Will new echo competitor just be an AppleTV?

[PilotWoo]

Will new echo competitor just be an AppleTV variant? Stick a microphone and a speaker in it. The screen can be optional for displaying output.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Nobody outside HQ can know.

But Echos seem to find locations in homes where AppleTVs wouldn't necessarily fit well. Similarly, AppleTVs tend to be hidden in some scenarios (tucked behind the TV, inside of an AV cabinet, etc) where Echos (microphones) benefit from being exposed so they can "hear" well. Conceptually, a hidden AppleTV could "hear" through it's remote microphone... but some don't use that microphone (instead using any one of many universal remotes for a one-remote-to-rule-them-all benefit).

So my guess is no. The Echo competitor will probably be more like Echo and not much like an AppleTV.

 

[spac3duck]

I reckon it would be some form of ATV variant. Keep the ATV at the TV and place the new AI somewhere else in the house.

To be honest though, I don't know why anyone needs one when they have the same capabilities on their phone.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I don't know why anyone needs one when they have the same capabilities on their phone.

Because these are stationary devices and phones are mobile devices. No problem for those who are single living alone. But for those that are not, when the mobile phone leaves with it's owner the rest of the family has no Echo equivalent back home.

Same with the oft-slung suggestion of using the iPhone as a TV remote.

The big idea here is that these things are always available, always ready to work at a single location. Mobile devices cannot cover that benefit except for those who are single living alone.

If "just using their phones" worked as easy and well, why are so many of these selling for Apple competitors?

 

[spac3duck]

Because these are stationary devices and phones are mobile devices. No problem for those who are single living alone. But for those that are not, when the mobile phone leaves with it's owner the rest of the family has no Echo equivalent back home.

So the tech companies were all sitting around thinking, "There are not enough stationary devices within the average home because they are all using mobile devices, so let’s create a stationary wireless speaker with a rudimentary AI"? Everything is inherently a stationary device until you decide to move it unless you have some amazing perceptual motion machine…..

Putting aside the families with only one device capable of achieving what an Amazon Echo or Google Home can do, what do the people who already have iPhones or iPads or MacBooks or Apple TVs or Apple Desktops need an echo competitor from Apple for? (I'm guessing the sales brochures are not going to be selling the feature of "Look how stationary it is!")

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

No the tech companies experimented by looking at Siri, significantly improving upon what Siri can do and then bundling it up in little boxes much cheaper than iPhones with speakers much better than iPhones and seeing if they could sell lots of them. They did. They're a relative hit in spite of many people having iPhones, iPads, etc. In fact, if you read the threads even on this Apple-centric site, you'll see many of your fellow Apple fans proudly claiming to own 1+ Echos too... even though they have an iPhone, iPad, etc.

Conceptually, you are right- iPhone can pretty much do everything these Echos do. But the same can be said for iPhone vs. Apple Watch, iPhone vs. iPad. iPhone vs. TV and maybe even iPhone vs. Macs or PC. Do you have any of those other Apple products too? Well why? Your iPhone can mostly do what they do. As soon as you start rationalizing owning a Watch or iPad or TV or Mac too, you start making the case for how other tech can be a "want it or need it too"... like one of these things... in spite of your iPhone being able to do most or up to everything they can do too. If you can't do that for a non-Apple product, just stand by until Apple rolls out their cut at one of these things... and then magically you'll probably start seeing a fit even for your own situation.

If you don't see a potential use of one of these things in your own life, that's fine. Don't buy. But just because you think your iPhone covers all such wants for you doesn't mean everyone else feels the same. Many other people- including many people on this very site- are happy with their purchases of Echo-type devices... including many with iPhones. Are they all wrong?

Putting aside the cohabitation scenario DOES undermine the generally "stationary" product concept. If you are not single living alone, when you leave your home and take your phone, that's comparable in this example to taking an Echo from the other people back home. They want to get Alexa to do something but Alexa is out with you. Your reply implies you might have an TV, a generally stationary device from Apple. If you are not single living alone, do others like to use that when you are out with your iPhone? If so, they can because it is generally there at home for them... unlike your iPhone which can do most of what of that TV can do. That's the point of the stationary vs. mobile concept.

If you ARE single living alone, stationary vs. mobile doesn't matter to you... because the only ears or eyes to use any of this stuff are always wherever you happen to be. Thus whether any of that is tagged mobile or stationary is irrelevant to you. However, there are many, many people that are not single living alone. And the others in their home might want to use Echos or Apple TVs or Macs when 1+ of their family is out and about with an iPhone that can do most of the same functions.

Or maybe they want to voice command & listen to something with better speakers than iPhone.

Or maybe they want to voice command something that is much smarter than Siri.

Or maybe they want a better-than-Siri + speaker experience without paying $600-$800 more for an iPhone?

Etc.

 

[PilotWoo]

To be honest though, I don't know why anyone needs one when they have the same capabilities on their phone.

Exactly!

 

[spac3duck]

Seriously. It’s a speaker with a lacklustre AI tacked on. Woopty Doo!

Until everyone starts incorporating IOT devices into their homes i.e. heating/cooling, lighting, security, appliances etc, the Amazon Echo, Google Home and any other variants are going to be just a gimmick.

 

[satcomer]

I don't know about all of you but I feel tense about an electronic device listening to you 24 seven! This is very reason why I haven't updated my old External mic because it has a mute button! Plus my old 1080 external camera has a small piece of tape cardboard over the lens when not in use!

Maybe I'm starting to become paranoid but these Internet of things creeps me out, I want my ridge to just last long and keep things cool/cold, I can see with my own eyes if food is needed to replenish it!