seankill

chasm said:

I’m not saying this report is false ... I have no insight on that ... but (very oddly) missing from this report is that the “Economic Daily News” mentioned as the source is the Taiwan Economic Daily News, a notororiously inaccurate rumour-monger of some ill repute from this very site’s own (named) writers.

There’s also the fact that Apple very, very rarely produces a cheaper and roughly-equal version of a product so quickly after introducing the first version, but that leaves the possibility that Apple might produce a “crappier” version of the HomePod ... oh wait, no it doesn’t, because Apple doesn’t do that.

What is fair to say is that Apple seems to be expanding its audio offering of late, and so some further speakers that may have a lower price point are a possibility. I personally doubt we’ll get a “HomePod Junior,” and I also think the writer neglected to mention that the HomePod’s Siri, while not up to the versatility of the iOS version, is a) focused on what people actually do with smart speakers, and b) capable of being upgraded as Apple figures out what else users want.

I’ll tell you what users don’t want ... a hackable, always-recording smart speaker that literally mocks them for buying it!

georgie01 said:

djames4242 said:

If carriers still subsidized I might upgrade every two years, but now that we're stuck with the full cost of the phone, it's just too difficult to justify the expense.

But you still paid for the phone through your monthly overcharged service bill...you just never saw yourself paying for it.

I had to pay $280 upfront for my iPhone X and $30/mo. which is the same monthly fee for my previous iPhone 7 (upfront cost was $100). $50/mo for unlimited LTE service and it’s hard to say the X costs too much money.

georgie01 said:

If that video is respresentative of the experience for every phone, I think it’s safe to say the majority of users wouldn’t really notice their phone was slower without a basis of comparison. Probably a tiny minority either noticed or accidentally discovered it and then made a fuss and then everyone decided they hated the ‘problem’ they hadn’t noticed.

I don’t think Apple had any obligation to inform users. Apple decided a more stable phone was more important than a faster phone, and so they altered their own software which they’ve developed for many years to reflect their goal. They make many decisions without consulting users first which affect the user experience.