I’m a huge fan of Apple technology. However, it’s been a love-hate relationship throughout the years which has made me appreciate the joys and convenience of being in the Apple infrastructure. Computers, tablets, and phones all work together seamlessly. Apple does what Apple does best - builds the best interfaces using premium products while charging a premium price.
The HomePod
The HomePod is also one of those premium devices. A squat, round, surprisingly heavy speaker that doesn’t attach to anything else. Using the magic power of airwaves, it delivers an impressive sound for its size. Pair two of these in stereo, and you have a sound system to beat almost any easily accessible home speaker system. Using an innovative system of microphones and computers, the HomePod even detects the audio dynamics of its space and adjusts its sound to compensate. Just brilliant. And the base will knock your hair out - at least, that’s my excuse for being follicle-challenged.
Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t really know what they had. They marketed this product as a smart speaker, competing with Amazon Echos and Google Home products. And that’s where the problem came in.
Siri
Of all the things that one can say about Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, smart is not one of them. Likely, that is because of Apple’s original vision of processing being done on-device to protect privacy. With the advances in processing power, I’m not sure that is still a good excuse. On two different desks in my house, I have stereo pairs of HomePods and HomePods Mini. On each desk, I also have an Amazon Echo that does the actual work. If I want to turn a light on or off, I use the echo rather than reaching the point of frustration with Siri (from any of my devices, not just the speakers) that I turn off the switch instead. If I want an answer to something, Alexa gets the correct answer 95% of the time. I wouldn’t give Siri 50:50 odds on getting close to the correct answer!
This means that Apple has made a fantastic and expensive speaker system that is marketed as a competitor to a product it just can’t compete against. No wonder it didn’t sell.
The HomePod has been my constant companion during work-from-home over the last year. And, while it will likely be abandoned in future software releases to become an expensive paperweight, the biggest problem is that Apple doesn’t yet seem to have an integrated plan for anything outside of selling computers, phones, and accessories. It’s going to be late to the party and likely will be dressed for the wrong occasion.
Apple’s strength is in integration. I can take a photo on my phone and have it go straight to my Mac. I can control the shutter of the same camera from my watch. I can start an email on one device and finish it on another. Which, in my opinion, is the strength against the fractured, competing Android/Windows alternatives.
The Challenge for Apple
Apple is missing out on the future, and the cancellation of the HomePod is the latest sign that they don’t want to be part of that infrastructure. Which is fine. I’m already invested in a different home automation infrastructure. But, at least make and support good speakers. Apple needs to pick a direction and double down or risk repeating errors of the pre-Steve Jobs return era’s fragmented and failing products.
For now, I’ll play a sad song on my excellent speakers as they head into the sunset.