Or an inherent degree of impaired hearing (that, or complete inability coping with newly uttered vocal inflection). Forget to shut Siri down and you’ll find your Mac/iPhone/iPod attempting to carry out unrequested, often surreal, tasks due to it having its hearing compromised, especially when it starts responding to completely imaginary commands it thought were ordered.
Whatever for? It’s a truly awful "audio" device made up of £20.00 max., worth of components and a node of Siri's brain, which is no bigger or capable than a brain possessed by a bed-bug.
Plus, Apple make eye-watering profit off the backs of those HPods.
HomePod is a total failure and disaster! The speaker itself sounds great... however Siri has been lobotomized. Amazon Alexa is far superior. For an apple product it's completely unacceptable. It's clear Apple is only focusing on Wallstreet, and that means shafting all of you. iPad/iphone is what apple has the lead in, and THAT is where all their attention, money, and resources go. Quite sad. The only thing apple has going for it is that they suck less than the rest. Truth.
And the notion that Apple is a company that caters to Wall Street is also absurd. You clearly don’t follow Apple very much.
Stock repurchase program.
$100B (thereabouts) in cash that will serve no other purpose than pleasing Wall Street. It's something very important to the Street and to the individual Apple executives whose primary payment is in stock grants AFAIK, so don't kid yourself.
If Apple catered to Wall Street (The Universal Church of Market Share) then they wouldn’t be doing stock buybacks at all: they’d increase dividends to insane levels and sell iPhones at cost to drive Android into the ground. If they catered to Wall Street they’d be acquiring companies hand over fist just to do something with the cash. But if they just sit on that mountain of cash when interest rates are so low then the value of it is just dropping. If they just buy companies that have no benefit to their long term strategy, then they’ll just end up selling them at a massive loss later on – much like Google.
Nope, the point of the buybacks is to benefit long-term investors by increasing the value of their holdings without incurring tax. Short-termers, like Wall Street, would rather have the dividend.
All said and done, in my experiences, I can't say that Alexa is far superior to Siri. Maybe because I use them both generically. That's not to say I don't believe you when you say Siri is far behind. I would just like some examples that I can try out myself.
I find Siri is actually superior to Alexa when giving basic commands to control connected gadgets. For example when I ask Alexa to “turn on the lounge plug” she will sometimes do it or else she will reply “lounge doesn’t support that”. With Siri the same command goes through 100% of the time.
Where I find Siri falls down is outside of these specific commands for home automation.
Let me give a couple of examples:
Ask Alexa what Gas Mark 3 is in Celsius and you’ll get the correct answer. Ask the same of HomePod and you get the generic Sorry, HomePod does not know this type of answer. It’s amazing how many seemingly simple questions Siri just does not know!
Another prime example, and one where the HomePod should absolute destroy Alexa is with Apple Music. If I say to Siri “Play shotgun” it plays the version from the 60’s by Junior Walker, which is not the song I want and is in fact a song I have never played. I ask Siri to play a different version of shotgun, it just plays the same damn song. In the end I have to specify, Siri, play Shotgun by George Ezra.
Now my children love Shotgun by George Ezra, I’d not be surprised if they have listened to it a 100 times or more and yet for some reason, on the HomePod, it insists on playing a song that we have never listened to instead of using logic to work out the one we want.
If we ask Alexa to play Shotgun it gets the George Ezra version every time and on the odd occasion where we ask it to play a song where the name has been used a few times over the years the command of play a different version actually plays a different bloody version!
I could give so many more examples, but I think you get the point. It’s crazy how Apple Music is better via Alexa than via Siri, that’s just embarrassing for Apple!
I use Siri mainly for home automation and it always works. Sometimes I'll ask for sports scores, weather, and occasionally liquid measurements and conversions when I'm cooking something. I'm always successful with it.
Last night however, since I posted, I did some testing and comparisons. For example, I asked Alexa to name the 5 Great Lakes and it named all of them. Siri couldn't answer the question on the HomePod; on my iPhone Siri just presented me with links to the answer.
Then, I asked Siri to tell me how much 78,000 kronor was in U.S. dollars and it gave me the answer courtesy of Yahoo Finance as the source. Alexa did the same without giving me the source.
