“From the very beginning, Apple has positioned HomePod as a high-quality-sound speaker. Even on stage, back in June, Phil Schiller said HomePod was going to be as important to the home music experience as iPod was to the personal music experience,” Carolina Milanesi writes for Tech.pinions. “This makes it compete more with the likes of Sonos than Amazon Echo.”
“When talking about the smarts of the device, it is its audio innovation and software that are highlighted rather than smart home connectivity and digital assistant support. Even when it comes to Siri, it is her augmented knowledge about music that is first mentioned,” Milanesi writes. “All indeed points to Apple making HomePod a music device for the home, not a catch-all smart speaker like Amazon and Google’s… Music has never been a hobby for Apple, quite the opposite. And this is why I see HomePod as an essential product for Apple.”
“If I am right and HomePod will be a music-first kind of device, I also start to wonder whether or not Apple believes in ambient computing,” Milanesi writes. “I certainly think, Apple believes in giving people options when it comes to how they interact with Siri, but they might not believe that smart home interactions and the value of an assistant can only be channeled through voice. This might explain why Siri’s skills and HomeKit’s support are not added at the same pace as we have seen with Amazon and Google.”
Read more in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Get your HomePod(s) for music and be pleasantly surprised with how much more it can do!
SEE ALSO:
How I got talked into buying an Apple HomePod despite my reservations – January 24, 2018
Tim Cook says audio quality puts HomePod ahead of ‘squeaky-sounding’ competition – January 24, 2018
Apple to ship crippled, incomplete HomePod months late – January 23, 2018
Apple’s HomePod arrives February 9th, available to order this Friday, January 26th – January 23, 2018
Apple CEO Tim Cook paid close to $102 million for fiscal 2017 – December 28, 2017
Apple’s Phil Schiller: We feel bad about the HomePod delay – December 8, 2017
Echo Dot was Amazon’s Black Friday – Cyber Monday bestseller as Apple’s delayed HomePod waits for 2018 release date – November 28, 2017
Apple’s late, delayed, limited HomePod is looking more and more like something I don’t want – November 27, 2017
Why Apple’s HomePod is three years behind Amazon’s Echo – November 21, 2017
Under ‘operations genius’ Tim Cook, product delays and other problems are no longer unusual for Apple – November 20, 2017
Apple delays HomePod release to early 2018 – November 17, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook: The ‘operations genius’ who never has enough products to sell at launch – October 23, 2017
Apple reveals HomePod smart home music speaker – June 5, 2017
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]