If you were to ask someone back in 2001, what type of products "Apple" made, they would likely say computers. Apple still makes computes, but today they are not primarily known for their computers. That is not to say that their computers are not iconic, and often sought after, but it is not their defining product. Instead, they are known for their consumer electronics, primarily the iPhone. Apple's latest product is also a consumer electronic, but it is not portable. The new product is called the HomePod.

The HomePod is first, and foremost, a music speaker. The HomePod is not just any music speaker, it has smarts. The smarts that is within the HomePod are two-fold. The first bit of smarts within the HomePod is computational in nature. The HomePod has an A8 processor to do its calculations. This is the same processor that is in the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and sixth-generation iPod Touch. This is a ton of processing power, particularly just for within a Music Speaker. The A8 is capable of handling all of the processing necessary to be able to create the best sound possible. The second bit of smarts, is Apple's assistant, Siri. The latter will be covered in a bit. First let us look at how the HomePod sounds.

The Sound

I am no audio engineer, nor do I ever espouse to being one. The only qualifications I have for being a sound engineer is adjusting the volume on my headphones or my HomePod. Along with not being an audio engineer, it is not easy to describe how a speaker sounds using text. I could do an audio clip, but the fidelity that I would be able to provide is nothing like hearing it in person. Even with all of those caveats, I will attempt to describe, as best as I can via text, how the HomePod sounds.

One of the areas in which the HomePod differs from traditional speakers is when it comes to the way the output sounds. With traditional speakers, depending on where you place them, you will not get sound all throughout the room. This is because most speakers are directional in nature, and while you can hear some sound from the sides, or behind, the speaker, it will likely be distorted. This is not the case with the HomePod.

The HomePod is capable of producing sound that can be clearly heard from nearly all parts of a room. This is possible through the computational audio mechanisms as well as the arrangement of the tweeters, since they go all around the HomePod. The ability to have clear sound throughout an entire room means that if you are having a party, everyone should be able to hear the music without any issue, which is always a good thing.

To me the HomePod produces great sound. It is by no means perfect, but it is the best speaker that I have heard. The sound is generated the one woofer, which points up from the top of the HomePod. The woofer works with the seven tweeters, which are located towards the bottom of the HomePod. The tweeters point outwards, which allows the sound to fill a room.

The HomePod is not your typical speaker. This is because the A8 Processor uses "computational audio". Computational audio is best used with the faster than real-time streaming to analyze the audio to create a better sound. Along with analyzing the sound, the HomePod also listens to the reverberation from the current audio to adjust the output with the feedback that it hears. The HomePod uses the response time to determine how close objects are to the HomePod. The HomePod will do its best to fill the entire room with sound. With control over the tweeters, the HomePod can reduce the echo that other speakers may produce by tuning the sound coming out of each of the tweeters to be able to reduce the echo, which only adds to better sound.

Siri

While the HomePod is primarily a speaker, there are some smarts within it. The smarts are provided by Apple's voice assistant, Siri. While Siri is available on all of Apple's iOS devices, as well as macOS, Siri on the HomePod has a smaller subset of functions of all of Siri's capabilities. In particular, you can ask the HomePod to play music, add items to notes, and you can even send messages to individuals, if you opt to do so.

When you ask Siri to do something on an iOS device, you have to be in close proximity of the device for Siri to hear you. This is definitely not the case with the HomePod. The HomePod has six far-field microphones that are designed to hear you no matter how loud the audio that is playing out of the HomePod actually is. During my testing, I was actually two rooms away and HomePod heard me without any difficulty and I did not have to raise my voice too much to get it to hear me. This is absolutely crucial for any smart speaker to be useful.

When you do use the trigger phrase, "Hey Siri" all of your iOS devices, and the HomePod, will have a very quick conversation to determine which one of your devices will handle your request. One thing that must be done for this to occur, as anticipated, is to have Bluetooth enabled on all of your iOS devices. For those with an Apple Watch, it is likely that Bluetooth would already be enabled on your iPhone. However, if you have another iOS device, like an iPod or iPod Touch, it is possible that you do not need Bluetooth so it will be off.

Siri Commands

There are a lot of things you can do with Siri on the HomePod, but a new one has been added. You can say "Hey Siri, play some news". The HomePod will then begin to play NPR News. There are a few other options for news. You can get news from CNN, the Washington Post, or even Fox News; depending on your preference.

Siri can perform many of the same queries as other iOS-based devices, but there are some that the HomePod cannot do. One of these is ride booking, or identifying the currently playing movie.

