Objective vs subjective is the point. I would believe most of us buy a product because subjectively there are more positives than negatives. After we use a product subjectively our opinions might change.
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Negativity about the Homepod in the forums.
- Thread starter Freuk
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Not sure how we'd determine "most of us" or who "us" is or any of that.
I know one thing - Us forum dwellers are a unique lot of people that are hard to get any meaningful insights from as it applies to the general buying public.
Sorry but there are plenty that use Apple products and find fault with them. My wife is blind and she finds all kinds of bug most never see. She knows how poorly Siri works she uses it and dictation all the time Siri does not learn. I use the same command every night and she gets it wrong often. Just because you like a product does not mean you can’t complain about it. Apple products are not manna From heaven
It was meant to be a general opinion based on my observations. (I did couch it like that
).I agree with the forum dweller comment.
Its fairly clear that Apples business model/practices do contribute to what you are describing.
My observation is that the hype and marketing surrounding new products has increased over time - and has (at times) not been commensurate with the awesomeness of the actual thing being rolled-out. In fact, I would argue: that's the case more-often-than-not for the last few years.
This leads to inflated expectations not being met - particularly on this forum, where most people are perhaps more aware of a product's potential.
Take the Homepod, for example. The average Joe on the street would not be aware of the hype in the run-up to launch, and just see a bluetooth speaker - listen to it, and think that the audio quality is great, and it looks cool. Whereas, for folk on here, that was really their minimum expectation. Understanding what the potential of airplay 2 is, what Homekit and iCloud integration etc could look like..... it's easy to see why they are disappointed with the Homepod at launch.
Personally, I can objectively appreciate it for what it is...... but I'm disappointed with it because it has so much more potential as a product. I think Apple deserves a significant amount of criticism for the Homepod (and it's launch) - but it's still a good sounding alternative to a bluetooth speaker. You can say both of those things I think.
Apple fosters a real fandom in some people - but that's a two way street: they'll support you strongly, but they'll also critisize you when they feel like you've done something wrong.
My observation is that the hype and marketing surrounding new products has increased over time - and has (at times) not been commensurate with the awesomeness of the actual thing being rolled-out. In fact, I would argue: that's the case more-often-than-not for the last few years.
This leads to inflated expectations not being met - particularly on this forum, where most people are perhaps more aware of a product's potential.
Take the Homepod, for example. The average Joe on the street would not be aware of the hype in the run-up to launch, and just see a bluetooth speaker - listen to it, and think that the audio quality is great, and it looks cool. Whereas, for folk on here, that was really their minimum expectation. Understanding what the potential of airplay 2 is, what Homekit and iCloud integration etc could look like..... it's easy to see why they are disappointed with the Homepod at launch.
Personally, I can objectively appreciate it for what it is...... but I'm disappointed with it because it has so much more potential as a product. I think Apple deserves a significant amount of criticism for the Homepod (and it's launch) - but it's still a good sounding alternative to a bluetooth speaker. You can say both of those things I think.
Apple fosters a real fandom in some people - but that's a two way street: they'll support you strongly, but they'll also critisize you when they feel like you've done something wrong.
Gravitational telescopes are still picking up the intergalactic hype waves emitted before the release of the first iPhone.
I posted this in another thread but it is directly on topic here:
My negativity isn't at the HomePod, it's at Apple's decisions about how it launched the HomePod and it's blatant lack of features. Specifically, total lack of support for third-party streaming services or a Siri extensions API on the HomePod.
In doing so, Apple puts their own fans in a tough spot. All Apple fans love the hardware - since Jobs (praise be /s) came back to Apple, the hardware is what has been top notch. The HomePod is no exception. But not all Apple fans love Apple's cloud services. Lots of Apple fans use alternative services for document storage, music streaming, etc. With the way it is today, Apple is essentially saying to those fans - if you aren't using Apple Music, you can't be an Apple fan that enjoys the HomePod.
Over the years, Apple has become more open to third parties. Walled garden doesn't mean nobody else is allowed in. While iPhone OS was originally totally closed, in version 2 there was an app store and one of the first hugely successful apps was Pandora. Recently Apple opened up the Files API to allow the likes of dropbox to integrate more closely with iOS. AppleTV has been opened up to third party apps a while ago. Siri was opened up to third-party extensions recently (with some notable exceptions like music). It seems like a big step backwards to launch the HomePod without providing a means for third parties to integrate. At the very least, Apple could say this is something that is coming soon, like stereo pairing and AirPlay2.
