Apple HomePod (product discontinued March 2021)

Just announced: Apple releases HomePod: more info to follow…


priced at $349

price point seems out of the going market price, yes?

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Leave it to Apple to jack up the price point…But CNET put it eloquently:

“it would be foolish to count Apple out in any tech race, since the company has an intensely loyal user base and often shows up late to tech trends only to outfox the incumbent competition with more polished products. Apple’s ability to smoothly integrate new hardware with its existing electronics should give its users additional incentive to jump ship to the new device, even if they already own an Echo or Home.”

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Reportedly they want to position it against Bose as a high quality audio speaker with the idea of pushing Apple Music. They know they can’t compete with a $49 dot.

That said – – this thing is ugly. The proportions just seem really off. Am I the only one who thinks it looks like a roll of toilet paper?

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toilet paper to the eyes of some --> music to the ears of others :slight_smile:

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or a ball or twine !

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LOL $349. And will only work with other overpriced Apple products. This is the very reason I don’t own anything Apple. Only people looking for status buy Apple when there are products just a as good (if not better) for half the price (or less).

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Also talking about speakers…

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At first glance, I think this will be a fail. Aside from the price, Siri is not as good as Google Assistant. It seems they are selling this as a Sonos alternative rather than an intelligent assistant. Why follow a company which I believe i on a decline and with a CEO who recently resigned? The only thing holding me back is what you or should I say CNET mentioned, Apple’s history to be behind, polish, catch up, and crush competition. However they are not perfect, one instance where they failed catching up on are EVs. They tried to catch up on Electric Vehicles but abandoned plans and is now focusing on Full Self Driving AI.

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I think the grey at least looks like tech.

I have to say, I’m really disappointed, and I buy a lot of Apple products (for functionality, not for status). It looks like this is going to be aimed at audiophiles, which is fine, but it’s not something I need or want.

I assume if Siri is enhanced, that would show up on the Apple Watch as well, so I don’t need the homepod for that.

I’m just not seeing any reason from the home automation standpoint to get this device. But again, maybe it’s aimed at music lovers.

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Translation:

“Apple could market a paper sack full of dog crap and call it the ‘iDoodie’…and Apple fans would camp out in line at their local iStore so they could pay $200 for it the day it went on sale.”

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Is it a giant suppository for an elephant?

About 2 and a half weeks ago I made the following prediction about a potential Apple foray into this market:

The Echo is $179 at full price, and 150% of that would be $268.50. Since Apple’s actually slapped a price of $349 on the device it looks like I low-balled their hubris by a significant margin.

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And also, two weeks ago no one disagreed :smile:

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With perforations I might add…

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Lol ya I see that. But at first glance for me the visual was a little more graphic up above. Best part part of it is though, we all see it as being used in the same specific area :slight_smile:

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The funny thing is that Mashable has dubbed it Apple’s “Amazon Echo killer”…

http://mashable.com/2017/06/05/apple-siri-speaker/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link#XTHSECE.A5q1

But wait…for only $748 you can buy TWO of them and sync them. Shut up and take my money…and then give it back to me.