The Apple HomePod goes on sale tomorrow (presumably tonight at midnight PST). We’ve been hearing about Apple’s entry into the home speaker/voice-in-a-can business with the HomePod announcement at last years WWDC. There is a lot of “meh” in the community about this product. Fundamentally, the concern I’m hearing is that Apple is emphasizing this product as a speaker and a lot of people are more interest in the Siri voice-in-a-can product.

I’m getting one. I actually would like a nice speaker next to my computer on my desk and because I’m fully invested in iCloud the Siri integration, even if limited, will be nice. Another point for me is that it supports Apple Music, for which I’m a subscriber.

Whether the HomePod is a successful product or not is an open question. In my opinion, this first iteration is going to leave a lot of people wanting more. Apple isn’t going to jump in with both feet for third-party integrations. (Don’t believe, go looking for third-party watch faces on your three-year-old Apple Watch.) 

I do expect, however, for Apple to deliver on its promise of making the HomePod a very good speaker with some Siri integration. If the HomePod is going to get better, however, they’re going to need to do their thing and iterate.