Is This the Cheaper, Worse-Sounding HomePod You Wanted?
Be careful what you wish for
The big HomePod is back! And way earlier than I had expected! It’s been less than two years since Apple announced that the original HomePod was being discontinued so they could focus more on the smaller, cheaper HomePod mini. But it appears that Apple, following the new tack it has taken with the Mac line, has listened to customers and has made a large HomePod that addresses many of the complaints about the original. But is this a case where people should be careful what they wish for?
Those of you who have read my work before know that I am an unabashed lover of the original HomePod, which I maintain is one of Apple’s most misunderstood products that met an early demise not because of its own merits, but because of misperceptions about what it was (a high-end speaker with Siri that makes music sound great in any room) and what smart speakers “should” be (small, cheap microphone pucks with crappy sound and lots of gimmicks). Put another way, the HomePod failed because its emphasis on best-in-class sound quality made it seem way too expensive in a marketplace where Amazon and Google were willing to sell pucks at cost, at a loss, or simply gave them away.
So today’s Apple, unlike when it was controlled by Steve Jobs and/or Jony Ive, responded by giving people what they…
