Thanks for the link you sent in another message, I will be responding. My 
problem is that a lot of the stations I want our foreign language. And the 
Amazon devices and the Google devices will play them. Siri won’t. Why not? And 
even HomePod aside, Siri just sends me to the web far too often. Even on the 
watch. That’s ridiculous. Apple bought the leading AI of its time and totally 
lost it. I don’t want apple digging into my privacy matters. So I totally agree 
with you there. But I don’t think you have to know all about me in order to 
play a given radio station in a foreign country that exists on a service with 
which Apple supposedly has connections. It’s just screwed up. This is one area 
where Apple totally lost it. And it’s so sad. The homePod‘s are really nice 
speakers in my opinion.
Mary


Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 14, 2021, at 8:11 PM, 'Donna Goodin' via MacVisionaries 
> <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> wrote:
> 
> Well, far be it from me to defend Siri, but she's gotten a lot better, at 
> least with regard to playing radio stations. I can now get her to play every 
> station I want to hear, either from public radio, Tune-In, or iHeart.  You 
> might give that another try.
> 
> I don't get why some music just won't play, and that's still an issue. I 
> mean, it would make sense if they had foreign language titles, but some of 
> the albums that give the most trouble don't. I've just solved that by 
> creating  playlist with the album, and giving it a different name. But you're 
> right, that shouldn't be necessary.
> 
> All this said, I don't see how focusing on the Mini is going to fix those 
> issues. The albums that won't play on my HomePod, also won't play on the mini.
> Cheers,
> Donna
> 
> 
>> On Mar 14, 2021, at 10:03 PM, Mary Otten <motte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Donna,
>> I agree with you with regard to privacy issues. But I honestly don’t think 
>> Apple has done what they could or should have done with Siri and never mind 
>> privacy issues. That is, privacy issues shouldn’t matter in these cases. 
>> Why, for instance, can’t you get radio stations around the world to play 
>> reliably? Why doesn’t music always play reliably? Why can’t you switch among 
>> music providers? Apple made a really nice speaker, better than Google 
>> certainly, and I don’t have the Amazon studio, so I can’t compare. I mean 
>> really. HomePod aside, Siri still get an awful lot of stuff wrong, and still 
>> sends you to the web Waymore than it should. Didn’t Apple say that was one 
>> of their big focuses for this year? Well, they blew it. So now, I have my 
>> nice HomePods which may or may not ever see any more upgrades. The 
>> performance is not reliable. It’s not the speaker. It’s the infrastructure. 
>> Apple screwed up.
>> 
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>>> On Mar 14, 2021, at 7:44 PM, 'Donna Goodin' via MacVisionaries 
>>>> <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi, Mary,
>>> 
>>> I'm sure everyone on this list knows I've had my frustrations with Siri. 
>>> lol That said, I'd still rather have Siri than either Alexa or Google. Not 
>>> that any company has a flawless track record, but I trust Apple's handling 
>>> of privacy issues much more than either Amazon or Google. Also, none of the 
>>> Amazon devices I've listened to sound as good as the HomePod does.
>>> 
>>> I have a couple of minis and they're fine as sort of satellite  Siris that 
>>> can also play music. I have one in the bedroom, and one down in the 
>>> exercise room. Neither are places where I'm totally focused on the sound 
>>> quality so it's fine. But I would never want a Mini in one of the main 
>>> living spaces of the house.
>>> Cheers,
>>> Donna
>>> 
>>>> On Mar 14, 2021, at 9:05 PM, Mary Otten <motte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> I couldn’t agree more, Donna. I was really disappointed. The problem with 
>>>> the homePod isn’t the speaker, it’s Apple and that god awful Siri. They 
>>>> really have not done what they should be doing with that. And there’s no 
>>>> way I’m interested in any HomePod mini. Why? I bought a pair of HomePods 
>>>> for the sound, and it’s very good. For 400 bucks, it sounds almost as good 
>>>> as speakers I paid more for in the past. But now it’s discontinued, so I 
>>>> guess maybe it won’t get more updates? What a rip! Apple, you really 
>>>> screwed it up!
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>> 
>>>>>> On Mar 14, 2021, at 5:55 PM, 'Donna Goodin' via MacVisionaries 
>>>>>> <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Wow, that’s too bad. The sound on the HomePod is much better than the 
>>>>> mini.
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Donna
>>>>> 
>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Mar 14, 2021, at 7:52 PM, M. Taylor <mk...@ucla.edu> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Hello Everyone,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Well, I knew this day would come.  I did not think it would happen so 
>>>>>> soon
>>>>>> but .
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Since purchasing my original HomePod, all I have asked Apple to do was to
>>>>>> add a device-specific equalizer so as to allow listeners to customize the
>>>>>> sounds balance.  This feature has long since been available on the Amazon
>>>>>> Echo devices.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Mark
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Apple HomePod Discontinued: Apple to Focus on Smaller, HomePod Mini, USA
>>>>>> Today
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Apple to discontinue original HomePod and says it will focus efforts on
>>>>>> HomePod mini
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Apple will discontinue its original HomePod four years after first 
>>>>>> releasing
>>>>>> the smart speaker.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The Cupertino, California-based tech giant says it will instead focus on 
>>>>>> its
>>>>>> new and smaller HomePod mini, which went on sale in November for $99.
>>>>>> "We are discontinuing the original HomePod, it will continue to be 
>>>>>> available
>>>>>> while supplies last through the Apple Online Store, Apple Retail Stores 
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> Apple Authorized Resellers," Apple said in a statement, reported by
>>>>>> TechCrunch. "We are focusing our efforts on HomePod mini."
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Apple didn't immediately respond Saturday to USA TODAY's request for
>>>>>> comment. As of Saturday, the HomePod was selling for $299 on Apple's 
>>>>>> website
>>>>>> with the mini available for $99.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Apple first entered the smart speaker market in 2018 with the original
>>>>>> HomePod, first priced at $349, but dogged by complaints that the speaker 
>>>>>> did
>>>>>> little more than just play music. It was dwarfed by sales of Amazon's 
>>>>>> Echo,
>>>>>> the No. 1 best-selling smart speaker, and what was originally called the
>>>>>> Google Home.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The new HomePod mini can access apps on the iPhone using Siri, such as
>>>>>> calendar, messages, or Music. The speaker also features an intercom and 
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> ability to send messages from HomePod Mini to any Apple device, even
>>>>>> AirPods.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The smart speaker incorporates computational audio, which applies tuning
>>>>>> models to bolster its sound. When announcing the new speaker in November,
>>>>>> Apple said it would add a feature recognizing when your iPhone is near so
>>>>>> music can easily transfer from playing on iPhone to HomePod mini and 
>>>>>> trigger
>>>>>> visual and haptic responses on the phone.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> In January, Apple posted record revenue of $111.4 billion during its 2021
>>>>>> fiscal first quarter, a 21% increase from the same period a year ago.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The company reported selling more iPhones and iPads, and hit a new 
>>>>>> revenue
>>>>>> high from its services, such as Apple TV+, from October through December
>>>>>> 2020, as consumers got new devices and used them more during the 
>>>>>> coronavirus
>>>>>> pandemic. 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Contributing: Mike Snider, Brett Molina and Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Original Article at:
>>>>>> https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2021/03/13/homepod-discontinued-app
>>>>>> le-focusing-efforts-homepod-mini/4680400001/
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
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