brucemc

Apple Watch's capabilities and its popularity is growing significantly, but exactly how apps will fit are still "under investigation".  With AW only used for glances, short activities (plus all health & fitness), the traditional app model of the iPhone doesn't translate.  That might change with continuous improvement of h/w and better Siri in the future.

Good article DED!  Though not as passionate as some in the past, so the revolutionaries are a bit quieter (which is ok:)

It is hard to argue against the strangeness of this product launch, and if that is a sign to be cautious about the product.  I think that (minor) criticism is valid.  However, it is not until reviews of experiences of the product come in (specifically sound quality first, and Siri experience 2nd) can we really start the discussion.  Everything right now is simply noise.

IMO, the dialogue around home speakers is still in the technology echo chamber.  Lots of articles written about how a person has set advanced functionality using 3rd party supplied skills.  However, surveys have shown that the most use functions are:
- Play music
- Set timers
- Control lights
- Tell time

Takeaways
- Apple is hitting the right use case first
- Uses are still pretty simple, despite skills available...so most people are not techies and they don't take the time to do advanced setup
- For anyone with an Apple Watch, 3 of those things are just about as easily done on AW as compared with a smart speaker, and it is with you everywhere in the house.

On the comparison of sound quality, many focus on the original Echo, or Google Home.  Information from the recent holiday season would point to the $30 Echo Dot and similarly priced Google Home Mini as being (by far) the largest sellers.  The difference is likely to be more stark.

I would buy one if available where I live, just because I am in the market for a new wireless speaker (existing Bose is getting up there).  However, it is a legitimate question if "great sound quality" is enough to sell beyond that core Apple loyalist.  Perhaps not in the first release.  But as DED said, maybe that is enough and what a HomePod can do in 3 years (perhaps with just s/w updates to the original) will be enough to change the game.

I use Siri every day, and have pretty good results (AW, iPhone).  Enough that I continue to use it every day.  I don't try to do anything complicated, like asking informational questions (trivia, doing homework, asking for the weather).  My use cases are timers, setting reminders, setting calendar appointments, sending texts, general dictation, reading a text when I am driving, sports scores.  Use it a bit for music, and it is fine for playing artists and playlists from iTunes.  Not an Apple Music user yet, so can't comment there.

atomic101 said:

StrangeDays said:

atomic101 said:

MacPro said:

"  ... including the ability to toggle the power management feature for iPhone models with aging batteries."  The toggle should say 'Sensible mode' and 'Idiot mode.'

False. But kudos for the pretentious name calling. 

The insistence that the throttlling is only for old batteries is inaccurate. Unless you consider a one year old battery with no prior instances of performance issues to be fair game for a 50-66% CPU downclock. 

Unless you performed 2-3 full cycles a day, a 1-year-old battery won’t be failing the impedance check (unless it’s defective). But previously you said your phone was fine on iOS 10 until you upgraded to 11, which is at odds with the peak power draw throttling being introduced in 10.2.1 almost a year ago. 

I agree. The battery should be and likely still is fine. But yet I'm seeing (In benchmarks, device status apps) and feeling (lag, stutters, long loading, etc) significant slowdown in the clock.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I suspect Apple's implementation of the throttling is very aggressive and might be flagging devices based on a loose basis. If the throttling was intended to be a fix/patch for defective batteries in the iPhone 6 line of phones, it's possible that this implementation is done in a "better safe than sorry" fashion.  As in, "Your battery is probably fine, but since it's a year old and meets x or y condition, we'll apply the tweak just in case!". Makes sense from a liability standpoint I suppose, but the lack of disclosure backfired for the company in other ways. 

And yes, the tweak was first introduced in iOS 10.2.1, but has likely been expanded to other models in later releases. Remember, I have an iPhone SE, which was not the original target of the patch.... But has since been disclosed by Apple to be part of the throttling. 

Oh, and another thing.... I have a work iPhone SE that is only a few months old, running the same iOS and many of the same apps. Side by side, there's a palpable difference in performance. 

I recall you saying these same things about 3 weeks ago.

StrangeDays said:

rogifan_new said:

Apple needs to get some positive HomePod reviews out there fast. This is a sample of what I’m currently seeing on Twitter:

Marco Arment (@marcoarment) 1/23/18, 10:21 AM Nothing about the HomePod release shows Apple’s confidence in it, which makes it hard for any of us to get excited about it.  Christina Warren (@film_girl) 1/23/18, 3:28 PM @djgeoffe For me, the value prop is non-existent. Siri doesn't have the ecosystem or willingness to spy on you to be smart enough. And it wont work with third-party music services. A Sonos One is cheaper and works with Alexa and also works with the sonos app for apple music, spotify, etc Christina Warren (@film_girl) 1/23/18, 11:37 AM Last HomePod thought for now: the price is why it will fail. You can have a feature-limited, inexpensive product. You can have a feature-rich, expensive product. It is very difficult to find success in an established market when you are both overpriced and under-featured. Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) 1/23/18, 8:43 AM HomePod is only mysterious if you’re still hoping it has secret features Apple hasn’t announced; reality is it’s just a straightforward, ‘boring’ product that does just what it says on the marketing page (and, 8 months later, still unable to ship with all features advertised) Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) 1/23/18, 10:04 AM If HomePod were a mesh-network AirPort replacement, I would be all over it. As it is, it's just another outlet-taker-upper, and I've run out of outlets ߘ⦬t;br> Ben Bajarin (@BenBajarin) 1/23/18, 9:44 AM On the HomePod audio point, lots of products and services tried to sell on sound quality alone and none sold in high volume. MP3s confirmed to us consumers are fine with good enough audio. The value has to be in Siri/personal assistant for Apple’s long term strategic ambitions.

Typical techie echo chamber crap. See AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, iPhone, iPod, etc... It's the same techies POV you have indulged in in the past so I'll say the same thing again -- it doesn't matter. Apple doesn't make products for Marco Arment's Techie Echo Chamber of Doom, Worry, and Concern (tm). They make stuff for normals. 

Infamous slashdot techies complaint about the iPod and why it was doomed:

“No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame”

or just go back to Nov/Dec of 2016 to read all that is negative of the AirPods...before the actually shipped or any of the critics had actually used them of course...