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Seeing the vitriol here, I am reminded of the following article.

AirPods and the Three Stages of Apple Criticism

https://medium.com/rethink-reviews/airpods-and-the-three-stages-of-apple-criticism-fed70b84e435

It will be interesting to check back here next year to see if the narrative has changed. And I believe it will.
No doubt it will, homepod will improve alot with software updates which is all it needs. Siri improvement again will be software related so it will get there but will take time. Air play 2 will give it a boost at least.
 
Why? Unless they plan on buying multiple HomePods, there's no advantage to it.
Because i have a homepod and am looking to buy multiple homepods? :D
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I was talking to the manager at Best Buy and he said they have not sold as many as projected, but the big thing is that about 50% who bought them ended up returning them. So you and I aren't alone. Perhaps if they would have allowed 3.5mm input and/or bluetooth connectivity more would have kept it.

Software issues that can be resolved. It's a v1.0 product. I'm not sure why anyone is surprised there are issues.

Every v1.0 apple product has issues (from the Mac, to the Macbook Air, to the iPhone, to the iPad, to the watch, etc.). This is no different.
 
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Had it ordered until the Spotify news came through, immediately canceled.

Total boner killer.
 
Where did I claim they WERE from Apple? I took issue with YOU calling these 'Apple Spin' when the data was sourced from a third party company.

And define 'factual'. Every other analyst has felt that the IDC figures are damn close to actual - odd that you apparently feel you know more than companies that invest millions of dollars on such results - why is that?

I’ll clear up your confusion over how Apple spins it’s reports then, it will report warnings right, it will show its made lots of profits from the iPhone and in particular the X, it portrays the data in a way to show look how well it’s done, we’ve made record profits..
That’s spin, because the profits are only high because of the HUGE MARK UP on the device, because in real sales terms it’s a flop, you don’t half your parts orders when the device is selling well, you do that when it’s selling poorly.

That’s the spin, because they know if they promote something that can be factual in a certain way, people will read it as something else. As the OP I was replying to highlighted, the argument were iPhone X sales were poor, he insinuated they weren’t because they made X amount of profit.

And no, you didn’t answer my question, is this data you keep referring to obtained from every single outlet or market supplier globally for Apples products? The only way anyone can be accurate claiming this iPhone sold this many globally, is if they actually had hard sales figures facts from every retail outlet globally, or at least all the global suppliers to those retail outlasts and even then its numbers ‘shipped’ and not ‘sold’.
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It also doesn’t help that BT is bad for movies.

Go on.... how so? Why is Bluetooth bad for movies?
 
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That would make it a lot more compelling but I doubt it will ever happen. I need my 6 Music and 5 Live just as much as Apple Music.

This is the point of a smart speaker, you can kind of have apps on it, like with the Echo where you have BBC and Sky and Spotify, you just tell it what to do and it does it, it’s kind of like the smart phone I think. But with the Home Pod you seemingly cannot do these things, you have to depend on an iOS device to link to it for those features, it’s not standalone. At least that’s how I see it? Is that right that you can’t link it to something like Sky news and just ask Siri to play the highlights to you?
 
You can control whatever Apple allows you to and then only functionality that they choose to give you. You're also reliant on clouds from several different companies.

I have custom devices built around a mix of Particle Photons and ESP8266 modules. It's all supported by IFTTT which makes Alexa and Google voice control trivial. The best I could do with Apple is have Siri send a text message and then have to parse it into a command. That's clunky at the siri end and a kludge at the receiver.

If you are using custom hardware then you need to use homebrige.
 
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A bit wrong on the sound quality thing because it can be a matter of taste, like television screens one says it’s great, the other rubbish.

Also Sonos has sold so well because it has become the home brand name for decent home media networking and streaming. May not be the best but it is the one everyone thinks off and they consistently get good reviews. Like Philips Hue really.

I suppose my point with sound quality (and with tv as well as you have mentioned) is that it’s incredibly hard for the public to discern the differences in quality between devices.

Even when demoed at a shop. Without a decent background or interest in sound and vision and the terminology used (what are mids? Tweeters? Contrast, deep blacks, Oled etc..) it is hard for even more savvy consumers to discern whether things are right for them or not.

So branding becomes super important. You buy Sony, Panasonic etc.. and never expect it to be trash because they are brands with a pedigree. But you can easily have a good product and trash your brand. Which is what is happening with HomePod. It happened to some extent with the first Apple hifi thing which was good but didn’t gain traction and is seen as a duff product for them.

These products sell mostly by word of mouth and Apple need to be mindful of that. There is no demoing in the Apple store that will matter more to buyers than the word of mouth of people on the net/friends when it comes to buying audio / visual gear.
 
Apple charges $349 for the HomePod, making the device more expensive than competing smart speakers from Amazon and other companies. Apple put a lot of effort into promoting the HomePod's superior sound quality, but its high price tag, its lack of connectivity with non-Apple devices, and its inability to work natively with music services other than Apple Music have likely hurt its sales.

May have?!? The HomePod is basically useless and hardly even a beta release of something that other companies have nailed a long time ago. What did they expect. I am surprised it even sold at all.
 
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May have?!? The HomePod is basically useless and hardly even a beta release of something that other companies have nailed a long time ago. What did they expect. I am surprised it even sold at all.
People say the same thing about every Apple product. Apple’s target market is everyone of their 40 million Apple Music subscribers. I’m guessing once AirPlay 2 is officially announced sales will increase.
 
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I imagine Apple themselves are still pretty well out of these even with low sales.
I bought one based on some early (hype?) reviews. I knew Siri wasn’t going to be great but was happy with a direct stream/AirPlay device. I was pretty underwhelmed by the sound and returned it unfortunately.

