Apple CEO Tim Cook: Hardware and Software Integration Will Set HomePod Apart From Competitors

[mikosk]

Just read Macrumors buying guide—
“Without an Apple Music subscription, HomePod is able to play content that's been purchased from iTunes along with Beats 1 radio content and podcasts. HomePod will only be able to play content that's been directly purchased using iTunes, rather than any music in an iTunes library.”

And that is the reason I will not be buying a HomePod. I decide what music to play and what the source is. Not Apple. Intentionally limiting who I can use as a music source is a guaranteed way of getting me to ignore your product.

Fail. Why spend this much cash on a great piece of hardware only to be tied to a single ecosystem? I don't think anyone would put up with an iPhone or Macbook that only ran Apple apps/programs. No Office, no Google Maps, no Spotify, only Apple Music, Apple Maps, and Keynote. Who would go for this?

Yet this is exactly what Apple is proposing with HomePod. Hmm...

 

[Baymowe335]

Maybe you should post some facts too. You just guaranteed something that you can’t even explain how.

Kettle meet black

It's an Apple product so it will integrate better with other Apple products like every other Apple device.

People are pronouncing the Sonos better in every way without even testing the HomePod.

 

[The Game 161]

Fail. Why spend this much cash on a great piece of hardware only to be tied to a single ecosystem? I don't think anyone would put up with an iPhone or Macbook that only ran Apple apps/programs. No Office, no Google Maps, no Spotify, only Apple Music, Apple Maps, and Keynote. Who would go for this?

Yet this is exactly what Apple is proposing with HomePod. Hmm...

Depends what music you listen to

If you use only Apple Music then it’s fine which is why this is an instant buy for me. Don’t use Spotify or google music.

 

[EdT]

Depends what music you listen to

If you use only Apple Music then it’s fine which is why this is an instant buy for me. Don’t use Spotify or google music.

I don’t use Spotify, Google, Amazon Music or Pandora. I don’t use anyone’s streaming music. I have burned and stored on a hard drive around 4500 songs. Most have been imported into iTunes.

For me streaming is unreliable.

For me, the loss of audio quality that any streaming service inflicts is not acceptable ESPECIALLY if you are going to call it premium or high end. Compressed and or lossy formats are NOT HiFi.

And if there is some format that maintains, at a minimum, CD quality then I return to my first point. In my house with my single available ISP that I can use streaming is not reliable.

My Father in law, who lived with us from 2001 until he died 3 years ago was a record salesman for CBS records after WW2. He physically drove from radio station to radio station and tried to talk them into buying those songs to play on air. Most of that music is not online anywhere, and I don’t intend to buy into a system that will not allow me to play it just because it’s not part of their proprietary streaming service. Because there is no technical reason that this is a closed service.

 

[jeyf]

... Apple could buy Sonos with today’s sales.

i could buy TWO Sonos with the price of ONE homePod

 

[Baymowe335]

i could buy TWO Sonos with the price of ONE homePod

I could buy 350 loaves of bread. Sorry, I thought we were talking about stuff that doesn't matter.

What's your point?

 

[jeyf]

I could buy 350 loaves of bread...

indeed you could but what is your point?

my point is i am shopping for speakers

 

[Baymowe335]

indeed you could but what is your point?

my point is i am shopping for speakers

Speakers that sound good? Let's hear the HomePod first and see what it can do with the ecosystem before comparing others like it's Apples to Apples.

 

[LordVic]

I could buy 350 loaves of bread. Sorry, I thought we were talking about stuff that doesn't matter.

What's your point?

Ehhh failed what aboutism.

Your loaves of bread don’t play music. The sonos do.

You’re trying to belittle his point by making a non sensible comparison.

 

[lazard]

I could buy 350 loaves of bread. Sorry, I thought we were talking about stuff that doesn't matter.

