Yes, I am not talking about audiophiles. I am talking about the vast majority of people that can hear a difference between the tin can known as the Echo and the HomePod. Like the folks that buy Bose and Sonos because they sound better than their TV’s speakers. I probably should have been more specific...I wasn’t talking about people that hear a difference between high bit rate mp3s, CDs, and 24/96 files.
Those guys hate everything that Apple produces. That is what makes their show so fun to listen to. One of them is using his first iPhone and one of them likes analog watches more than the Apple Watch and Vinyl more than digital.
Yes it does. I'm almost an Apple Fanboy. This is just one of their creations that has missed the mark so far.
It missed the mark for you and probably a large part of this site’s audiophile users. That doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience for it. For me, I have wanted an assistant that worked with Apple Music since I bought my first Echo Dot ( when you had to order it using a backdoor on the Amazon app). I love Apple stuff, but I have a lot of tech not made by Apple, too. In this space, I have Dots, a Spot, and a Google Home Mini (rarely use it, but practically got it for free). This device has the unique AirPlay features which appeals to me because I have AirPlay and AirPlay 2 devices. The fact that it will get an update to control AirPlay 2 devices is a huge feature for my needs. I wish they had the feature at launch, but it still does enough that I find it an easy buy for $350. I don’t see $350 as extravagant even if it only did AirPlay and Siri controlled Apple Music. I have a Phillips SoundRing that retailed for $300 when it came to market a few years back and it’s main selling point was AirPlay. My Tivol Pals where also over $200 when they first came to market ( they simply have a tuner and aux input). In other words, they packed a lot of tech (especially for sound quality) in this thing for $350. I do think that this product will have a somewhat limited market out of the gate, but the Apple Watch had to convince a lot of people to start wearing watches again, so this is less of an uphill climb.
Sounds typical. I often have problems with Siri. It’s just a not-that-smart assistant in my experience. “Siri, shuffle music” “Sorry Jonny! You are already listening to music” Ummmm....no I’m not. “Siri, play music by The Beatles” “Sorry Jonny, I can’t find any music by The Beatles in your library”. I usually just wait until I hit a light, and manually find something to listen to as fast as I can.
Works for most of my needs, but Alexa does more in that area if you are geeky enough to setup skills. If you just want an assistant, Apple doesn’t compete in the ~$30 device market, so Apple is selling it based on the AirPlay, Homekit, sound quality, privacy of your data, and Apple Music..areas where it has no real competitors.
If the smart assistant part of it isn’t going to work worth a crap, it’s just not worth it. My wife wants the integration and interaction, she’s not that concerned about audio quality. It’s certainly not worth paying twice as much for something that’s not even half as smart. It’s a sad state that Siri hasn’t advanced much over the years, and now seems technologically daft compared to the competitors.
You missed my earlier comments on this thread. I think this device for music is probably fantastic. What has missed the mark so far is Siri. And in turn apparently Siri’s incorporation in the HomePod.
Well, sound quality and music is how they are marketing it. I have yet to see a commercial saying it can do everything my cheap Dot can do. I don’t see Amazon selling the Echo by saying it doesn’t work with Apple Music, AirPlay, Casting or Google Play Music, either. I do find the examples they used in the times article to be a bit ridiculous. I have never done any of those things in my several years with the Dot. As I said, Cnet has side by side comparisons with actual things most people will use Siri for and it does fine: The HomePod fills a unique space that none of the other assistants are in. If my $30 Dot had all the features and SQ of the HomePod, I would have no need for one. For those that need an assistant and don’t care about sound quality, Apple Music, AirPlay, or privacy of their data, I can easily recommend the Dot. It was my product of the year back in 2016 because it offered so much bang for the buck. I just think the HomePod fills a much different role. I don’t expect Apple to ever open it up to the number of skills that Alexa has right now because it isn’t a great experience memorizing phrases like “Alexa, tell Houseband to” or “Alexa tell Plex to”... it is too geeky. I will simply keep a few Dots around for my geekiness and use the HomePod for music and a Homekit.
Well i hope it responds perfectly to any music request. I don't stream but would consider for a bedroom using my own iTunes files. Not sure what the problem is with the Times review. I agree it’s not a personal home assist but it should respond to anyone’s music request in a household. Maybe it does but it should be able to respond to requests like play my country or jazz music. Shuffle all Beatles songs. Play all my songs with the word love in the title and so on. If it’s music based it should do what my iTunes collection does but voice activated.
