Bring on everyone picking it apart piece by piece of what's wrong with it and that a product that was delayed should work 100% perfect. I'm sure everyone will bitch about Siri right off the bat because it can't do one little thing.
You know what’s worse? The folk who’ll bore us with their home set up before rubbishing it.
“Well, I’m sitting in front of a 12 foot by 12 foot Horn of Gondor rig tricked out with Siren of Death Tweeters, an Earbleeder Speaker just for the bass, a Crustbuster Subwoofer because I can, and a Brassiere Flange Turntable encased in a block of solid Adamantium. My wife has taken the kids and left, the cat has moved into a house in the next town, the dog is deaf and the local airline complains of air turbulence when their jets fly over my house. I sold a kidney and a lung to buy this setup, so why in the world would I want a piece of junk like the HomePod??”
This is a flop out of the box. When you come to market after everyone else and even behind your announced launch, you should have your feature set complete and ready for prime time. This device is none of that.
More expensive than Google and Amazon. Inferior Siri AI Tied to Apple's rental rap service- not iTunes. No apparent support for streaming from local iTunes library, Mac computer or Apple TV. No stereo capability. Design looks like a fingerprint and dust magnet. Every little kid will put their paws on the surface and the mesh will be a magnet for dust. No physical audio input.
Got a nice set of Focal SuperBirds set up with my Apple TV in the Living Room. Cannot imagine how this thing in any way is better- certainly not in Audio quality. Got a nice Focal XS Computer speakers for my Desktop Mac. This Apple TP Roll will not sound better. Not dragging around a $350 toilet paper roll sized speaker in my computer bag. Not replacing my main stereo setup. Not going to use it in the car. Not going to haul it to the beach, camping or the back yard.
So exactly what use is this thing?
To be fair, it's cheaper than the Google Home Max so one of your points isn't correct. You could argue that with the free YouTube sub for a year and the option of supplementing it with a Mini then Google offers a cheaper option but like-for-like, the HomePod is cheaper than the Max
“The HomePod is designed to work with an Apple Music subscription.”
Apple arrogance in full effect. I won’t be able to tell Siri to play music in Spotify? Forget it! I can’t do it in the car either and it’s super annoying. Apple is still not opening up Siri fully while Amazon and Google do.
Also quite surprising the HomePod doesn’t support stereo playback and do multi room at launch.
Can you tell any of the other non Apple smart speakers to play music from your Apple iTunes library? Just curious as I don't own any.
No stereo pair capability at launch. Apple specifically says that a single HomePod separates sound into left/center/right channels. It's not a mono speaker.
Curious if it will work with the iTunes library on my computer, or is an Apple Music subscription required.
Supposedly can support iTunes Match if you do not use Apple Music. Not streaming from a local iTunes library is arrogant or stupid. Apparently cannot use it as a speaker for your Mac or Apple TV- much less and non-Apple device.
Do you know that it can't work with AppleTV for a fact? I'd assumed just as you can select bluetooth head sets (of any make) from AppleTV settings you'd be able to select HomePods as the output.
This is a flop out of the box. When you come to market after everyone else and even behind your announced launch, you should have your feature set complete and ready for prime time. This device is none of that.
More expensive than Google and Amazon. Inferior Siri AI Tied to Apple's rental rap service- not iTunes. No apparent support for streaming from local iTunes library, Mac computer or Apple TV. No stereo capability. Design looks like a fingerprint and dust magnet. Every little kid will put their paws on the surface and the mesh will be a magnet for dust. No physical audio input.
Got a nice set of Focal SuperBirds set up with my Apple TV in the Living Room. Cannot imagine how this thing in any way is better- certainly not in Audio quality. Got a nice Focal XS Computer speakers for my Desktop Mac. This Apple TP Roll will not sound better. Not dragging around a $350 toilet paper roll sized speaker in my computer bag. Not replacing my main stereo setup. Not going to use it in the car. Not going to haul it to the beach, camping or the back yard.
So exactly what use is this thing?
I haven't actually listed to a HomePod yet, have you? Perhaps it's as much about audio quality as anything else. The last pair of speakers I bought cost thousands, this seems pretty inexpensive if they sounds as good as indicated.
“The HomePod is designed to work with an Apple Music subscription.”
Apple arrogance in full effect. I won’t be able to tell Siri to play music in Spotify? Forget it! I can’t do it in the car either and it’s super annoying. Apple is still not opening up Siri fully while Amazon and Google do.
To work with Siri, Spotify needs to write a connector, which Spotify hasn’t done.
Not dragging around a $350 toilet paper roll sized speaker in my computer bag. Not replacing my main stereo setup. Not going to use it in the car. Not going to haul it to the beach, camping or the back yard.
So exactly what use is this thing?
I don't think it was designed to be used in the car, or used at the beach, camping, or even in the back yard. It is a HOME pod, designed for a semi-permanent spot in a home. I suspect it was, however, designed to replace a typical "main stereo setup". I think complaining about not being able to tote around a device that wasn't designed to be toted around is tilting at windmills.
