I'm sure a larger percentage of adopters are waiting for native support for more services. No Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, MLB, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, Audible, etc. is a dealbreaker for many. Especially considering the price.
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Apple Cuts HomePod Orders After Sales Prove to Be Lackluster
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I'm sure a larger percentage of adopters are waiting for native support for more services. No Spotify, Pandora, SiriusXM, MLB, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, Audible, etc. is a dealbreaker for many. Especially considering the price.
Tim is busy doing interviews about other topics, he thinks attention to apple products can wait.
Yes I would like very much to purchase a multi-hundred dollar speaker with a microphone in it to listen to me all the time at my own house in the amid of all the pirvacy concern happening around the world.
This is an expensive product that does not solve a problem and people just don't understand why they need one. If it was made by, say Panasonic, hardly anyone would pay attention to it.
Maybe in the future, when its more capable, better designed, cheaper, and makes more sense.
This is an expensive product that does not solve a problem and people just don't understand why they need one. If it was made by, say Panasonic, hardly anyone would pay attention to it.
Maybe in the future, when its more capable, better designed, cheaper, and makes more sense.
Initial diehard sales. Sales will not pick up. It's an expensive product that's not as capable as products that are cheaper.
Twice the cost AND half the features. It does sound great for what it is. Once they build in smart HomeKit functionality and allow access to Spotify, et al, I want to buy in - but not until the software is more fully baked and some evolution has occurred.
Never been a fan of this product. Has to be plugged in, over complicated. Don't like it at all. I would prefer a UE Boom 2 day. Amazing sound quality, Bluetooth for any device, not tied to Apple music, waterproof (pool party?). The Airpod is just a flop product on Apple's end. It is buying into limitation really.
So here we are after all the hype and blanket coverage.
The HomePod.....too expensive....too late....under performing Siri....
Apple need to wake up. Its not just the Logo that will sell their products as the consumer has become wise to that form of marketing.
The HomePod.....too expensive....too late....under performing Siri....
Apple need to wake up. Its not just the Logo that will sell their products as the consumer has become wise to that form of marketing.
This. The UE Boom 2 at ~$179 is far more enticing than this thing.
It's an excellent device but there are very few aficionados so it is niche.
As a Siri device it lacks character, but all of the competitors have the same problem. Robot assistants should look friendly, there should be something slightly humanoid about them. For example, the Mac Plus looked like a man with an awkward smile. The Lampshade iMac looked like Herbie.
As a Siri device it lacks character, but all of the competitors have the same problem. Robot assistants should look friendly, there should be something slightly humanoid about them. For example, the Mac Plus looked like a man with an awkward smile. The Lampshade iMac looked like Herbie.
Also a good read: AppleInsider
People need to lay out facts and numbers and substantiate their statements if they are making generalizations such as "HomePod sales are lackluster"
People need to lay out facts and numbers and substantiate their statements if they are making generalizations such as "HomePod sales are lackluster"
It's popular, it's really good for what it does, they make new flavours every now and then.
It's a license to print thousand dollar bills and people will always buy it and give you crazy high margins for it.
It took a really smart guy to invent it but that was a long, long, long time ago.
Since then, the same old idea has just been resold into a saturated market ad nauseum.
The shareholders love the patent holder for sticking to what works and the public continue to gobble it up.
There's nothing wrong with any of that and the original idea was genius.
I just miss the era when Apple would drop the equivalent of "the invention of cola" every few years.
That was an amazing time to be alive.
With every update, Siri's voice becomes worse and worse, and she mis-hears me more and more. I have a lisp and several Siri versions ago, she was flawless. She always got what I said correctly when I dictated texts and emails to her, and never had a problem. Nowadays, she screws up every single word, and then autocorrect purposely misspells and changes words I have typed out correctly. It sucks so much. Between the 5-8 second response delay on my apple watch when I press music controls (As for using Siri on watch-- forget about it, she never responds anymore) and the AirPods constantly cutting out like i'm on old headphones with a broken plug, I'm very unhappy with the apple products I own.
The SE was great, Siri was great two years ago, but you know, when they purposely throttle products and make changes for the worse, it kinda ruins it for me.
No way in hell would I spend that much money for a home pod when the Echo Dot and Alexa has far out performed Apple and Siri products. I got the dot for $29 and it's been great since day one. Alexa does not have issues with my lisp. I wish we had old Siri back. I miss her.
The SE was great, Siri was great two years ago, but you know, when they purposely throttle products and make changes for the worse, it kinda ruins it for me.
No way in hell would I spend that much money for a home pod when the Echo Dot and Alexa has far out performed Apple and Siri products. I got the dot for $29 and it's been great since day one. Alexa does not have issues with my lisp. I wish we had old Siri back. I miss her.
I'm really looking forward to these becoming available in Canada. And no, I'm not going to get it early by ordering one from the US. There's no way I'm importing a cloud-based device before it's officially available here.
The U.K. is in Europe.
The U.K. will always be part of Europe. You’re thinking of the European Union.
Yeah, that's why Tim got his MBA, because without it, it's hard to understand that you should cut orders with low demand
What exactly is wrong with Apple's software? Seems like a very generalized statement. How does it compare to competition? Are we talking mobile or desktop software?
