Regardless, it sucks for the consumer.
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Apple Stops Selling Headphones and Speakers From Third-Party Companies Ahead of Rumored Smaller HomePod and AirPods Studio Launch
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Regardless, it sucks for the consumer.
consumer is more likely to drive/walk past a best buy/target/walmart before they even hit an Apple Store.
You never could either. Comparison isn't apt. Apple sold competing products and they still do. Even from Logitech. They just want to remove any competition for their new audio products. No it ain't perfectly fair, but they are well within their right to do so. I'm sure they are aware the optics look like anti-competitive behavior. I'm guessing the cost/benefit analysis said do it anyway.
It simplifies the buying process for non-technical people. No point in trying to replicate the experience people can get from 5 stores that they pass by on the way to the Apple Store. Go in, buy AirPods or don't, and get out. Apple Stores were busy enough before COVID anyways.
Remember when Steve Job came back and saw hundreds of product lines of computers? He axed the product line down to a 2x2 grid and it worked.
If you want inferior audio products that integrate poorly with all your best-in-class Apple devices, you have many retailers willing to sell them to you.
Pretty bold thinking Apple comes anywhere near making the best audio products, lol.
Not in my experience. I bought one to operate as my all-purpose "speaker", and was planning on adding a second for stereo. However, the sound was always out of synch with video by up to about a second. I did some Googling, and that is apparently normal. So I sold it. So much for my planned Apple "audio solution". No doubt people will say it's not designed to be able to do that. So that's me out. Great device!
Really? Mine couldn't even work in synch when streaming video on Apple TV (I mean the app on my Mac, not an Apple TV "box" - may it works with that?") Perhaps I did something wrong, but there was a lot on Google saying the lag is unfixable. Poor integration indeed... So is this wonder-device just suitable for playing audio without video, and having Siri butt in with nonsense when I'm not even speaking to it?
Like BMW has Mercs in their showrooms?
It's simple business. Can I get a Toyota car at the Honda dealership? Does my CPA have business cards of competing CPAs in the area? I can do this all day long. Apple makes products that they want to sell. It's their stores. Why would they give the consumer an opportunity to buy a competing product at their store.
It’s never been a store “just for” Apple products. If it was, then there wouldn’t be any other products there. But it’s not.
They sell products that compliment their products, and expand upon what their products do. Without third party support, Apple might not be here any more.
You can do it all day long and be wrong as long as you're doing it.
Wrong about the cars. You can buy easily buy a Toyota, Ford, Mitsubishi or any other brand at a Honda dealership. Dealers sell viable trade-ins on their pre-owned lots. So yeah, you can. 100% guarantee if you couldn't afford your CPA's services, they'd have a recommended cheaper competitor for you. Probably a buddy, but a competitor nonetheless. You're wrong about Apple stores as well because they have sold competing products in their stores for years. They still sell competing products in their store right now. To answer your question about why would they give a customer an opportunity to buy a competing product? Simple, to make money. That is a simple business.
Compared to Alexa and Google Siri used to be a distant third as a voice assistant. Siri has closed the gap considerably and claims to be a lot less intrusive privacy wise, although I’ve heard it’s not the privacy protecting system Apple claims it to be. Right now it’s probably a personal preference with maybe a dialect component thrown in where one works better with you than one of the other assistants. But old Siri bashing habits die hard. Alexa was never as good nor Siri quite as bad as forums liked to portray them.
Probably for the same reason you won't find Chevrolet automobiles for sale in Ford dealerships. Just a guess...
No, that would be stupidity. OTOH, maybe you'd expect to see Chevy's being sold in Ford dealerships.
Not the best guess cuz it doesn't work in this instance. Apple has and still does sell competing products.
You can do it all day long and be wrong as long as you're doing it.
I agree, buy what works best for you. In fact, buy what you like even if it’s not rated anywhere near being the best but you like it. Your money, your decision. Just be aware that there are potentially negative consequences to anything that you buy. From pretty much anyone.