I have been sitting on the fence over HomePod. It is possible l may be biased as l have a 7 speaker Sonos system that l love, but so far Apple has not convinced me.
Apple advertise HomePod as a powerful speaker with amazing sound that can adapt to its location and a music authority with an intelligent home assistant, capable of handling everyday tasks and controlling your smart home.
It seems the general views are HomePod sounds really good but the Siri Intelligent system falls short compared with other smart speakers. The thing is, however great the sound is, it is being marketed as an intelligent speaker yet it seems Siri is not good enough. This could have effected sales. The question is, will Apple improve Siri any time soon?
No it's not marketing mostly as such, so you start up with a lie.
You should show respect for other people’s views. I have based the comment only on Apples own words on their website. Perhaps it would be helpful for you to read them.
You lied, it's not a view. Stop lying and I'll respect you.
HomePod costs the same as the $349 iPhone SE. But iPhone SE is far more useful than HomePod. Here is the answer why majority of Apple won't buy HomePod.
Apple sells HomePod mainly as a response to Amazon smart speakers. But Alexa is popular not because of sound quality. Unless Apple greatly improves Siri in the near future, HomePod will be another Apple flop.
Siri is actually better at listening and responding on my HomePod than any other Apple device. That fact gets ignored by those whose only metric is an assistant’s ability to provide arcane facts from the internet. HomePod is not a voice UI computer replacement. It has a more limited scope—for now. It’s value is in its ability to do “Home” work, just like its name implies. The more home devices you have (thermostats, doorbells, cameras, lights, etc.) the better it is. Yes, Siri is less robust than Google in some things, and can be maddeningly frustrating sometimes. But the others are not immune from these same frustrations; it’s a matter of degree. And there are good reasons for this differential—privacy foremost among them. The “Siri is lame” meme has become a tiresome substitute for diligent journalism.
[My comment was not aimed at the author of this piece]
Sincere question - can it control my Roomba? Because that's the only automation I have.
Do you have a TV and a Harmony remote? That's another convenient home automation task that a voice assistant makes even better.
Apple sells HomePod mainly as a response to Amazon smart speakers. But Alexa is popular not because of sound quality. Unless Apple greatly improves Siri in the near future, HomePod will be another Apple flop.
LOL..pretty sure Apple sells HomePod as a music device...which is why their HomePod text on the Apple site, clearly as an afterthought, states “also does Siri stuff” to paraphrase, in the last few lines at the bottom. But clearly 90% of the text is about the MUSIC and MUSIC TECHNOLOGY, while 10% is Siri related...never meant as a competitor to Alexa, Bigsby, Cortana, et. al.
But please continue with your Apple is DOOOOOMED scenarios.
I bet if HomePod was free, every person on here saying how it sucks would take one in a heartbeat!
Man, surprising news - considering people can get the equivalent of a $50,000 audiophile system for $350 - plus the added bonus of a smart system (according to the usual AI fanboys). Meanwhile, back in reality - I think there are a few barriers: - Privacy. Not a lot of people want an 'always listening' device. - Competition. There are better 'smart' systems out there. - Sound Quality. It's good for a smart speaker - but audiophiles don't buy toys to listen to audio. If sound quality is your main priority - a smart speaker isn't on your radar. - Limitations. No Spotify or 3rd party native support. Extremely limited connection capabilities. - Requires Apple Music Subscription to take advantage of 'smart' functionality.
But it sure fills a hallway with good sound...
I've never used a Google or Amazon smart speaker (I have no need for what they offer) -- how do they handle requests for names like: Estrellita or La Paloma by Julio Iglesias?
I said "play Estrellita" in my best Southern accent and yes Google understood first time and played the correct song as far as I know. Is it by Jasha Heifetz from an old Grammaphone recording?
Here's a more modern version... You can tell by the first few bars if it is the same song:
Man, surprising news - considering people can get the equivalent of a $50,000 audiophile system for $350 - plus the added bonus of a smart system (according to the usual AI fanboys). Meanwhile, back in reality - I think there are a few barriers: - Privacy. Not a lot of people want an 'always listening' device. - Competition. There are better 'smart' systems out there. - Sound Quality. It's good for a smart speaker - but audiophiles don't buy toys to listen to audio. If sound quality is your main priority - a smart speaker isn't on your radar. - Limitations. No Spotify or 3rd party native support. Extremely limited connection capabilities. - Requires Apple Music Subscription to take advantage of 'smart' functionality.
But it sure fills a hallway with good sound...
I've never used a Google or Amazon smart speaker (I have no need for what they offer) -- how do they handle requests for names like: Estrellita or La Paloma by Julio Iglesias?
