I think that the failure was in marketing to be honest. They should've started with the cheaper mini, built their base, and then create the higher end product, and then their diversification. All of this with the assumption of huge Siri improvements.
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Looking to Grab a HomePod Before They're Gone? These Retailers Still Have Stock
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A pair of HomePods in stereo mode sound as good or better than many amps/receivers and wired speakers that cost thousands of dollars. Add to that AirPlay 2 and Dolby Atmos via AppleTV and they are priceless.
If you don’t care about sound quality or can’t tell the difference — by all means, go for the cheapest Alexa POS you can find. Otherwise grab HomePods before they vanish...
And since I don't use AppleTV I'd have two priceless dorky paperweights.
Don't assume you know how I feel about sound quality either. My main gripe with the HomePod was is and will always be the compatibility issues.
Excellent point! Jobs actually developed the iPad first around 2003-2004 but knew a tablet attached to a Mac would be a hard sell so he went after the mobile market, first testing the waters with the ROKR and finally realizing the only way to make it work was to force carriers to allow device manufacturers to run their own OS (carriers then ran their own OS on devices). the iPhoneOS gave way to a whole new market and allowed Apple to sell a cross platform device to build a base with the App Store and paved the way for the iPad to be successful. If they lead with the mini first and built a solid base, it would have allowed Apple to produce a better product based on what users wanted from the mini into the HomePod at a better price.
Cook essentially did the opposite of what Jobs had done for years. Marketing was a big component that Apple could still address along with updating it with the same features as the mini, emphasize the sound quality as a big differentiator, and sell it for $199USD. It would have sold much better.
As soon as I heard it is discontinued I immediately ordered one for 310€ (~$370) which is the cheapest I was able to find. Homepod was never released in my country and had such a limited availability worldwide that I held off purchasing it and were waiting for the next release). Remember it was sold only in handful of countries. This is a great little speaker. Bashed from the start by greedy, overlooked by many.
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Very disappointed to hear this. I own four HPs and one HP Mini. For the size and convenience, I think the HPs are terrific. I have no use for Siri or other functionality. These are just darn good speakers and, to me, worth the money. The Mini is fine for background music while in the shower (how I use mine), but is pretty useless for anything beyond very casual listening.
Don't understand the obsession with adding bluetooth to these. Line-in, yeah, would have been great. But all this expensive audio equipment just for your input to come from bluetooth? They're not even portable.
Ask some artists about their Roland TR-808’s
It doesn’t matter if it’s old/discontinued/commercial failure. If the sound they want only comes out of that particular device, then it’s worth whatever they’re willing to pay for it.Apple’s biggest mistake was only making one product at the start rather than a range of speakers. The whole point of Sonos is you can build a network of speakers around your home. $300 is ok for a speaker in the living room but I would want a cheaper one for the kitchen and bedroom. By the time they added the HomePod mini it was already too late.
I had been waiting for a sale on these. I’ve been having problems with devices over Alexa skills, but the same devices work fine on HomeKit, so I decided to switch to HomePods.
I managed to get a pair of almost-new white ones + packaging on Facebook Marketplace for $300.
I managed to get a pair of almost-new white ones + packaging on Facebook Marketplace for $300.
I think it’s so you could use them with non iOS devices that don’t support AirPlay
I think the market for personal music listening is huge, especially with young people. But people generally don’t seem to listen to music at home on speakers nearly as much, especially considering young people live in shared homes and can’t crank it up.
If everyone had their own house, I bet homepods would have sold great, even at the original 350usd price.
I can’t see Apple completely ditching the technology in the HP.
Give it a year or two and it will return in a new form HP Pro or Max or Plus or combined with the Apple TV in some form.
I never got one solely based on price - dropped down to $400 in Canada. Still too much for my liking.
Give it a year or two and it will return in a new form HP Pro or Max or Plus or combined with the Apple TV in some form.
I never got one solely based on price - dropped down to $400 in Canada. Still too much for my liking.
I just need them to open it some more
I want to be able to play my PS5 audio to the pods!
I want to be able to play my PS5 audio to the pods!
Why not? Nothing about it changed. As long as it continues to play Apple Music. It will still be supported to function. I couldn’t see paying more than 199 for one though which is what both of mine cost.
I don’t know. Maybe because you use Apple Music and already invested in another Home Pod(s) and you want another before it is too late? PS You can use the Home Pod with other services and the Home Pod sounds better than competing products in the same price range especially if you have more than one that are synced.
So you can use it even if you don't have an iPhone or iPad.
Well, not that I owe anyone a justification outside of "because I want to."
It's a good product that does exactly what I want it to do and adds value. When something better comes along I'll replace them.
In no world would I ever call someone "stupid" for doing that.
Young people almost only listen to music on headphones. My 13-year old sits at her desk or lies on her bed with earphones; no interest in speakers.
Maybe. You would be surprised how stretched good talent is. Major products with 100s of millions of users may have a team of 10-12 core developers. In most companies, if someone has spare time then something is wrong.
the list of failed and discontinued Apple products grows