Airplay has been available through Airport Express and Airplay compatible devices for many years now. Buying a Homepod so you can use Airplay makes no sense to me. I've had three Airport Express devices piping music, including multi-room synchronized play, to stereo systems in my house for 12+ years now. I also have Airplay on multiple AVRs in the house. Welcome to 2005 HomePod! Siri is a failure and the price for this gadget is delusional. Apple has generated a big miss on this one. In general Apple has lost its mojo. I've had Apple gear for many years now and there is not one single product they offer that seems compelling to me anymore.
I plan on using the HomePod with Airplay. Yes, I have an AirPort Express, and 7 Apple TVs (only 4 connected). Why would I use the HomePod vs. Airport Express/AppleTV? Because the HomePod is self-contained, with a small footprint. I don't need to have (powered) speakers, an AVR, remote control for the volume, etc. Considering Apple just had their biggest revenue quarter in history, and highest-ever average iPhone selling price, I don't think they're anywhere near the limit for pricing themselves out of the market.
This will eventually get Airplay 2 support. This means people can use it from iOS without a computer involved for Multi-room audio, control multi-room audio from the HomePod, etc. It will essentially be part of Homekit, so you can set scenes for what plays, the lights, etc with a given command. Airplay 2 is the next generation of Airplay and much more sophisticated from iOS. I have tested it with my 3 AppleTVs and you can have the iPhone send one stream to any or all of them. You can also send independent streams to any or all of them. Whether this is important to you, is another story, but it fills in every complaint I have heard about Airplay. It has a much longer buffer, as well, so if you had issues with Airplay 1, they have a great chance of disappearing with Airplay 2. iOS devices dwarf the unit sales #s of their Macs. It isn't even close. Therefore, Airplay 2 is a huge update for iOS users. That being said, no tech company has made a product that appeals to everyone. However, if last quarter's revenues are any indication, Apple is doing fine.
These are 'convenience devices' nothing more. I would then rather have a cheaper device with more convenience than a far more expensive one that isn't so...convenient. Apple has so far missed the point with these devices. Wait for the Mk2 or the (ahem) SE...as with all Apple gear. Remember it took them at least 5 attempts to get the Apple TV right and to be honest many would say that still isn't what it should be.
I look forward to hearing one as well. Not sure Jobs ever would have let it ship with the Siri limitations it has. I could see using one of these in the kitchen once Siri can read me a recipe, access my calendar, and pull from my iTunes library. Very interested in the "room sensing" capabilities.
As I said wait for the next one. This device has been coming for a long time so I bet the Mk2 is in testing as we write this.
Yes, these are convenience devices. Most of tech is about making things easier or better quality for the user. The HomePod checks both boxes. Most of the cheaper devices sound like crap, copy your data to the cloud, and don't support Apple Music's 36+ million subscribers. If those things aren't important to you, the Dot or Home Mini are cheap and play music. It would be sad if every manufacturer tried to hit the lowest price while scarifying quality. Yes, there is a huge market for that, but I don't have a problem with Apple or other companies trying to make something more premium sounding. It would be pretty sad if every speaker company tried to race Walmart to the market for the cheapest speakers regardless of quality. There wouldn't be much reason for forums like this to exist. If you wait for perfection with tech, you wait forever. They improve stuff with every generation. The newest version of the AppleTV is unsurprisingly by far their best, but they will figure out ways to improve it and to come out with a model in a few years that improves on the currently new 4k version. They are adding Airplay 3 to the AppleTV 4s which will be a huge improvement for anyone in the iOS ecosystem. Conveniently, HomePod owners will get the Airplay 3 update, as well.
As you can see in the video, the vaulted Google Assistant doesn't respond perfectly to her request for Calming music. It plays calming Christian music which she did not specify. I have already mentioned the problems with the Times review. Nothing about Privacy ( a huge factor for many clients), they don't talk about Airplay (something that opens the device to every music source on iOS), they use wording that none of the assistants would understand. Worst review I have seen on the subject...which is probably why it was linked. It is like reviewing a Boxster and saying its tow rating is awful and it sucks for trips to Home Depot. That is fine, but I would hope it would be rounded out with reasons the product exists. No one is buying a Boxster just to pull a boat and no one is spending $350 on a speaker to call Uber.