HomePod and HomeKit

The HomePod is a HomeKit Hub, which allows anyone within your home to control any of your HomeKit-enabled accessories that are configured in the Home app. and due to its stationary nature may actually be the ideal HomeKit Hub. This is because the HomePod can provide auditory feedback to any request that you give.

There are a couple of limitations to using Siri to adjust your HomeKit accessories. If you have things like a garage door opener or smart lock configured, you can use the HomePod to close or engage the locking mechanism. However, you cannot do the opposite, at least not without confirmation on an iPhone. This is a security mechanism because Apple does not think it should be possible for anyone to come up to your door and say "Hey Siri and have the garage door open.

I only have a couple of lights configured within HomeKit, so my testing on this is limited. However, during my testing it does seem as though the HomePod responds much faster than when the Apple TV was the primary Home Hub, and when I would request Siri turn off my lights from my iPhone or Apple Watch.

HomeKit Hubs

There is a simple way to find all of the HomeKit Hubs that are in your home. Although the steps are simple, it can be somewhat hidden. To find all of your HomeKit hubs, perform the following:

1. Open the Home app on your iOS device
2. Tap on the arrow icon in the upper left corner. You should see a list of Home Hubs

There are only two steps, but finding it is not super easy. Once you do click on the arrow, it should list all of your HomeKit Hubs. The photo below shows the three that I have, my HomePod, which is the "connected" one and the two standby hubs, which are both Apple TVs. One is my Apple TV 4K and the other is my development Apple TV.

The HomePod will automatically be the primary HomeKit hub, if there are more than one hubs in a home. I cannot say for certain, but my guess as to why this is the case is because the HomePod can provide audio feedback and is constantly powered. Any other home hubs you have can still be used, but will say "Standby".

While using Siri on the HomePod is very helpful and useful, the best thing to play on the HomePod is music. Let us look at that now.

Playing Music

One of the most common functions on the HomePod, and what the HomePod is designed for, is to play music. The HomePod works best if you subscribe to Apple Music. If you do subscribe to Apple Music, you can play any of the 45 million songs available on Apple Music. You can specify an artist, an album, or even a playlist. Playlists are not limited to just those provided by Apple. Playlists can be from your own music library. Your playlists are available because by subscribing to Apple Music the music from your iTunes Library is automatically matched or, if it is not in the Apple Music catalog, it is uploaded to Apple's servers so it is available from any of your devices.

While third-party audio services are not natively supported on the HomePod, you can use Apple's AirPlay protocol to send any audio from your iOS devices, or Mac, to the HomePod. There will be more on that in a bit.

I tested the ability to play anything from your library. I have a playlist titled "Elton John". I asked the HomePod to play this and it was able to find this without any issues and it played the songs on that playlist. I also tested playing something that it is not in the Apple Music Library. I have a recording of a The Ted Talk $8 Billion iPod, by Rob Reid. I attempted to play it by saying "Hey Sir, Play $8 Billion iPod". It did not play initially. This is because the actual title in my library is "$8 Billion iPod (Copyright Math)". Once I gave the entire title, it worked as I initially expected. Despite these successes, there were a couple of times when things did not work as expected.

Specifically, I asked the HomePod to play "Golden Hour" by Kacey Musgraves. The HomePod replied, "I couldn't find 'Golden Hour' on Apple Music or in your library". This is a bit odd, considering that I have been playing a couple of the songs from the album on repeat for the last few days, so I knew it was available.

During my testing the album "Golden Hour" was only available for pre-order, and there is a song by the name of "Golden Hour" on the album. I tried the same thing on my iPhone and got the following response:

I suspect that this is what Siri on the HomePod was also transcribing it to. Since there is no way to see what the HomePod is interpreting requests as, it make it heard to determine. If I said "Hey Siri, play the Golden Hour album by Kacey Musgraves", it got it without a problem. I am thinking that the reason it was able to get it was because I specified "Kacey Musgraves" and it was able to translate "gold an hour" to "Golden Hour". But this is simply a guess. Now, let us move on to other ways you can control music on the HomePod.

Controlling Music

The primary interaction method for the HomePod is your voice. You can use the trigger phrase "Hey Siri" to adjust the volume, amongst other things. While asking Siri to do things from time to time is fine. But, if you are really enjoying the music using Siri might not be the best experience. Luckily, there is an option for using your iOS device to control the HomePod. There are two locations that you can control the HomePod. The first is in Control Center, and the second is in the Music app.

In order to control a HomePod using Control Center, perform the following:

1. Bring up Control Center
2. Tap and hold on the "Now Playing" section
3. Scroll down to the HomePod you want to control
4. Tap on the HomePod you want to control.

