HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Again, I don't know if I would hold it much against Apple. They didn't seem to be aiming for Home Theater from the start with HP. That's something a bunch of people HERE starting spinning up. Apple has always positioned this thing as something that might be called an ultimate Echo competitor. From the pre-release reviews, it sounds like they may have built it well from a quality of sound perspective but fallen short on the "smarts" side.
Nevertheless, it seems the HP is about great sounding music (specifically Apple Music) from a tiny speaker that sounds good throughout a room.
If Apple wanted to position this for Home Theater too, they would be pushing that as some added details in the marketing. Speakers for Home Theaters are usually purchased at least 2- but more typically 5 or 7- at a time. Can anyone doubt that Apple would prefer to sell 2, 5 or 7 HPs in one transaction instead of trying to make as little as just 1 magically cover all those same bases? Think about the revenue objective instead of the technology spin if you have any doubts.
Since it was announced, WE promoted it into a Sonos competitor to make the price a little more palatable. And then WE spun it into a home theater speaker to compete with Sonos home theater setups. Some of us went so far as to count the tweeters and claim it's up to 8 "speakers" in one tiny box. Pair that with out-of-control "beam forming" hype and some were all but proclaiming this 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound in a single HP... or maybe just 2 HPs.
But it's not that. Even the favored pre-reviewers are pointing out that while it will airplay fine from
TV, when you get it to do anything else, it decouples and then you have to go through the steps within TV to reconnect it again. Imagine interacting with the "smarts" side like Alexa owners do and then having to go through Airplay connection routines over and over again.
Maybe Apple will sell a ton of these for their intended purpose, get inspired from all those profits and decide to imagine & build a HP Pro system for home theater people. If so, great. But in the meantime, we should see it for what it is... what Apple says it is in their own marketing, rather than what a bunch of us have been trying to spin it into well BEYOND Apple's own marketing.
Once more: if the primary want is home theater speakers, consider buying a dedicated home theater speaker system and getting the bulk of the HP benefits via theTV you already have. It's already got Siri search, Airplay, AM access, etc... PLUS it bring full home-sharing access, all of the video benefits, and the ever-growing utility that comes from third party apps (including competing music service apps like Pandora). Since HP requires an iDevice for setup, the iDevice you already have can cover the rest of the "smarts" including doing basic things like setting appointments and/or seeking on-demand information BETTER than what can be done asking Siri questions or giving Siri commands.
Nevertheless, it seems the HP is about great sounding music (specifically Apple Music) from a tiny speaker that sounds good throughout a room.
If Apple wanted to position this for Home Theater too, they would be pushing that as some added details in the marketing. Speakers for Home Theaters are usually purchased at least 2- but more typically 5 or 7- at a time. Can anyone doubt that Apple would prefer to sell 2, 5 or 7 HPs in one transaction instead of trying to make as little as just 1 magically cover all those same bases? Think about the revenue objective instead of the technology spin if you have any doubts.
Since it was announced, WE promoted it into a Sonos competitor to make the price a little more palatable. And then WE spun it into a home theater speaker to compete with Sonos home theater setups. Some of us went so far as to count the tweeters and claim it's up to 8 "speakers" in one tiny box. Pair that with out-of-control "beam forming" hype and some were all but proclaiming this 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound in a single HP... or maybe just 2 HPs.
But it's not that. Even the favored pre-reviewers are pointing out that while it will airplay fine from
TV, when you get it to do anything else, it decouples and then you have to go through the steps within TV to reconnect it again. Imagine interacting with the "smarts" side like Alexa owners do and then having to go through Airplay connection routines over and over again.Maybe Apple will sell a ton of these for their intended purpose, get inspired from all those profits and decide to imagine & build a HP Pro system for home theater people. If so, great. But in the meantime, we should see it for what it is... what Apple says it is in their own marketing, rather than what a bunch of us have been trying to spin it into well BEYOND Apple's own marketing.
Once more: if the primary want is home theater speakers, consider buying a dedicated home theater speaker system and getting the bulk of the HP benefits via the
TV you already have. It's already got Siri search, Airplay, AM access, etc... PLUS it bring full home-sharing access, all of the video benefits, and the ever-growing utility that comes from third party apps (including competing music service apps like Pandora). Since HP requires an iDevice for setup, the iDevice you already have can cover the rest of the "smarts" including doing basic things like setting appointments and/or seeking on-demand information BETTER than what can be done asking Siri questions or giving Siri commands.
Last edited:
