4 ms·

I'm thinking of getting one. I have a nice stereo in the room but my wife would rather use the crappy $20 Alexa puck because its easier just for 10 minutes of m

by rb808 9y ago

I'm thinking of getting one. I have a nice stereo in the room but my wife would rather use the crappy $20 Alexa puck because its easier just for 10 minutes of music. Drives me nuts. At least with a HomePod I wont have to listen to tinny tunes.

brokenmachine 9y ago
Why not spend your $350 on a device that can hook into the nice stereo in the room that is easy for the wife to use? Then you get even better sound with probably less money outlay. One of those programmable universal remotes might help as well? So it's one button to get to tunes.
- rb808 9y ago
  Its the thing with these devices are always on and hands free. There is a big difference between a voice command and one button. To me I'd push the button every time, but to others these devices are preferred.
  - brokenmachine 9y ago
    Voice-controlled programmable remote? Do those exist? A cheap Android phone plugged into the speakers? You can "OK google" that.
    - shoobedowop 9y ago
      HomePod works, requires no maintenance, and sounds great. No one has time to dick around with custom one off solutions that require rebooting, tweaking, and is less reliable except single guys who want to spend half the time fixing something vs. using it. a wife has no time nor tolerance for half ass home baked tech.
      - rb808 9y ago
        > a wife has no time nor tolerance for half ass home baked tech. Lol, another experienced married man on hn! :)
      - brokenmachine 9y ago
        > a wife has no time nor tolerance for half ass home baked tech. Apparently wives differ, because my partner has proved to be capable of pressing a couple of buttons on a remote, and is rewarded with better quality sound from better speakers. Also that comes with the added bonus that I don't have to buy a $350 device that is going to be completely useless in a couple of years when Apple decides it won't support the only proprietary, closed way to persuade it to actually perform it's sole function which is to emit music, so all the lucky s̶h̶e̶e̶p customers are forced to purchase the next shiny disposable trinket. Homepod is a completely throwaway product, something that embodies the worst aspects of our society, a disposable object for a myopic consumer.
- gehwartzen 9y ago
  You wold be amazed how the tiniest amount of UX friction can eliminate that as an option. My wife agrees that the speakers and amp in the living room sound way better but would choose a home pod (if we had one) even though she only has to press two buttons. I think of the home pod much like air pods just serve a different function. Sure there are better sounding headphones for 160$ but I personally still use them all the time over my studio headphones because of the better usability, form factor, and aesthetics.
URSpider94 9y ago
The Alexa puck has a line out. Plug it into the nice stereo?
tbyehl 9y ago
Convenience is a powerful feature. I took advantage of holiday sales to replace the girlfriend’s pair of Dots and outfit every room of our homes with better Alexa-enabled speakers. Everyone in our households are listening to music more often and the sound experience is alright as each speaker is covering a smaller space, but more importantly, we’ve got everything Alexa offers, everywhere. I’m curious to see what Apple’s ultimate strategy is. Will they push into lower-end products to get Siri into more places, open Siri up to 3rd-party devices, or is an expensive music player that happens to also be a voice assistant be as far as they go? As invested as I now am in Alexa hardware, I’m willing to give Siri a shot. $350 for a HomePod in rooms I consider most important isn’t terrible... but to me it’s a non-starter without less premium options for other rooms. I want one voice assistant to rule my home.

by rb808 9y ago

brokenmachine 9y ago

Why not spend your $350 on a device that can hook into the nice stereo in the room that is easy for the wife to use? Then you get even better sound with probably less money outlay. One of those programmable universal remotes might help as well? So it's one button to get to tunes.

rb808 9y ago
Its the thing with these devices are always on and hands free. There is a big difference between a voice command and one button. To me I'd push the button every time, but to others these devices are preferred.
- brokenmachine 9y ago
  Voice-controlled programmable remote? Do those exist? A cheap Android phone plugged into the speakers? You can "OK google" that.
  - shoobedowop 9y ago
    HomePod works, requires no maintenance, and sounds great. No one has time to dick around with custom one off solutions that require rebooting, tweaking, and is less reliable except single guys who want to spend half the time fixing something vs. using it. a wife has no time nor tolerance for half ass home baked tech.
    - rb808 9y ago
      > a wife has no time nor tolerance for half ass home baked tech. Lol, another experienced married man on hn! :)
    - brokenmachine 9y ago
      > a wife has no time nor tolerance for half ass home baked tech. Apparently wives differ, because my partner has proved to be capable of pressing a couple of buttons on a remote, and is rewarded with better quality sound from better speakers. Also that comes with the added bonus that I don't have to buy a $350 device that is going to be completely useless in a couple of years when Apple decides it won't support the only proprietary, closed way to persuade it to actually perform it's sole function which is to emit music, so all the lucky s̶h̶e̶e̶p customers are forced to purchase the next shiny disposable trinket. Homepod is a completely throwaway product, something that embodies the worst aspects of our society, a disposable object for a myopic consumer.
gehwartzen 9y ago
You wold be amazed how the tiniest amount of UX friction can eliminate that as an option. My wife agrees that the speakers and amp in the living room sound way better but would choose a home pod (if we had one) even though she only has to press two buttons. I think of the home pod much like air pods just serve a different function. Sure there are better sounding headphones for 160$ but I personally still use them all the time over my studio headphones because of the better usability, form factor, and aesthetics.

URSpider94 9y ago

The Alexa puck has a line out. Plug it into the nice stereo?

tbyehl 9y ago

Convenience is a powerful feature. I took advantage of holiday sales to replace the girlfriend’s pair of Dots and outfit every room of our homes with better Alexa-enabled speakers. Everyone in our households are listening to music more often and the sound experience is alright as each speaker is covering a smaller space, but more importantly, we’ve got everything Alexa offers, everywhere. I’m curious to see what Apple’s ultimate strategy is. Will they push into lower-end products to get Siri into more places, open Siri up to 3rd-party devices, or is an expensive music player that happens to also be a voice assistant be as far as they go? As invested as I now am in Alexa hardware, I’m willing to give Siri a shot. $350 for a HomePod in rooms I consider most important isn’t terrible... but to me it’s a non-starter without less premium options for other rooms. I want one voice assistant to rule my home.