I said "play Estrellita" in my best Southern accent and yes Google understood first time and played the correct song as far as I know. Is it by Jasha Heifetz from an old Grammaphone recording?
Here's a more modern version... You can tell by the first few bars if it is the same song:
It was my Dad's favorite song:
Yup same song, but your recording sounds a whole lot better than the very old Gramophone recording Google dredged up.
... - Sound Quality. It's good for a smart speaker - but audiophiles don't buy toys to listen to audio. If sound quality is your main priority - a smart speaker isn't on your radar. ...
I have a pretty decent surround sound system in the den. It’s not a $50,000 system, but it’s better than average. I’m probably not going to buy more of those for other rooms in the house. The system in the den has outputs for auxiliary speakers, though, and I’ve pondered setting some up in the living room, but stringing the wiring to accomplish that has been a very low priority on the to-do list. Along comes the HomePod. I assure you, it’s not a toy. Running music to both rooms from my MacBook via airplay drops that wiring task entirely off the to-do list. Airplay 2 will improve on that even further. Each person makes their own decisions about these things, but I absolutely think that there’s a case that HomePods are on the radar for people who look for superior sound quality. I have been quite impressed with the HomePod’s audio performance.
In the Apple Store it sounds like an off brand boom box. If you want to pay $350 for something that sounds like a $100 Wal-Mart Bluetooth speaker, feel free.
Don’t forget that the $350 speaker costs $275 to repair out of warranty, so be sure to put out some more $ for the extended warranty.
Pass. I smell a flop. At least the old Spple HiFi was stereo.
In my living room, it sounds really good. Perhaps Apple will figure out a better way to showcase the HomePod at the Apple store, but nothing is going to sound all that great in a large retail space full of people talking and multiple audio devices playing different things. So, you know, your description is just snark.
Idk, voice assistance stuff is still very young. The worry of so many about homepod bc of siri seems over the top. It will be a ‘problem’ until it is not.
How many people use siri? Let alone ask siri to for niche things?
My wife never uses Siri other than for setting a timer and that is bc I showed her how. Otherwise it would never get used. This is not bc of siri functionality, she just doesnt use it.
My parents never use siri. I just asked both my brothers and neither uses Siri.
I use siri to message/play music while driving and homekit/timer commands at home. Works fine for simple things.
This isnt to say Siri shouldnt be better just that this is still a very new market and Apple has time to adapt/pivot Siri into its own platform, in which the Homepod (and other Apple devices) can be updated to in the future.
Siri functionality will actually improve specifically because there will soon be a sizeable base of HomePod users out there. The voice-controlled home automation market is still in utero. Apple is positioning HomeKit protocols as the more secure implementation of those things. Incidents like this week’s laughing Alexa will start highlighting the difference between Apple’s approach and the Amazon/Google approach. The likely way it will play out is that the others will be cheaper and have more market share, but will be less profitable and will have ongoing issues because of their low-road approach to things. Apple’s rollout will be slower, but will function more consistently and more reliably, and a few years down the road, all the snark about how HomePod is a failure and Siri is terrible will be forgotten and replaced by the same narrative applied to whatever is newly coming out of the Apple pipeline at that point.
Apple sells HomePod mainly as a response to Amazon smart speakers. But Alexa is popular not because of sound quality. Unless Apple greatly improves Siri in the near future, HomePod will be another Apple flop.
Siri definitely needs to get better. But even with a limited Siri the HomePod will probably be a big success like the AirPods are. Even Google thinks that HomePod would be a success.
They are trying to copy the HomePod like they copied the AirPods and came out with their own buds.
There are enough rich Apple fans that HP will probably be do quite well and will grow as it gets better. Kinda of like Apple Watch and Google Wear.
In the Apple Store it sounds like an off brand boom box. If you want to pay $350 for something that sounds like a $100 Wal-Mart Bluetooth speaker, feel free.
Don’t forget that the $350 speaker costs $275 to repair out of warranty, so be sure to put out some more $ for the extended warranty.
Pass. I smell a flop. At least the old Spple HiFi was stereo.
In my living room, it sounds really good. Perhaps Apple will figure out a better way to showcase the HomePod at the Apple store, but nothing is going to sound all that great in a large retail space full of people talking and multiple audio devices playing different things. So, you know, your description is just snark.
I have to wonder how many sales Apple credits to in-store demos, of anything really. If I had to guess, I'd say most Apple customers order online, sight unseen. In the unlikely event a product doesn't work out for them, they return it. Otherwise, the poor "showroom" conditions for the HomePod don't make much sense -- it's not like Angela Ahrendts didn't have significant lead time to come up with an optimal display area to showcase the product's most important feature -- sound quality. My guess is there's lots of encouragement by employees for potential customers to take advantage of the 14 day no questions asked return window. I'd otherwise say the noisy environment of the Apple Store would be great for demonstrating Siri, except she can't do much, and that doesn't even seem to be Apple's intent.