I don't understand why Siri can't name the 5 Great Lakes like Alexa can. So I'm beginning to see the areas where Siri lags behind Alexa.
Honestly, I think it comes down to whether you value conversation or privacy with your home speaker. I love my HP with female British Siri. She gets my home automation done confidently, sets my kitchen timers and lets me know the temperature. She values my privacy. I am not looking for a wikipedia conversation. By the way, were you offered any vacations around the Great Lakes recently?
Also as someone that listens to vinyl via tubes through electrostatic speakers, the HP sounds great with my Apple Musoc subscription. If I was younger I probably never would have collected my record collection. Count me happy.
Agreed. My HomePods have Australian Siri voices. I don't need Siri for anything more than home automation and in that, it exceeds my expectations. And no, I've not been offered any vacations or anything associated with the Great Lakes recently. I mainly have the mic turned off on the Sonos unless I'm in the living room watching TV and movies. I never leave the mic on 24/7.
Comments
But nice try at claiming ignorance.
As for the Sonos One, the HP sounds much better. You do you tho.
Their cash hoard is also considered a liability.
Apple famously doesn't manage to its stock price, it manages for "delight the customer". This has put them at odds with Wall Street investors and there has been more written about this than I care to explain to the ignorant. As usual, I'll just link to the same link I've shared countless times. Read it some time.
The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/11/28/maximizing-shareholder-value-the-dumbest-idea-in-the-world/
Anyway, of course that not Apple's biggest concern, it would be "pleasing the customer". Pleasing Wall Street too does not need to be at odds with that. Obviously Apple and its Executive team pay close attention to how Apple stock is performing on Wall Street. It's disingenous of you to say they don't care when you know better but don't want to admit it for the sake of an argument. It's OK to say you might have misspoken.
As an aside I'm a bit surprised there's not been SEC concerns about stock repurchase programs where the company leaders have a vested interest in putting it in place, not referring to Apple specifically. It's a not uncommon practice particularly when a company stock price may be languishing. That would not apply to Apple.
example Siri
’Turn living room lights off’
75/25 - correct action/‘it doesn’t look like that scene has been setup yet’
example Siri vs Alexa ‘Play TalkRADIO’
(TalkRadio is a dedicated speech channel and is the fastest growing in the UK against some Stiff competion)
Alexa - every time plays TalkRADIO
Siri - sometimes chill radio, sometimes another talk radio station, sometimes TalkRADIO
Just one example off the top of my head as it frustrates me daily. I wonder if this reflects the US centric nature of Siri? (don’t start just my thoughts!)
Amazon have a strong UK prescence and maybe it plays to that?
I feel Apple had the lead initially but perhaps the bargain basement device strategy of Amazon means they get more sample data to work with regarding accents, typical queries etc? After all I suspect it is listening a lot more often than Siri...
I’m totally bought into the concept and I find HomeKit enabled products to be stable and ‘just work’ unlike previous smart home experiences! Current Siri limitations mean I control mainly on my iOS device which is frustrating.
Last night however, since I posted, I did some testing and comparisons. For example, I asked Alexa to name the 5 Great Lakes and it named all of them. Siri couldn't answer the question on the HomePod; on my iPhone Siri just presented me with links to the answer.
Then, I asked Siri to tell me how much 78,000 kronor was in U.S. dollars and it gave me the answer courtesy of Yahoo Finance as the source. Alexa did the same without giving me the source.
I don't understand why Siri can't name the 5 Great Lakes like Alexa can. So I'm beginning to see the areas where Siri lags behind Alexa.
Also as someone that listens to vinyl via tubes through electrostatic speakers, the HP sounds great with my Apple Musoc subscription. If I was younger I probably never would have collected my record collection. Count me happy.
Anyway, don't lose sight of the claims. StrangeDays said Apple doesn't care about Wall Street, which includes you as an investor along with millions of others. I replied that Apple cares very much, and that includes the executives personally. What do you believe?
Whatever for? It’s a truly awful "audio" device made up of £20.00 max., worth of components and a node of Siri's brain, which is no bigger or capable than a brain possessed by a bed-bug.
Plus, Apple make eye-watering profit off the backs of those HPods.
Female Irish. Very soothing.