macgui

StrangeDays said:

Typicla ignorant nonsense, really. 

Typical dumbass reading something into a statement, really. There's nothing nonsensical about my post. Really.

StrangeDays said:

Didn’t Schiller go over two speaker set ups a the reveal? I seem to recall a special graphic just for that. 

Yes, he did. He didn't say anything about 'stereo'.

Mike Wuerthele said:
Multiple devices do give stereo sound. Schiller spoke on that specifically at the announcement.

No, he didn't.


He said when you set up two they automatically work together to give incredible spacious sound that has the power to rock your house. Not the same thing. Carefully parsed, he absolutely did not say 'stereo'. At this point, it looks to me to be two mono speakers, not a left and right channel that is traditionally known as stereo.

Given the ability of AirPods to shift from mono to stereo when going from one to two AirPods, you might infer that two HomePods will provide true stereo sound (albeit with heavy digital processing) but that was not said at WWDC 2017. 

Does the W1 chip give the AirPods mono/stereo switching? I've seen no mention of it being in the HomePods. Maybe all this has been clarified at some subsequent interview, but I haven't seen it.


Very few wireless speakers will mimic the AirPod true mono/stereo switching. I hope the HomePod is one (two) of them.

I'm not a visionary, so I see the Smart Connector limited to— keyboards, which is why Apple designed it. With it, you don't need a powered keyboard.

As to what additional uses the SC would be useful, let alone superior, I haven't a clue.  

Apple announced the first iPhone on 9 January 2007. It shipped on 29 June 2007.

Of the top, I can't think of a major upgrade of a product that shipped the same day or very shortly after being announced, but I know there are some. 

Products with incremental upgrades were/are almost always available same day as announced.

As to how hard can it be to make a speaker... I think it should be obvious the manufacturing standards set by Apple pretty much conclude a manufacturer doing cookie cutter stamping.

Steve Jobs was known for nixing shipping because of what some would perceive as a very minor flaw in execution. I don't imagine that's changed much. 

I think Apple may announce some products that aren't planned to ship yet to create buzz and not to be seen as just 'me too'.

Superficially, the HomePod makes Google Home and Amazon Echo look like a bargain. But if it preforms anywhere near promised, I'm in. I've got a Dot and I'm not too pleased. Siri has her issues but I can tolerate them.

My concern is that using two HomePods won't give you stereo sound but just two DSP enabled speakers for 'more sound' or 'spacious' sound as Apple calls it. They're emphasizing sound but I don't expect it to be more than musical competition to Google and Amazon. I see it as a better sounding, HomeKit compatible digital assistant.

I have some Hue kit in the house. I had some trouble a while back but getting an additional Hue bulb to extend the mesh network clear it up and with HomeKit, Siri, although limited, works flawlessly.

So that I didn't have to depend on my 5s, I got an Amazon Dot. The idea of just calling out instead of having to have my phone on AC or continually use my Watch, appealed to me.

Alexa has been nothing but Siri's dumb little sister. All Alexa can to is tell me the weather and Chuck Norris jokes. She's been a major disappointment as far as trying to stream music or do anything else.

Almost very time I try to get her to do anything  basic, she call time out and takes a break. She frequently tells me she lost connection with the Internet, even after I moved her to within 2' of the router. I ask her something, she very often lights up, blue goes to red, and she makes an excuse to not do what I said.

One thing that bugs me though, is the requirement to give Amazon my WiFi password. In the setup process amazon 'explains' that if you store your pw with them, you won't need to manually reset all your Echo stuff in the event of a problem. Amazon will be able to restore all that for you. It's not an option. It's not stored on the Dot but on Amazon.

Now your credit card is stored with Amazon and we assume they take great care to protect that data. It just bugs me that amazon doesn't need your password on their severs. they're just keeping it 'you know, just in case something happens we can help'.

I packed Alexa up and sent her back to her mother.