5typos.net
Apple’s walled garden has no speakers
Or, I really want a sub $199 AirPlay Apple Speaker.
My original Jambox is starting to show its age, and I’ve been website shopping for living room/kitchen speaker with smart(ish) features. At least the ability to easily stream via wifi.
Of course, the usual suspects are the Sonos PLAY:1, the Amazon Echo, and… maybe whatever Google is announcing this week.
Missing is Apple from the list. Yes, the Apple Hi-Fi can be considered a flop, but I would have guessed some speaker system would have come out of the Beats acquisition by now.
I hate to use the ISJWSA1 Apple argument crutch, but it did seem that music was more authentically appreciated back then.
Apple is possibly just pulling an Apple™ and waiting for the Smart Speaker market to be past early adopters before jumping in. But I’m a bit wary with this strategy: if the Apple TV is any indication, you shouldn’t let Amazon, Google and other players (Roku), get to far ahead. The Apple TV is stuck in 4th place in sales, without any indication of jumping ahead.
In any case, Apple needs to hurry up. Otherwise I’m making the case that we need a Sonos to loudly play… Rainbow Connection for the 100th time today.
If Steve Jobs Was Still Alive.↩︎