zroger73

Apple's design inspiration for the HomePod...

I already have a component audio system with Klipsch speakers, four Amazon Echos, ceiling speakers on the patio, a Bose SoundLink Mini II, and the bed panels of my Honda Ridgeline serve as speakers, so I'm not without plenty of ways to listen to audio and control devices. Still, I'm anxious to see how the HomePod performs even though I'm not a fan of the "roll of toilet paper wearing fishnet tights" design.

I kind of want to giggle over this, but a friend of mine had a current Mac mini that he used to run his business "bricked" by the High Sierra update. He carried it to an AASP. The only solution was a reformat and reinstall of MacOS. After the reinstallation, he went to restore from a Time Machine backup only to find that it had stopped backing up some time ago for no obvious reason and without any indication that it had stopped backing up. Moving forward with frustration and a loss of data, it was "bricked" a second time by the High Sierra update. I'm the one who convinced him to rid his office of those "unreliable" PCs.

Based on all the trouble I've had out of my Whirlpool and Whirlpool Gold appliances I bought for my new home 5 years ago, the only benefit I'd receive is if this feature would automatically schedule a repair so that I wouldn't have to do it myself.

Based on my purchase of a new Whirlpool refrigerator, dishwasher, range, microwave, and washer, and dryer, I'll NEVER buy Whirlpool again. Ironically, the microwave received the lowest ratings (1 star!!!) and is the ONLY one of those six products that hasn't failed...yet. The washer and dryer have been the most problematic and they were the highest rated models by Consumer Reports at the time! The dishwasher's plastic handle is poorly design and breaks in half every couple of years and the circulation pump has failed. The display on the dryer failed right after the one year warranty expired and parts were no longer available. The refrigerator doesn't like to dispense water, but happily dispenses ice all over the floor.

StrangeDays said:

zroger73 said:

When the dust settles and the transition is complete, we'll be paying as much or more for internet and live/on-demand programming than we ever did for a cable TV and internet subscription. The cable companies are already adapting to ensure they don't lose revenue. I'm already paying almost as much for internet alone as what I was paying for internet and television just a few years ago.

Sounds like you may be overpaying for your internet. In my area you can get a year of 30 megabit service for $30/mo. 

The people I know with cable tv spend well over 100 bucks. If you try to replace all that garbage with ala cart sure it will add up. But for those who realized they don’t need a hundred channels of shit to choose from and prefer netflix and seasonal HBO, and the occasional season pass, we save. Going on 15 years of cord cutting savings here.

"Overpay" means to pay more than what is due. Like many (most?) people, I have one only reasonable source of "broadband" internet access. For me, that's Suddenlink. I currently pay $74/mo. for unlimited, 100 Mbps internet. That's a promotional rate given to me by the customer retention department. The normal price is $90/mo. Their least expensive internet for existing customers is $69/mo. ($41/mo. for new customers) for 50 Mbps with a 250 GB monthly limit. 50 Mbps is more than adequate for my needs, but I easily exceed the 250 GB monthly limit.

My other choices for internet access are:

A couple of local/regional wireless providers that are VERY slow and even more expensive than Suddenlink.
Satellite, such as Excede or HughesNet, which are slow, limited, and expensive.
Dial-up. That was a waste of time to even type.
Cellular-based Wi-Fi hot spot. Can you imagine how expensive this would get to use 250+ GB per month?

So, I'm paying as little as I possibly can for internet that meets my needs without "overpaying".

When I first moved in five years ago, I had internet, cable TV, and two TiVo boxes that I paid just over $110/mo. for. Five years later, I'm paying almost that much for internet alone. Adding cable TV and a couple of TiVo boxes back in would push that close to $200/mo.