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Comment by noxToken | Hacker News Reader

>...like smart speakers, with their threat of big brother-style surveillance in exchange for a minimal increase in convenience

It seems like everyone in this thread is forgetting that the HomePod[0] is a thing. Apple's privacy practices are better than the other listed companies, but they do have a smart speaker just as capable as the others.

[0]: https://www.apple.com/homepod/

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I think anyone who's used Siri would debate you about the "as capable as the others" part of your statement. Not to mention that when it was announced, several of its features were tied to the introduction of AirPlay 2, which still has yet to be released.

Right, but I am not worried (at the moment) that the HomePod will be used to collect my private information to be sold later on. I think this is false equivalence. How is the HomePod any different from connecting my iphone to a speaker?

The HomePod has a very simple proposition. I give Apple money and they give me a speaker. They aren't trying to use the HomePod to gather data to see what else they can sell me.

Neither are the other two.

Bezos specifically said that the entire purpose of their hardware is to get people to buy more stuff from Amazon. You really don't think both Amazon and Google are collecting data to improve their real money makers - targeted ad revenue and marketing?

And the iPhone exists to get people to use more Apple products and services. Vendor lock-in isn't the same thing as data harvesting. Those companies may very well be collecting your data but your statement doesn't prove it.

With a 40% margin, Apple would be quite happy if you never bought anything but an iPhone. Why would Amazon sell you something that even the CEO admits that he isn't trying to make money off of?

As someone who owns a Homepod, Google Home, and an Echo - the Homepod is hardly as capable as either of the others.

It can consistently tell me the weather and set alarms, but it's bad at everything else.

Siri calls one contact (my wife), adds reminders, timers and weather consistently. Works every time Everything else is terrible.

If Apple can make all of that offline, i’d be even more loyal.

We don’t need the stupidity of sending everything you say to cloud and back. Latency just kills it.

Apple is still the most focused company of the big tech giants. They deserve kudos for that.

One thing I dislike about the homepod is the silent failures. Where I say 'hey siri turn off bedroom' and the homepod lights up and then does nothing without any sound whatsoever.

While the echo will always respond.

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