I had been hoping to put one in my kitchen, one in my bedroom, and one in my office, so that I can have easy-to-manage multi-room audio. I'm starting to lose confidence that Apple will be able to deliver on that. :-\
“The HomePod is designed to work with an Apple Music subscription.”
Apple arrogance in full effect. I won’t be able to tell Siri to play music in Spotify? Forget it! I can’t do it in the car either and it’s super annoying. Apple is still not opening up Siri fully while Amazon and Google do.
Also quite surprising the HomePod doesn’t support stereo playback and do multi room at launch.
I'm fairly certain Google Home didn't do multi room at launch and I think the same is true for the Amazon Echo. Now before you say the bar has gone up and Apple needs to step up it's game, let's not forgot about the Google Home Mini that was caught recording everything and sending the data back to Google's servers. Apple doesn't need another scandal "HomePod Gate"where the device screws up like the Home Mini did, Google can get a pass for screwing up but not Apple. Also multi room audio is hard to do, if Apple needs time to perfect it and make sure it actually works that fine.
“The HomePod is designed to work with an Apple Music subscription.”
Apple arrogance in full effect. I won’t be able to tell Siri to play music in Spotify? Forget it! I can’t do it in the car either and it’s super annoying. Apple is still not opening up Siri fully while Amazon and Google do.
Also quite surprising the HomePod doesn’t support stereo playback and do multi room at launch.
I'm fairly certain Google Home didn't do multi room at launch and I think the same is true for the Amazon Echo. Now before you say the bar has gone up and Apple needs to step up it's game, let's not forgot about the Google Home Mini that was caught recording everything and sending the data back to Google's servers. Apple doesn't need another scandal "HomePad Gate"where the device screws up like the Home Mini did, Google can get a pass for screwing up but not Apple. Also multi room audio is hard to do, if Apple needs time to perfect it and make sure it actually works that fine.
“The HomePod is designed to work with an Apple Music subscription.”
Apple arrogance in full effect. I won’t be able to tell Siri to play music in Spotify? Forget it! I can’t do it in the car either and it’s super annoying. Apple is still not opening up Siri fully while Amazon and Google do.
To work with Siri, Spotify needs to write a connector, which Spotify hasn’t done.
That I get, but can I ask Siri to play a song from my own iTunes library on my Mac? What if it's sleeping; can it play from my iPhone - asking the HomePod that is. Will it play music from my Mac while my ~/Music/iTunes//iTunes Media is on a NAS? Can I ask who the drummer is on a song that's in my own iTunes lib, even if it's available on Apple Music?
So on and so forth. Man I really wish for Apple to post the darn support file already!
On the Specs page under Audio Formats it says "HE-AAC (V1), AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV, and FLAC" so clearly this is not just Apple Music.
My assessment is that this is a very niche product that will appeal to a select few. That's not new for Apple. They've done that with, well..the iMac Pro. Those that want or need such a thing will eagerly buy. But this HomePod is competing with established products, unlike a computer line with a very established clientele. Compare to iPod and iTunes; iPhone and Apple Watch or even the line of MacBooks that essentially had no competition when they rolled out. They established a following. My opinion is that this will flop, but the open question is how badly it will do so. Introed 6+ months ago, it ships late, and doesn't contain features promised long ago.
There are many that will disagree, and you're free to buy, enjoy, and say I'm wrong. I might be.
Comments
“Well, I’m sitting in front of a 12 foot by 12 foot Horn of Gondor rig tricked out with Siren of Death Tweeters, an Earbleeder Speaker just for the bass, a Crustbuster Subwoofer because I can, and a Brassiere Flange Turntable encased in a block of solid Adamantium. My wife has taken the kids and left, the cat has moved into a house in the next town, the dog is deaf and the local airline complains of air turbulence when their jets fly over my house. I sold a kidney and a lung to buy this setup, so why in the world would I want a piece of junk like the HomePod??”
Do you know that it can't work with AppleTV for a fact? I'd assumed just as you can select bluetooth head sets (of any make) from AppleTV settings you'd be able to select HomePods as the output.
I haven't actually listed to a HomePod yet, have you? Perhaps it's as much about audio quality as anything else. The last pair of speakers I bought cost thousands, this seems pretty inexpensive if they sounds as good as indicated.
I had been hoping to put one in my kitchen, one in my bedroom, and one in my office, so that I can have easy-to-manage multi-room audio. I'm starting to lose confidence that Apple will be able to deliver on that. :-\
INCOMING!
I will definitely buy one, and if that goes well, perhaps a second.
What if it's sleeping; can it play from my iPhone - asking the HomePod that is.
Will it play music from my Mac while my ~/Music/iTunes//iTunes Media is on a NAS?
Can I ask who the drummer is on a song that's in my own iTunes lib, even if it's available on Apple Music?
So on and so forth. Man I really wish for Apple to post the darn support file already!
There are many that will disagree, and you're free to buy, enjoy, and say I'm wrong. I might be.