Pixel lover and cartoonist. Still have my original Apple IIgs. See more at clango.org or follow him on Twitter @rstevens.
6 Comments
Smart speakers running Siri are worthless
"Siri doesn't work for me and that means it doesn't work for everyone"
- VAVA Mk2, June 2017
Nope they're worth about 349 apparently, and my guess is they'll have trouble keeping them in stock for a while.
Siri to control homekit devices is going to be great. Though to be honest I don't use any virtual assistant that much. I don't like talking to things that aren't people. But a speaker that sounds awesome, I can talk to when I need to, and can control my locks, furnace, and lights. Yeah I'm down for that.
Didn't Phil make a comment on how useless they'd be without a screen. Seems a bit ironic.
I think that Amazon one with the screen is cool and it costs less. Seems nice for a kitchen device to cook or catch up on the news while you're getting your morning joe.
I think if you asked Phil about that, he'd say. "What are you talking about? With Siri you have a screen in your pocket, on your wrist, on your TV, on your coffee table, and on your computer desk. How many more screens do you need!?" The thing to remember is, sometimes even if you're in the room with the HomePod, you'll still be talking to Siri on your watch, iPhone or iPad if you think you're going to need to read or view something.
It is pretty easy to check if they're recording/sending home what you say. Just watch for a continuous stream of data from the Echo/GHome going to the internet. Coming in is different, but if there isn't a stream of data going up, you're set. It can't record much locally as I'm sure teardowns would have noticed a ton of storage, and a cellular radio to upload data would have been noticed too.
