Neil Cybart: Detailed thoughts on the HomePod

Neil’s a smart guy and this is a fantastic read. A few tastes:

Apple is not overselling the device’s speaker capabilities. In a somewhat controlled environment resembling a typical living room, HomePod’s sound output clearly stood out from that of Amazon Echo and Sonos Play 3. In fact, it made the Amazon Echo sound like a cheap toy, and the Sonos Play 3 sounded so inferior, I wondered if something was wrong with the Sonos.

And:

HomePod’s value isn’t found in asking Siri for sports scores or controlling the kitchen lights. HomePod’s value is found in an A8 chip controlling a series of microphones and speakers.

HomePod is a computer capable of mapping a room and then adjusting its sound output accordingly. This is another way of saying that HomePod is able to capture its surroundings and then use that information to tailor a specific experience to the listener. It is easy to see how collecting data and then using that data to improve the experience will position HomePod as an augmented reality (or maybe we should say augmented hearing) device.

Augmented hearing, a very specific form of augmented reality. And this is key to the future of HomePod. More from Neil:

A few augmented reality examples include the HomePod recording and copying the sound from one location or room and then replicating that sound in another room. This would be game changing as it would be as though we were in a completely different room even though we hadn’t changed locations. An adult would be able to speak to a child in another room by simply talking out loud in a regular tone thanks to multiple HomePods.

The idea of speaking to someone in another room in a conversational voice is just one (albeit fantastic) capability that could be unlocked by HomePod. Being a great music delivery service is a bit of a trojan horse to get one in the door. But the HomePod (in your house) and AirPods (out and about) are much more than music delivery devices. They are extensions of the ecosystem.