I’d have kept it at half the price but didn’t feel it was worth the premium over the competition. It’s a tricky market as audiophile music reproduction is better served by traditional hifi (with tonnes of options/pricepoints/etc) that can smartified by dots/minis/chromecast etc. The mass market that the HomePod is going for, good enough for living room, parties and multi room is better served by the rather good mid range products by google/amazon/sonos etc.

I don’t think the HomePod is worth the premium sonically over the others (and obviously lacks in other features). It’s in my “good enough” bracket and simply seems overpriced compared to the competition. I think the only thing that’s remotely audiophile about the HomePod is the “diminishing returns” :)

I’d like to try again but only once the price and physical size are revisited.

Yes. I agree 100%. Im in the same boat. I would like to keep it and get even few more as Siri is not a dealbreaker for me BUT the sound quality is nowhere near 350! Its just too small. You cant beat physical limitations of sound no matter what. If they increase a size and quality of music and allow it to be connected to the Mac or TV I will buy. Otherwise its just not for me. And truth to be told I dont understand who is the target audience here.
 
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Don’t know what they expect to happen. You can buy an amazon spot that has a screen and shows you info on it. You can take calls on it and see people on it or see your place from outside your home. All for 100$. I mean Apple overpriced this thing and most people with dedicated home theatres don’t need the quality of the speaker for much.
Not even sure if it works as a HomeKit Siri? That’s the only reason I’d want one. But I’ll stick to my spot. I like having a little clock thay has a screen on it that can do all my home automation. For 200$ less
 
If you are using custom hardware then you need to use homebrige.

Right. And that sentence right there perfectly sums up the problem with Siri, Apple's entire iOS philosophy which they are trying to spill over onto Mac, and it explains exactly why the HomePod is crippled to the point of uselessness by design.

It is not a $350 speaker, which would be a very reasonable price for what you get. It's a forced lock-in to Apple's services and even then only in the way Apple wants to let you. And for that Application, $350 is a ripoff, it would be a ripoff at $35. More people want a "speaker" than an "apple service lock-in".
 
Don’t know what they expect to happen. You can buy an amazon spot that has a screen and shows you info on it. You can take calls on it and see people on it or see your place from outside your home. All for 100$. I mean Apple overpriced this thing and most people with dedicated home theatres don’t need the quality of the speaker for much.
Not even sure if it works as a HomeKit Siri? That’s the only reason I’d want one. But I’ll stick to my spot. I like having a little clock thay has a screen on it that can do all my home automation. For 200$ less
It works great with Homekit. I have a Spot and the screen is so small it isn't really that compelling. I have never had reason to use it for calls, either. I have an iPhone with Facetime. The drop in features that were on by default (not sure if they changed that since I turned them off) are intrusive. I like it as a clock on my desk and for checking my Arlo cameras (which has a longer delay than I like, but still is nice to have when my hands are on the keyboard).

For me, the Spot is in my office and is connected to a couple speaker setups (one is a radio that is on all the time and the other is a receiver). I just don't use it for music very often because it doesn't support Apple Music.

Personally, I wouldn't replace my main system with the HomePod. It is great as a kitchen, dining room, living room convenience (it sits in the middle of all three spaces). It is for when I want decent sound and convenience without going to the trouble of turning on the main setup. It is great for that. Right now, it is a bit of a niche, but they will expand its capabilities over time. It would have done better if they released it before the holidays, but there is always this year's holidays for them to exploit.
 
it will appeal to new buyers only, people of that category already might have Bose, Harmon & Cardon and so many others i might not know the name.
It is sure a success, just start is slow.
 
Right. And that sentence right there perfectly sums up the problem with Siri, Apple's entire iOS philosophy which they are trying to spill over onto Mac, and it explains exactly why the HomePod is crippled to the point of uselessness by design.

It is not a $350 speaker, which would be a very reasonable price for what you get. It's a forced lock-in to Apple's services and even then only in the way Apple wants to let you. And for that Application, $350 is a ripoff, it would be a ripoff at $35. More people want a "speaker" than an "apple service lock-in".


Sorry, I like have the extra security that homekit gives me. And they have changed to software based security in the latest version, so if something doesn't work with HK it is on the manufacture. And HP is how Apple has always worked and will work. This what you are buying when you end the world of Apple. And seeing how the just the hardware alone in the HP is about $265 I would not call it a rip off. It is a very well built speak that sounds amazing for it size. People seem to get lost at point that Apple is all or nothing, you have to play by Apples rules, if you don't like that, it is ok there are tons of options out there... Apple is not right for everyone.
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May have?!? The HomePod is basically useless and hardly even a beta release of something that other companies have nailed a long time ago. What did they expect. I am surprised it even sold at all.


Man, are you telling the all the hours I used my HPs were useless!?!?!
 
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Don’t know what they expect to happen. You can buy an amazon spot that has a screen and shows you info on it. You can take calls on it and see people on it or see your place from outside your home. All for 100$. I mean Apple overpriced this thing and most people with dedicated home theatres don’t need the quality of the speaker for much.
Not even sure if it works as a HomeKit Siri? That’s the only reason I’d want one. But I’ll stick to my spot. I like having a little clock thay has a screen on it that can do all my home automation. For 200$ less
yes it works great with homekit.
 
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No doubt it will, homepod will improve alot with software updates which is all it needs. Siri improvement again will be software related so it will get there but will take time. Air play 2 will give it a boost at least.

It is sad we have to go through this for every Apple product. Do they have a few misses, yes every company does.
 
You are 100% correct on this. I have two, want two more but decided to hold back until its rolled out. Sure there is no advantage to me waiting, but there is no advantage for me spending the money today to have the speakers not be used.
Just as a speaker it’s very good. Like you will buy more in the future.
 
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