Don’t need to buy an army of stuff to replicate what the HomePod does easily.
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Apple Offers Employees Deep Discounts on HomePod, Beats Headphones and More
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You mean like an audio input cable? Yeah, you won't need that on Homepod.
Echo Dot does wireless playback too in addition to wired. Your point?
I guess the point is that you don’t miss what you don’t need. I think that past a certain point, simply parroting a laundry list of specs only does so much for a discussion, because different people have differing needs. Not everything which matters can be measured, just as not everything that can be measured necessarily matters.
The HomePod is clearly marketed at a very specific group of users - people who use iPhones and are subscribed to Apple Music. The way it has been designed offers several clues as to how Apple envisions people using it. They likely consider airplay superior to Bluetooth, and don’t want you plugging in a device to the HomePod via a wire when you could be streaming content directly (especially when the iPhone and iPad don’t even have headphone jacks anymore).
That’s Apple in a nutshell. They often opt for design purity even when it comes at the expense of user choice, and the HomePod is simply an example of their design-led culture at work.
I think a few of the more "caring" companies are trying to help - I work for the John lewis group and they have just increased our discount on items and are giving us all a bonus shortly...
That’s the point, LTE. Stream to your echo dot from LTE only. I wouldn’t do it, but since we’re talking only a spec sheet with no regard for anything else, plus one for the HomePod.
But I have an echo dot (that’s unused and sitting in a corner) and it’s a transistor radio compared to the HomePod. To each their own.
I’d buy a set of beats headphones on a deep discount.
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So once that gear is set up and running in the background 24/7, with Siri and Apple Music waiting for your verbal commands, just say something out loud from across the room, like, "Hey Siri, play Kind of Blue?" And Apple Music just starts playing?
And if that works, lets say you want to move your above set up to another room, say to the garage (where I have my wood shop). Easy peasy, up and running in less than a minute, waiting for a verbal Siri command from 30 feet away to play something from Apple Music?
Currently, I have four HomePods, albeit I gifted one to my GF in Italy. If I could snag this $150 pricing, I would buy two more in a flash! ⚡I love the build quality, and the sound is pretty decent. Ironically, I'm not a huge music listener. However, I do have a disability that limits my mobility, and I found the HomePods to be quite useful in providing information and placing calls.
Apple contends that the HomePod is for music, a weak defense to obfuscate their laziness. Apple has done this sort of thing' for decades. They come out with innovative technology and then let it grow mold, e.g., MacPro.
I have one of the very first Mac computers, and with the use of the mouse, it was phenomenal. Unfortunately, every time they tried to advance the mouse, they made it worst or did nothing at all. Conversely, when they do make an outstanding piece of equipment, they get bored and then give up. The Airport Extreme comes to mind. Heck, I'm still using it, with my otherwise all-new Apple products in my home.
Apple contends that the HomePod is for music, a weak defense to obfuscate their laziness. Apple has done this sort of thing' for decades. They come out with innovative technology and then let it grow mold, e.g., MacPro.
I have one of the very first Mac computers, and with the use of the mouse, it was phenomenal. Unfortunately, every time they tried to advance the mouse, they made it worst or did nothing at all. Conversely, when they do make an outstanding piece of equipment, they get bored and then give up. The Airport Extreme comes to mind. Heck, I'm still using it, with my otherwise all-new Apple products in my home.
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out of curiosity because I really have no clue. What $700 speaker do you have in a kitchen that plays the news?
Dude don’t buy one if you don’t like it. Your problem, though I don’t what that is, is now solved
I already own a couple of apple TVs. Can't use Siri without picking up the remote, and they are not set up to work without the television. I would basically like a homepod without the speakers that can plug into my existing stereo system. Apple TV is not even close to being that.
Yeah you would....if you are in the ecosystem even for speaker quality alone it’s worth it
That’s a nice thought, and plausible as well. It’s definitely proven effective for my family & the basement-turned-shared-office-space setup that we now have. Gives a warm background sound & rhythm during the course of the (“remote work”) days, particularly when paired with the “downtempo” Apple Music station.
Yeah, that's unlikely. My old company used to have similar employee deals. There's a (small) quantity limit. If you want to buy your limit and give it to a friend, no one cares. It's a drop in the bucket.
If one streams to any other device(Bose, Sonos, etc)...one could stream from any app to the HomePod even if there was no subscription to Apple Music.
A lot of the hate for the HomePod seems to come from people that haven’t even had one.
Asking for different functionality is not "hate." I think it is a great idea for those that want the functionality that homepod provides. But is it so hard for you to understand the homepod just does not fit into every situation?
Oh of course. It’s not for everyone. But I’m referring more to comments like “I wouldn’t take it if it were free” “it’s junk” etc. I can guarantee those people have never used it.