The home hub. This time it is Apple
The dream of the Jetsons’ house keeps on living, and this time Apple is trying to make it true.
Apple just announced the Apple HomeView.
The word ‘amazing’ can’t do justice to what has arrived. Let’s have Apple describe it to you: ‘Apple HomeView is designed to bring more joy and convenience to everyone in your household. Siri AI comes built in for personalized AI assistance that’s truly useful in your everyday life. And with a vibrant display and powerful acoustics, your music, videos, and calls look and sound amazing. Meet the new heart of your home.’
Marketing is one thing, but do people at Apple really think technology brings ‘more joy’ to our homes or that technology will become the ‘new heart’ of our homes? The only thing it might create is anxiety and anger for people with triple bypass when they realize that they can get a new heart for less than $300.
Siri AI — Apple Intelligence that is — is powering this technological achievement, and because Apple’s brand is focused on privacy and security, the announcement is filled with never-ending assurances about that. The device can recognize up to six people in your household and can provide a personal experience for all of them. Of course, the funny part is when you walk into the kitchen, the device reminds you — in front of the whole family — that your secret girlfriend or boyfriend has a birthday. Nothing brings more joy to your household than a touch of outside romance.
This HomeView device is, naturally, connected to all the compatible devices, from door locks, lights, alarm systems, and TV. One of the selling features is the use of Apple Intelligence to group together all related notifications. Apple provides an example of a log file of when a family member arrives home and unlocks a door. A feature which will definitely become popular with teenagers. Just adding more ‘joy and convenience in your household’.
And it is not just the HomeView; Apple has released other beautiful devices — a smart camera, thermostat and even a door lock. There are hundreds of these devices and all of them are very smart. The days of ‘dumb as a doorknob’ are gone. Every thing will be ‘truly useful’. You’ll be able to listen to any song, recall any cooking recipe and look at any picture. Just say the magic words — hello Siri.
The Apple HomeView is another attempt to conquer your house. Amazon with Alexa and Alexa+ has been trying for years, and despite billions of dollars spent on this, you rarely hear about it, except from Amazon execs saying that Alexa+ has ‘tens of millions of customers’ and is ‘growing in every direction’. Hard to say.
Similar to Apple’s Siri, ‘Alexa+ is there when you need her, and fades into the background when you don’t.’, ‘Alexa+ manages your home.’ and ‘Alexa+ has deep knowledge.’ The list of compatible devices is long.
Why would you choose one over the other?
That’s a multibillion-dollar question for both companies. Both companies are trying to integrate into your household and stay there forever. The hardware is a loss leader — Apple’s HomeView is a small iPad mounted on a speaker — to encourage you to buy as many other devices as possible and to sign up for services.
That’s where these two offerings differ, and Amazon has a major advantage. Its Alexa+ is connected to the Amazon marketplace and Whole Foods. The service itself is free to Amazon Prime members, and in theory, it should remove any friction from ordering products.
Apple doesn’t have that and will have to come up with something comparable or better to convince customers to buy in. While its hardware/software ecosystem is very, very strong — computers, phones, tablets, watches — it is missing the eCommerce part. True, you can consume a lot of the entertainment, but at one point you will need the toilet paper. And that’s the differentiator and a recurrent pattern. Apple has a long way to go and a steep hill to climb.