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Comment by nhangen | Hacker News Reader

As a former Apple fanboy that is also a Sonos lover, I'm starting to get annoyed by the fragmentation caused by the multiple product offerings in this category.

I have an Echo, 4 Echo Dots, one of every Apple Device, and a mix of other tech sprinkled throughout the house. I have already committed both my home and business to Sonos, and have zero desire to decommission those so that I can more easily play music from my Apple music library.

Do I wish that Sonos had a better/tighter integration with Amazon Prime or iTunes? Absolutely. However, I like the fact that it's platform agnostic. Apple could've solved a much bigger problem here, but instead chose to create a new one and solve that instead.

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This is why I never bought into Apple ecosystem, even when it was far superior or even the only choice. Have you considered moving to Spotify for your music? Spotify has been working to integrate with other companies, e.g. it's well integrated into Sonos when you're at home, and into Waze when you're in the car.

This seems like a missed opportunity for Apple to back an open standard like WiFi Alliance TimeSync for their Sonos-like speaker synchronization and try to encourage third party participation, even if that isn't the usual Apple MO.

If Apples actions have taught us anything it is that their products are standards hostile.

To list two relevant to this cycle: USB-C and WiFi Alliance TimeSync

How's Apple USB-C hostile? They got plenty of flake for dropping all other ports on the MacBook Pro (except the headphone port)

You will never find one on an iPhone or iPad. And for which reasons?

None apart from owning the ecosystems/further profits.

There are other factors. For one, Lightning is significantly thinner, so more suitable for thinner devices. For another, switching to USB-C would force iPhone users (who mostly already have Lightning cables) to buy new cables. I don't know how large a role those factors play, compared to what you said - the other phone makers don't seem to have a problem with the thickness, and Apple certainly isn't known for being hesitant to make its users buy new cables - but they do exist.

Has Apple ever played well with others or made a device that could be reasonably called budget friendly?

I do wonder what their story is going to be for people who want a dot-like speaker in most of their rooms, since that really does need to be priced cheaply.

I believe they opened up Apple Music for third party integration. Sonos should be able to integrate it into their native control app to solve your issue?

I don't believe Apple is targeting those that already bought into Sonos. I know a dozen or so people that most anything Apple tells them to. They can't afford it. But they do. So, while they never would be in the market for Sonos, they'll suddenly get HomePod in 2018 because it is Apple's take on the home smart speaker.

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