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> HomePod is very much a “skating to where the puck is going to be” product, and Apple has believed for years that when it comes to personal audio, the puck is

> HomePod is very much a “skating to where the puck is going to be” product, and Apple has believed for years that when it comes to personal audio, the puck is heading toward a wireless world. That puck better be headed towards 'connecting with TV/XBox/PC' because who wants to have multiple speakers in a house for different services? Especially considering better speakers take more space. Does Apple expect everyone to buy a separate TV for Netflix, HBO, and NBC? Speakers are one-item-serves-all. HomePod needs connectivity options to connect to your TV/Xbox/PC. Otherwise it'll have very limited utility as a Siri assistant. Also, fixed consumer electronics devices should always be wired. You're just increasing the noise floor for your other devices in your house if they're not.

jeffbax 9y ago
I'm not sure why everyone thinks that? I have a sound bar for my TV -- I still need speakers elsewhere, and I wouldn't want my room speakers to be bound to my TV or necessarily the overhead of having to manage pairings of speakers. HomePod should fit in my bedroom quite nicely, so I'm looking forward to it. Everyone saying the thing is doomed, or Siri is useless… I dunno, maybe I don't use Alexa to the fullest but I pretty much ask Alexa the weather and to turn my lights on and off and I find Apple Music better than Amazon Music. It will also integrate with my notes/reminders, timers and calls seamlessly. I'm sure Alexa integrates with all of this at some level, but I'm willing to bet that for people into Apple's ecosystem Siri (despite lacking the thousands of questionably useful skills) will work pretty well for a lot of people. Siri has a lot of room to improve, but I don't think that HomePod is somehow useless because it doesn't have my roommate's Alexa fart skill. The main thing will be getting support for third party entitlements over time -- they can't let that languish forever, but I think for the moment they've got more breathing room than people think. I also trust Siri a lot more than I trust Alexa/Google with listening all the time or being used by others in the house given the nature of business models.
saturdaysaint 9y ago
The huge, constantly evolving bluetooth speaker market (see Amazon, Sonos, Bose, etc) is evidence that there's a healthy market for audio devices separate from the home theater. It's great having decent music quality in the kitchen, bedroom, office, bathroom, etc. TV speakers might be capable of providing good music for a dinner party if you're in a small apartment, but it's not ideal for a lot of house layouts.

jeffbax 9y ago

I'm not sure why everyone thinks that? I have a sound bar for my TV -- I still need speakers elsewhere, and I wouldn't want my room speakers to be bound to my TV or necessarily the overhead of having to manage pairings of speakers. HomePod should fit in my bedroom quite nicely, so I'm looking forward to it. Everyone saying the thing is doomed, or Siri is useless… I dunno, maybe I don't use Alexa to the fullest but I pretty much ask Alexa the weather and to turn my lights on and off and I find Apple Music better than Amazon Music. It will also integrate with my notes/reminders, timers and calls seamlessly. I'm sure Alexa integrates with all of this at some level, but I'm willing to bet that for people into Apple's ecosystem Siri (despite lacking the thousands of questionably useful skills) will work pretty well for a lot of people. Siri has a lot of room to improve, but I don't think that HomePod is somehow useless because it doesn't have my roommate's Alexa fart skill. The main thing will be getting support for third party entitlements over time -- they can't let that languish forever, but I think for the moment they've got more breathing room than people think. I also trust Siri a lot more than I trust Alexa/Google with listening all the time or being used by others in the house given the nature of business models.

saturdaysaint 9y ago

The huge, constantly evolving bluetooth speaker market (see Amazon, Sonos, Bose, etc) is evidence that there's a healthy market for audio devices separate from the home theater. It's great having decent music quality in the kitchen, bedroom, office, bathroom, etc. TV speakers might be capable of providing good music for a dinner party if you're in a small apartment, but it's not ideal for a lot of house layouts.