I like mine and I hope they don’t lower the price. Much like Apple TV this will sell like that.
Seems like most people are comparing this to Alexa and Google assistant speakers however they have a chicken in every pot mentality and don’t mind tiny margins.
Apple is different and the profit margin is very important.
Seems like most people are comparing this to Alexa and Google assistant speakers however they have a chicken in every pot mentality and don’t mind tiny margins.
Apple is different and the profit margin is very important.
It’s amazing how so many people miss the pattern. Apple releases a high priced device in a new product category that is a barebones base foundation to build on and everyone criticizes them and predicts their doom. Then a few generations in, that product is everywhere and the one to beat.
Apple Watch was a “failure” according to many people posting here. Too expensive (almost double its competitors) and didn’t do enough. Today, 3 generations in, it’s on wrists everywhere and the platform has grown and continues to grow. It’s got the potential to becoming one of Apple’s most successful products.
Speaking of successful products. The iPod was so basic, missing many of the functions of other MP3 players on the market at the time and selling for 2 to 3 times their price. How did that work out?
The HomePod is a repeat of that formula. Build a solid foundation, pay more for a higher quality, better designed product. And it’ll improve over a couple of years to become the leader in that category. Taking 10% of a brand new product category out of the gate is no small accomplishment. The satisfaction rate with HomePod is very good. That’s what’s important. Happy customers who are buying a 2nd and 3rd HomePod because they love their first one will translate into word of mouth new customer sales. And eventually, everyone has one in their home and the critics curiously disappear.
Apple Watch was a “failure” according to many people posting here. Too expensive (almost double its competitors) and didn’t do enough. Today, 3 generations in, it’s on wrists everywhere and the platform has grown and continues to grow. It’s got the potential to becoming one of Apple’s most successful products.
Speaking of successful products. The iPod was so basic, missing many of the functions of other MP3 players on the market at the time and selling for 2 to 3 times their price. How did that work out?
The HomePod is a repeat of that formula. Build a solid foundation, pay more for a higher quality, better designed product. And it’ll improve over a couple of years to become the leader in that category. Taking 10% of a brand new product category out of the gate is no small accomplishment. The satisfaction rate with HomePod is very good. That’s what’s important. Happy customers who are buying a 2nd and 3rd HomePod because they love their first one will translate into word of mouth new customer sales. And eventually, everyone has one in their home and the critics curiously disappear.
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I have found in the past that every time I thought Siri's recognition was getting worse it was because the level of ambient noise was increasing or my phone's microphones were getting clogged. I'm not sure how exactly you're supposed to clean them, but it might be worth a quick search.
I see the appeal. I want one, too - at the cost of entry, I just want to know Apple will make the 1st generation as versatile as promised.
That said, I’m discouraged by the reports of problems using it with the Apple TV.
Watching, but waiting...
If the apps for Apple Watch seem underwhelming, that corresponds to the device's limited interface and power. If you're going to compare the HomePod to something, look at Apple's other "standalone appliance": Apple TV. It has an ecosystem matching the level of its abilities and the typical use cases. I think most users probably have quite a few third-party ATV apps installed, and it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see voice-controlled HomePod equivalents for radio, just to start with.
In fact HomePod is the only major Apple product that doesn't (yet) let third-party developers create apps for it. And the sales apparently show that. Right now it's just a much nicer and better-sounding counterpart to the hoardes of other "smart speakers" out there -- albeit one optimized for Apple's iCloud and Apple Music offerings.
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My approach was different. I spent $80 on two dots. Once is connected to an existing Bose radio in kitchen and the second to a TV sound system in living room. Both sound great, work great, and do all the Alexa things effortlessly. This includes all house lights, door locks, and a host of other things.
While clearly the sound is from the external devices and not the Dots, the result is low cost, flexible, and works great.
While clearly the sound is from the external devices and not the Dots, the result is low cost, flexible, and works great.
How many times do you get to change the world? Jobs did it more than some, but was he an endless font of world-changing vision? It was reported in his biography that he had figured out how to fix television. Do you think he was destined to succeed if he had lived? Would a Steve Jobs Apple Car have worked?
Would Steve Jobs have sacrificed Apple users’ privacy to make Siri better? How would he have fared testifying before Congress alongside his fellow world-changer Zuckerberg?
Arguably Steve Jobs made Apple what it is now and Cook has kept it there. For those who see Cook as a failure does that mean Apple should be even more of a behemoth? Could a visionary survive being the greatest industry titan of all time?
The HomePod encapsulates everything wrong with Apple in one product.
Overpriced.
Released late.
Missing half the features the competition has for less money.
Yeah, it’s a dud.
Just waiting for Apple to drop the price and admit it... or rush the Gen. 2 to market.
An employee demoed one for me in the Apple store and I couldn’t believe how limited it was. It didn’t even work properly for him. I felt badly for him that Apple released this thing, expecting him to sell it.
Overpriced.
Released late.
Missing half the features the competition has for less money.
Yeah, it’s a dud.
Just waiting for Apple to drop the price and admit it... or rush the Gen. 2 to market.
An employee demoed one for me in the Apple store and I couldn’t believe how limited it was. It didn’t even work properly for him. I felt badly for him that Apple released this thing, expecting him to sell it.