I want to enjoy this Apple hardware, but I can't because I also don't want to switch from Spotify to Apple Music. It's certainly a petty complaint, but so is pretty much anytime someone "votes with their wallet."
Apple could have handled this differently. It could have left the HomePod in the oven a bit longer. It could have minimized it's launch as a "hobby" like it did with the AppleTV. It could have represented that allowing third-parties to access the HomePod through some kind of extensions API at some point, to appease Apple fans that choose to use non-Apple services. But it didn't do any of those things. Instead they launched it, backed up with a huge marketing campaign, and in doing so put a large percentage of loyal Apple fans in a pickle - switch to Apple Music, or be left out of the hardware club. That is the thing I think lots of fans are negative about.
It's especially frustrating when this isn't even a "new category" that Apple is essentially creating. When the AppleTV launched, there were no consumer-friendly TV streaming boxes. There were streaming boxes, but they were all rubbish. When the AirPods launched, there were no good bluetooth earbuds. There were some, but they were all junk. There are good smart / streaming speakers. Even the most loyal die-hard Apple fan must admit Apple is playing catch-up here, to Google, to Sonos, to Amazon.
And as I said above, Apple's hardware here is obviously awesome. But it's not like the others are junk. Sonos makes a great sounding speaker. I know some guys that work for Sonos - they are totally speaker nerds. They are also big Apple fans. Sonos' design methods aren't that different from Apple's - they both strive for quality, form, and good minimalist design. So when Apple launches something with such an glaring omission of features, it's further annoying to see as a fan.
This is how I would sum it up: This HomePod launch is the most Sony-like thing I've ever seen Apple do.
My negativity isn't at the HomePod, it's at Apple's decisions about how it launched the HomePod and it's blatant lack of features. Specifically, total lack of support for third-party streaming services or a Siri extensions API on the HomePod.
In doing so, Apple puts their own fans in a tough spot. All Apple fans love the hardware - since Jobs (praise be /s) came back to Apple, the hardware is what has been top notch. The HomePod is no exception. But not all Apple fans love Apple's cloud services. Lots of Apple fans use alternative services for document storage, music streaming, etc. With the way it is today, Apple is essentially saying to those fans - if you aren't using Apple Music, you can't be an Apple fan that enjoys the HomePod.
Over the years, Apple has become more open to third parties. Walled garden doesn't mean nobody else is allowed in. While iPhone OS was originally totally closed, in version 2 there was an app store and one of the first hugely successful apps was Pandora. Recently Apple opened up the Files API to allow the likes of dropbox to integrate more closely with iOS. AppleTV has been opened up to third party apps a while ago. Siri was opened up to third-party extensions recently (with some notable exceptions like music). It seems like a big step backwards to launch the HomePod without providing a means for third parties to integrate. At the very least, Apple could say this is something that is coming soon, like stereo pairing and AirPlay2.
I want to enjoy this Apple hardware, but I can't because I also don't want to switch from Spotify to Apple Music. It's certainly a petty complaint, but so is pretty much anytime someone "votes with their wallet."
Apple could have handled this differently. It could have left the HomePod in the oven a bit longer. It could have minimized it's launch as a "hobby" like it did with the AppleTV. It could have represented that allowing third-parties to access the HomePod through some kind of extensions API at some point, to appease Apple fans that choose to use non-Apple services. But it didn't do any of those things. Instead they launched it, backed up with a huge marketing campaign, and in doing so put a large percentage of loyal Apple fans in a pickle - switch to Apple Music, or be left out of the hardware club. That is the thing I think lots of fans are negative about.
It's especially frustrating when this isn't even a "new category" that Apple is essentially creating. When the AppleTV launched, there were no consumer-friendly TV streaming boxes. There were streaming boxes, but they were all rubbish. When the AirPods launched, there were no good bluetooth earbuds. There were some, but they were all junk. There are good smart / streaming speakers. Even the most loyal die-hard Apple fan must admit Apple is playing catch-up here, to Google, to Sonos, to Amazon.
And as I said above, Apple's hardware here is obviously awesome. But it's not like the others are junk. Sonos makes a great sounding speaker. I know some guys that work for Sonos - they are totally speaker nerds. They are also big Apple fans. Sonos' design methods aren't that different from Apple's - they both strive for quality, form, and good minimalist design. So when Apple launches something with such an glaring omission of features, it's further annoying to see as a fan.
This is how I would sum it up: This HomePod launch is the most Sony-like thing I've ever seen Apple do.