4 ms·
The HomePod is a redux of the Apple HiFi from 2006–2007. It's a high-quality, high-priced speaker meant for the Apple music ecosystem. The first time they trie
by jaysonelliot 9y ago
The HomePod is a redux of the Apple HiFi from 2006–2007.
It's a high-quality, high-priced speaker meant for the Apple music ecosystem. The first time they tried this, the Apple HiFi got great reviews for its sound quality, but failed in the marketplace.
The question is whether the HomePod will meet the same fate. It's got more functionality than the HiFi, but even less utility outside of the Apple walled garden. What's worse, they've got a fundamental mismatch between consumer perception (people think it's an Alexa / Google Home competitor) and what seems to be Apple's intent (it's an audiophile device for streaming music).
If they pivot quickly and release a small, competitively priced version that can compete directly with Amazon and Google, it could survive. But as it stands, it's a niche product for a small market that looks likely to meet the same fate as the HiFi.
- jacksmith21006 9y agoProblem is the sound quality is getting mixed reviews and the assistant gets poor. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/head-head-apple-homepod-really-sound-best-160346138.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/head-head-apple-homepod-reall... A home sound test of the Apple HomePod - Yahoo Finance http://www.techradar.com/news/google-home-max-tops-apple-homepod-for-audio-says-consumer-reports http://www.techradar.com/news/google-home-max-tops-apple-hom... Google Home Max tops Apple HomePod for audio, says Consumer Reports
- askafriend 9y agoConsumer Reports is an awful publication. Their methodologies are often very flawed and very opaque. I also would not trust Yahoo finance for audio reviews. As an example of CR's egregiously bad testing, they run battery tests by cranking brightness up to 100% on various devices. However if you have half a brain, you'll realize that display technology matters and is different across phones. At the very least, you want to set the different phones to a certain level of "nits" which is a measure of brightness rather than an arbitrary "100%" which can mean wildly different things. It actively penalizes phones with better display technology just because their displays can output brighter light.
- kdot 9y agoCan a mono speaker be considered an audiophile device?
- scottmf 9y agoIt isn’t a mono speaker.
- kdot 9y agotouché
- brokenmachine 9y agoIt's not mono, but might as well be when all seven "horn loaded tweeters" are within a 6" space. The thing can only be considered audiophile if you redefine the word "audiophile" to suit the cult-of-apple narrative. Just like the macbook "pro".
- photojosh 9y agoWith a "proper" stereo setup, you have one place where you need to be to get the benefit. If you want to fill a space with sound then the beamforming of the HomePod is just fine. And I've been quite happy with it. tl;dr - this is a living area speaker, not a home theatre one. I'll reserve judgement on using HomePod as a stereo setup until that functionality is actually available.
- brokenmachine 9y agoI would personally rather a single OK bookshelf speaker with a T-Amp or any small amp. Bouncing sounds in every direction is bound to sound crap even with the Apple magic fairy dust sprinkled everywhere. "Beam forming", Lol! What does "this is a living area speaker" actually mean anyway? Edit: sorry for sounding aggressive... It's just not a product that I'd buy. Good luck to you.
- photojosh 9y ago
- jakereps 9y agoI think they need to work on improving Siri before they can even enter the Echo/Home competitive ring. The other virtual assistants are leaps and bounds ahead of Siri.
- padobson 9y agoThe HomePod is a redux of the Apple HiFi from 2006–2007 There's a lot more people in that walled garden now.