In Defense of the HomePod

After a year of use, HomePod wins where it matters

Before HomePod, I had never owned a smart speaker. Music from the Amazon Echoes I’d heard at friends’ houses always sounded sub-par to me, and I don’t trust Amazon or Google enough to believe that they wouldn’t use their devices’ always-on microphones — or worse, cameras — to surreptitiously spy on and document me in order to discern my purchasing potential. I don’t…