What's your point?

textbook whataboutism

 

[wigby]

Poorly. You can not truly adjust for the rooms acoustics from one spot in the room. That is why every other acoustic adjustment program requires you to move the mic around the room. A8 or not.
[doublepost=1516808909][/doublepost]
I am super happy with my 4 echos and all of the thousands (and growing every day) skills that extend them to do anything that I want. What I do not want is for everything I want to do or want to own to have to be blessed by Apple.

I'm just referring to product specs and actual listener feedback. Not sure where you're getting your opinion from.

All Echo functionality must be "blessed" by Amazon too. It's their API. Does Amazon let you listen to Apple Music or voice shop on Walmart? No. Do they allow more than Apple? Yes. Does that introduce more choices along with more security issues, commands to memorize, more data collected on you. Of course.

 

[Baymowe335]

Ehhh failed what aboutism.

Your loaves of bread don’t play music. The sonos do.

You’re trying to belittle his point by making a non sensible comparison.

You didn't get the joke. His point was as senseless as the bread. OK, maybe not that bad, but HomePod is not a more expensive Sonos speaker.

And if you think it will be, AT LEAST let it get to market and tested before speculating.

 

[EdT]

You didn't get the joke. His point was as senseless as the bread. OK, maybe not that bad, but HomePod is not a more expensive Sonos speaker.

And if you think it will be, AT LEAST let it get to market and tested before speculating.

The trouble is if critics say that they prefer Sonos then the response becomes wait until you hear HomePod in stereo. You are presenting a constantly moving target.

I wanted to like the HomePod. I kept hearing it would be a better sounding Sonos. I have a Sonos system, but could use a second complete set for my entertainment room upstairs.

• Except HomePod isn’t in stereo.
• And can’t be used in a surround sound system.
• And can’t be hooked into other music sources. Even an iTunes library on a MacBook/IMac.
• It will play music from Apple Music and that’s it. Someday Airplay2 may allow streaming from other sources. Maybe. Someday.
• You have to pay a monthly fee to have Apple Music.
• You have to have at least a 3mb connection to stream the music.
• Apple Music, honestly any companies streaming service, does not have CD quality sound. So comparing one speaker to another is arguing about who is the best among mediocre devices.

 

[Shanghaichica]

The trouble is if critics say that they prefer Sonos then the response becomes wait until you hear HomePod in stereo. You are presenting a constantly moving target.

I wanted to like the HomePod. I kept hearing it would be a better sounding Sonos. I have a Sonos system, but could use a second complete set for my entertainment room upstairs.

• Except HomePod isn’t in stereo.
• And can’t be used in a surround sound system.
• And can’t be hooked into other music sources. Even an iTunes library on a MacBook/IMac.
• It will play music from Apple Music and that’s it. Someday Airplay2 may allow streaming from other sources. Maybe. Someday.
• You have to pay a monthly fee to have Apple Music.
• You have to have at least a 3mb connection to stream the music.
• Apple Music, honestly any companies streaming service, does not have CD quality sound. So comparing one speaker to another is arguing about who is the best among mediocre devices.

It will play music that you have purchased from iTunes even if you don’t have an Apple Music subscription.

 

[LordVic]

You didn't get the joke. His point was as senseless as the bread. OK, maybe not that bad, but HomePod is not a more expensive Sonos speaker.

And if you think it will be, AT LEAST let it get to market and tested before speculating.

I will save judgement on sound quality till it's released, but your joke missed completely the point he was making

he was describing a cheaper, and alternative method for accomplishing a similar activity to HomePod. Maybe not 100% the same, but similar functionality, that's cheaper.

he's performing a cost analysis and determining for his audio needs, what his opportunity cost is.

His goal: Wireless control of his music playback. his solution is a completely perfect one.
your respond to bread,e ven as a joke is just... mockery of his legit statement.

but it's in line with your posting history. You defend Apple no matter what.

 

[kazmac]

Hardware and software playing nice? That would be welcome. How about fixing that first before trying to play catch up with everyone else.

 

[EdT]

It will play music that you have purchased from iTunes even if you don’t have an Apple Music subscription.