It's funny really, the very selling point of this product is how well it sounds in a customers home, yet the Apple Store is the furthest thing from it. It makes me long for the days of the high end audio stores of the past, where demo rooms were set up like living rooms, and a customer could get the full effects of the speakers they were buying. Doesn't seem like Apple is even remotely set up for that, and if I'm right, likely doesn't even care, since most of their products are not sold that way, including HomePods. Though one wonders if even Apple customers aren't a bit hesitant to buy a speaker without hearing it? After the early adopters, maybe any sluggish sales are due to not having an ideal demo space, or people making it a priority to get into an Apple Store, or partner, to hear one? HomePods aren't like most of Apple's other products which are necessities to daily life and thus a top priority. And most people who want decent speakers already have them, futher dragging the heels of potential customers. And with wide reports of Siri not being very good, turning potential smart speaker customers away from HomePod without further consideration.
> It's a shame if this is true, because the HomePod does sound amazing
Sure, but my Yamaha stereo with two nice Mirage speakers sounds better. And that setup cost the same as a Home Pod.
It's just too expensive. This is an accessory, it can't cost as much as a full-blown iPad. And everyone knows it.
If you can't do it $199, don't do it. It's not like someone was forcing them to sell one.
Can you tell your Yamaha stereo to turn off the lights, lock the door or close the garage? Can you tell it to play a song list or answer some trivia questions? Can you tell it "good night" and your bedroom light dimmed down and bedtime music started? I guess not.
Perhaps not, but all he has to do is add a $50 Echo Dot ($30 on sale) and he can. And, frankly, it will work much better than Siri.
Yes, and if it decides it doesn’t want to work for you while you are sleeping it will fill your room with creepy laughter.
HomePod costs the same as the $349 iPhone SE. But iPhone SE is far more useful than HomePod. Here is the answer why majority of Apple won't buy HomePod.
How can you compare HomePod to iPhone SE? They're two completely different products. It's like comparing iPhone SE to Beats headphones.
Siri is actually better at listening and responding on my HomePod than any other Apple device. That fact gets ignored by those whose only metric is an assistant’s ability to provide arcane facts from the internet. HomePod is not a voice UI computer replacement. It has a more limited scope—for now. It’s value is in its ability to do “Home” work, just like its name implies. The more home devices you have (thermostats, doorbells, cameras, lights, etc.) the better it is. Yes, Siri is less robust than Google in some things, and can be maddeningly frustrating sometimes. But the others are not immune from these same frustrations; it’s a matter of degree. And there are good reasons for this differential—privacy foremost among them. The “Siri is lame” meme has become a tiresome substitute for diligent journalism.
[My comment was not aimed at the author of this piece]
Sincere question - can it control my Roomba? Because that's the only automation I have.
As far as I know, Roomba is not HomeKit compatible, or compatible with any other smart speaker for that matter. But it’s autonomous anyway, no need to control it from your phone.
Comments
But please continue with your Apple is DOOOOOMED scenarios.
I bet if HomePod was free, every person on here saying how it sucks would take one in a heartbeat!
It was my Dad's favorite song:
Siri definitely needs to get better. But even with a limited Siri the HomePod will probably be a big success like the AirPods are. Even Google thinks that HomePod would be a success. They are trying to copy the HomePod like they copied the AirPods and came out with their own buds. There are enough rich Apple fans that HP will probably be do quite well and will grow as it gets better. Kinda of like Apple Watch and Google Wear.
It's funny really, the very selling point of this product is how well it sounds in a customers home, yet the Apple Store is the furthest thing from it. It makes me long for the days of the high end audio stores of the past, where demo rooms were set up like living rooms, and a customer could get the full effects of the speakers they were buying. Doesn't seem like Apple is even remotely set up for that, and if I'm right, likely doesn't even care, since most of their products are not sold that way, including HomePods. Though one wonders if even Apple customers aren't a bit hesitant to buy a speaker without hearing it? After the early adopters, maybe any sluggish sales are due to not having an ideal demo space, or people making it a priority to get into an Apple Store, or partner, to hear one? HomePods aren't like most of Apple's other products which are necessities to daily life and thus a top priority. And most people who want decent speakers already have them, futher dragging the heels of potential customers. And with wide reports of Siri not being very good, turning potential smart speaker customers away from HomePod without further consideration.
That is their job and that is why they are called - ANALists.
You have to ask?
That troll has never even seen one let alone heard it. And he's obviously unclear on the concept of objectivity.
Actually, my wife and I both use ours, no problem.