If I could make one suggestion to Apple, especially now that Jony Ive is gone, is to create a better looking Home Pod, and one that doesn’t need to try to be a 360 degree speaker. For a lot of people, myself included, speakers get placed on a bookshelf, counter, or the like, where you want / need a soundscape that is maybe 270 degrees, and less for lower frequencies.
I’d love to see something more akin to a conventional speaker design, sold in pairs, that would be great for stereo sound and even television or iPad movie watching use.
I have this feeling that Apple over-designed the current Home Pod (not surprising given Mr. Ive’s propensity for making things more complicated than they need to be), requiring too much processing power, mics, and complex speaker array. It’s definitely overly complex for a smart speaker, which drove the price up beyond what most people wanted to spend, and it’s not quite up to par as a mid-range hi-fi speaker.
Say whaaa? Ive making things too complicated? Yeah no, his reputation is in making things simple, sometimes to a fault.
My stereo homepod pair sounds great for movies watched on my television. You can do it today. Using the beam forming mics it detects if they’re up against a wall or shelves.
Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one.
Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down.
I don't think you get it. Critics are comparing Homepod to free echos and cheap Google spyware(often free) and with that considered it still snagged an estimated 6% of the market at 15x the price. Add in the fact these speakers copied the "ugly" toilet-paper design after HomePod. Remember when they were metal and plastic?
In reality Homepod is in a different league. It should be compared to Bluetooth speakers not these cheap spy devices.
Why not compare it directly for its capabilities. How is it as a digital assistant? How is it as a stand alone speaker? How is it for connecting to 3rd-party speakers?
HomePods are sold as excellent speakers that use an optional voice interface. It’s not some BS digital assistant, which all suck no matter what the brand. But sure, you can ask it to set reminders, change the lights, and tell you how tall your favorite celebrities are.
Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one.
Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down.
I help but get the impression that you don’t get what the HomePod is for.
I think part of his criticism is precisely that it should be for more. It would be nice if they widened its scope a bit. A smaller version makes sense as long as it doesn't cost a fortune to have a main unit and a few smaller secondary units for smaller rooms.
I think the proper comparison of the HomePod is more to the Sonos One series, and not google home or Alexa. They were designed first as quality speakers, then as assistants. Amazon and Google speakers were designed with inverse priorities.
Why don't people get this?
I think the media in general is the problem. When Apple released HomePod they called it an Echo competitor even though HomePod was in development before Echo.
How is the media the problem if Apple put it in their messaging?
The "proper" comparison to the HomePod, is whatever else people are buying instead of the HomePod, whether that's Sonos, Alexa or $25 alternatives. Enough of this whining that people are comparing it wrong; people have different needs and use cases.
HomePods are sold as excellent speakers that use an optional voice interface. It’s not some BS digital assistant, which all suck no matter what the brand. But sure, you can ask it to set reminders, change the lights, and tell you how tall your favorite celebrities are.
Apple made the HomePod and sold it as a speaker and included a digital assistant. If it wasn't to be as full featured an assistant yet included as a BS level digital assistant, maybe they shouldn't have named it Siri. They should have named the "voice interface" something that didn't raise expectations and invite comparisons. Maybe Siri Lite. Or Siri Inferior. Or Carlton. But they did.
And maybe they shouldn't have had HomePod Siri Inferior / Carlton intercept and take over every iDevice's far more capable Siri and then fail to carry out all those requests and functions we've been using Siri for since before there was a HomePod in the house. But they did.
Either way, Apple screwed the pooch on either Siri implementing. Not to mention Alexa, on it's platform as far more superior than Siri or Carlton. Not great, but far from sucking as much as the aforementioned.
Yeah, the big HomePod was SUCH a hit, we need a small one.
Make it work with a typical TV or shut it down.
I help but get the impression that you don’t get what the HomePod is for.
I think part of his criticism is precisely that it should be for more. It would be nice if they widened its scope a bit. A smaller version makes sense as long as it doesn't cost a fortune to have a main unit and a few smaller secondary units for smaller rooms.
I think the proper comparison of the HomePod is more to the Sonos One series, and not google home or Alexa. They were designed first as quality speakers, then as assistants. Amazon and Google speakers were designed with inverse priorities.
Why don't people get this?
I think the media in general is the problem. When Apple released HomePod they called it an Echo competitor even though HomePod was in development before Echo.
The Homepod wasn't "in development" as a planned Apple product. It was some engineer's hobby hardware, something a small group toyed with and eventually convinced the product people at Apple to give a trial run. Some engineers at Amazon may have been toying with what became the Echo years before it became a planned Amazon product. Geesh, not every nice product began life as an Apple project.
If Apple decides to offer a smaller Homepod it will be because the original showed some promise for becoming a profitable product segment. Personally I don't believe it's made a profit yet, I don't think enough units at the original retail price have moved, lots of discounting and resellers pay way less than their selling price that currently hovers around $299 and as little as $205 new, but expanding the line will likely do so.
You have to keep in mind that Echos come in many sizes, only one or two of which competes with the HomePod (the two at the top end). The rest are entry devices into the Alexa virtual assistant, which is an entire war altogether that Apple is losing: Alexa works very well, and is a big part of your everyday life, while Siri sux and is used only sparsely. Alexa has the mindshare here, and Apple would do good to release a cheap device only for people to access Siri, and make Siri useful to everyday life. So these are two different things, pricey high-end audio vs. ubiquitous virtual assistant that works well, some on devices that are pretty good for audio, too (at least good enough for their price).
Having used all the virtual assistants and having a smart house built on HomeKit I entirely disagree with your assessment of Siri. Also Alexa isn't really that smart out of the box, you have to go to the skills store and add a bunch of skills to it. It's also a data harvester that expressly designed to drive sales.
Comments
Say whaaa? Ive making things too complicated? Yeah no, his reputation is in making things simple, sometimes to a fault.
My stereo homepod pair sounds great for movies watched on my television. You can do it today. Using the beam forming mics it detects if they’re up against a wall or shelves.
HomePods are sold as excellent speakers that use an optional voice interface. It’s not some BS digital assistant, which all suck no matter what the brand. But sure, you can ask it to set reminders, change the lights, and tell you how tall your favorite celebrities are.
The "proper" comparison to the HomePod, is whatever else people are buying instead of the HomePod, whether that's Sonos, Alexa or $25 alternatives. Enough of this whining that people are comparing it wrong; people have different needs and use cases.
Apple made the HomePod and sold it as a speaker and included a digital assistant. If it wasn't to be as full featured an assistant yet included as a BS level digital assistant, maybe they shouldn't have named it Siri. They should have named the "voice interface" something that didn't raise expectations and invite comparisons. Maybe Siri Lite. Or Siri Inferior. Or Carlton. But they did.
And maybe they shouldn't have had HomePod Siri Inferior / Carlton intercept and take over every iDevice's far more capable Siri and then fail to carry out all those requests and functions we've been using Siri for since before there was a HomePod in the house. But they did.
Either way, Apple screwed the pooch on either Siri implementing. Not to mention Alexa, on it's platform as far more superior than Siri or Carlton. Not great, but far from sucking as much as the aforementioned.
If Apple decides to offer a smaller Homepod it will be because the original showed some promise for becoming a profitable product segment. Personally I don't believe it's made a profit yet, I don't think enough units at the original retail price have moved, lots of discounting and resellers pay way less than their selling price that currently hovers around $299 and as little as $205 new, but expanding the line will likely do so.