But not music you have added to iTunes yourself via burning CD’s or inputting it from a usb device to allow you to add vinyl records. And you probably need to stream the music and not play it from your computer. Limits, restrictions, and endless payments.

And making HomePod Apple Music only is not because of something technical that prevents it from using other sources. It’s intentional. If Apple said they want to use Google or Amazon and it was those companies that prevented it then at least you could pass the buck as far as blame. But nope, this is an Apple only decision.

 

[LordVic]

But not music you have added to iTunes yourself via burning CD’s or inputting it from a usb device to allow you to add vinyl records. And you probably need to stream the music and not play it from your computer. Limits, restrictions, and endless payments.

I've got about 300 CD's ripped and imported. it's the bulk of my music collection. if the HomePod won't play them, than it's a moot point and the homepod is not the device for us.

 

[Baymowe335]

I will save judgement on sound quality till it's released, but your joke missed completely the point he was making

he was describing a cheaper, and alternative method for accomplishing a similar activity to HomePod. Maybe not 100% the same, but similar functionality, that's cheaper.

he's performing a cost analysis and determining for his audio needs, what his opportunity cost is.

His goal: Wireless control of his music playback. his solution is a completely perfect one.
your respond to bread,e ven as a joke is just... mockery of his legit statement.

but it's in line with your posting history. You defend Apple no matter what.

Every one of Apple’s products has a similar, cheaper option yet Apple is worth $900B. You all completely miss the point.

 

[EdT]

I've got about 300 CD's ripped and imported. it's the bulk of my music collection. if the HomePod won't play them, than it's a moot point and the homepod is not the device for us.

I know, and I’ll drop out of HomePod threads. But I WAS looking forward to this product. I wanted it to be a real Sonos competitor, in the sound and features department. Actually, I wanted it to be a lot better. To find out it’s a device to drive their streaming service and not much more is disappointing.

 

[tubular]

My use case is as a HomeKit hub and as an AirPlay speaker for a music server (a 2010-era Mac Mini with an SSD). If I can’t say “Hey Siri, play the 15th Symphony of Shostakovich with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra” it’s no loss. I don’t use Siri anyway. I want the HomePod for reasons that have nothing to do with Siri and nothing to do with streaming services, and everything to do with AirPlay and HomeKit. Using my iPhone or an iPad running the iTunes remote application is fine by me.

 

[iSayuSay]

Wow, I didn't think about that. That does seem like quite a hardship. The reach to the pocket is bad enough, then having to read it and type a reply... ughh.

Seriously, that's your example of hardship?

On the other hand, popular messaging apps like Whatsapp also has desktop client for both Windows and MacOS. I get all the notifications and also sync the message to my phone.

Plus I dont have to be a jerk with green/blue bubble thing because everyone (android, iphone) can use whatsapp.

I get it about Apple’s integration though, but being not as locked in isn’t as hard as people thought.

 

[AppleScruff1]

iPod had the iTunes Store and iPhone multi touch and a decent web browser in your pocket. To me HomePod is nothing more than an iPhone accessory for someone with an Apple Music subscription. Yes there is a market there (not sure how big) but I don’t see how HomePod is reinventing anything.

Don't worry, you will in a couple of weeks.

 

[Botts85]

I’m missing something here: how is Alexa / Prime Music not a “deep integration” between software and hardware with Alexa (and likewise with Google’s software and hardware)? I know Apple was revolutionary with phones / computers for developing both the hardware and the software, which resulted in this “deep integration”, but that ship has sailed for speakers with built in assistants and music services. Someone wake Apple up to this??

At CES this year, the amount of crap with Alexa or Google was insane. Generic China factory number 1 beats knockoffs? Yep, those have Alexa.

Toy robot happens to have a speaker and mic? Better add Hey Google to that.

Maintaining brand consistency for Google and Amazon will be a pain in the ass if they keep licensing to everyone and anyone.

 

[trichardlin]

So typing on a keyboard in front of a computer wouldn't bring attention to you in the board meeting?

Of course not, I'm just the lowly secretary taking notes.