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I don't think we are advocating that Google smart home products are not quality products. We are just saying that they are very slow to move, and at this pace A
by nodesocket 8y ago
I don't think we are advocating that Google smart home products are not quality products. We are just saying that they are very slow to move, and at this pace Amazon is going to crush them. This also goes for Apple.
- MBCook 8y agoAs slow as Apple was moving, they flat out gave up a few years ago when they stopped making AirPorts. Apple should have bought eero.
- nodesocket 8y agoApple is still trying with HomePod. It is a nice product, but the price point is crazy stupid. This is coming from an Apple shareholder who loves their premium prices. I don't know anybody who bought HomePod. I've been waiting for Apple to make a big acquisition for years. Beats!!! Really?
- MBCook 8y agoNetworking equipment was what I was referring to in my comment. Sorry if that wasn’t clear. I see the parent I replied to mentioned smart home, which I must have missed. I really believe the story that the HomePod was never meant to be smart home equipment, that that role was saddled on it before release.
- gfosco 8y agoThe price does hurt... I have a HomePod and we use it often, but I'd like to have 3 or 4 of them.
- nodesocket 8y agoWhat's the benefit though? You could get a mid-grade soundbar with a dedicated subwoofer for around $150 (Vizio) and a Echo Dot or Google Home Mini and get better sound quality.
- gfosco 8y agoMy wife and I use it like this: "Hey Siri, play some music." (and it's _my_ iCloud library) "Hey Siri, never play that song again." "Hey Siri, skip." I think it sounds great, and I also like that either of us can seamlessly set our iPhones to output from them. I'd like a second one in the living room to expand the sound in that area, and two more for two different "zones" where it would be useful. Siri gives us a laugh every now and then, too.
- threeseed 8y agoArguable that it will have better sound quality. HomePod has exceptional audio positioning and audiophiles have benchmarked it against high end speakers like Klipsch and it's held up very well. And the benefit for me is Siri. I ask her everyday to read out the BBC News, set timers in the kitchen, set reminders and most importantly play the huge array of content from Apple Music.
- moonlighter 8y agoI love my HomePods, I got 2 of them paired for stereo sound. I use them from an AppleTV for room-filling sound, as well as sometimes from my iPhone. The sound quality is really awesome.
- threeseed 8y agoHomePod's price point is fine if you think of it as a decent speaker. Which it is. And the Beats deal was an incredibly good purchase. It gave them audio engineering skills which you have seen popup in AirPods, MacBooks, HomePod etc. It gave them the Beats streaming platform which now forms the basis for Apple Music. It gave them a youthful, iconic brand which helps with initiatives like Beats1. And their hardware business was extremely profitable. Not to mention having execs like Iovine and Dre involved.
- nodesocket 8y agoYou make good arguments for the Beats acquisition, perhaps I am being a bit short sighted. Just does not seem as transformative as some of Amazon's big acquisitions (Ring, PillPack, Whole Foods, Twitch).
- gnicholas 8y agoI bought two...and then returned them both. Turns out you can only use them as a stereo pair from an iOS device, or within the iTunes application on Mac. Want to watch Netflix with your HomePods? Only possible from an iOS device. Ditto for YouTube, Amazon prime, and pretty much anything else.
- PascLeRasc 8y agoThis review placed the Homepod ahead of the KEF X300A, an $1k set of speakers: https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7wwtqy/apple_homepod_the_audiophile_perspective/ https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/7wwtqy/apple_ho...