Here you can adjust the volume, play and pause, and jump forward or backwards. In order to control the HomePod via the Music app perform the following:

1. Open the Music app
2. Tap on the "AirPlay" icon
3. Scroll to the HomePod
4. Tap on the HomePod to connect it
5. Tap in the background to close the AirPlay selection window

With the Music app, you can control using the same functions as within Control Center, but you can also choose any song from your music library and you can play any of the songs that you want. Additionally, you can also put any songs in the "up next" queue, so you can create the perfect playlist for your HomePod. This is perfect for parties, or in any situation where you want to play a list of music without having to constantly adjust it.

Once you have performed the steps above, you can now play just about anything to the HomePod. When you do this, you are not using AirPlay to send the music over, instead the HomePod is playing the music directly, and the Music app is acting just like a remote.

There is one specific thing to remember when trying to control music via your iOS device, you cannot connect to the Ho,prod without being on the same wireless network. Having Bluetooth enabled is not enough. You can control who is able to connect to you HomrPod. This is done via the home app. To set limitations on the HomePod perform the following steps:

1. Open the home app.
2. Tap on the arrow in the upper left corner.
3. Under speakers, select "Allow Speaker Access".

Here you can choose what type of access to allow. The options are, "Everyone", "Anyone On The Same Network" or "Only People Sharing This Home". You can also require a password to be able to connect to the HomePod. Enabling a password provides a second layer of authentication. Enabling a password will allow anyone to see the speaker, but they would need the password to connect to it. The password option is only available with the first two options, "Everyone" and "Anyone On The Same Network".

Even though the Music app is controlling music, you can play any other audio on your iOS device. When you do this, the new audio will take over for the music that was previously playing on the HomePod.

Stay Tuned

This concludes the first half of my HomePod review. Keep your eye out for the second half, which will cover the HomePod and Apple TV, upcoming features, updating the HomePod, and feature requests.

Here is a video by Panic, makers of apps like Transmit, Panic, and Firewatch.

The brief backstory, is that some of Panic's customers were reporting that downloads were really slow. The video explains what the issue was. The video also explains a small segment of how the internet works. This is not a technical video at all, so it is good for everyone to watch.

In today's modern technology-based world it is not realistic, nor practical, to expect a company to support a product indefinitely. Technology changes and many older products cannot reliably be supported. While the length of service for many of Apple products are getting longer and longer, they all do have an inevitable end-of-life date. There are two products that will no longer function, as expected, beginning May 25th, 2018. Those two items are the first-generation Apple TV and iTunes on Windows XP and Windows Vista. Let us start with the original first-generation Apple TV.

Original Apple TV

The original Apple TV was unveiled as sneak peak in September of 2006, with the code name of iTV. The original Apple TV was a similar form-factor as the Mac Mini available at the time. The first-generation Apple TV sported two different video output connections; HDMI and component video. The Apple TV was capable of outputting up to 1080p. The first-generation Apple TV also had an optical audio out jack, a 10/100 ethernet connection and a USB port. If you did not have ethernet connectivity, you could connect via the built-in 802.11b/g/n wireless. When released, the original Apple TV acted more like an iPod or original iPhone, where you had to connect it to iTunes in order to synchronize your media. This process was definitely not ideal, and this did change as the software progressed, but it was the original solution.

The original Apple TV initially came with a 40GB hard drive, but Apple released a 160GB model in May of 2007. The hard drive connection on the Apple TV was not Serial ATA (SATA) as one might expect, but instead it was a Parallel ATA (PATA) connection. The operating system of the Apple TV was a modified version of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. If you were adventurous enough you could actually install a full version of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger on it and use it as an actual Mac, but it was a limited amount of RAM, 256MB to be exact. This is a tiny amount compared today's standards. From Apple's support article:

[B]eginning May 25, security changes will prevent Apple TV (1st generation) from using the iTunes Store. This device is an obsolete Apple product and will not be updated to support these security changes. After the changes, you'll only be able to access the iTunes Store on Apple TV (2nd generation) or later.

This really is the end of an era for the original Apple TV. Now, let us turn to iTunes.

iTunes on Windows XP and Vista

It is well known that Steve Jobs was adamantly against iTunes on Windows. He needed to be convinced. iTunes for Windows was initially released on October 16th, 2003 with the availability of iTunes 4.1. When it was first released iTunes was supported on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Subsequent versions added support for later operating systems. Microsoft ended support for Windows XP on April 14th 2014 and ended Windows Vista support on April 11th, 2017. Despite these operating systems no longer being supported by their manufacturer, Apple has supported these computers connecting to iTunes. Beginning May 25th, 2018 this will no longer be the case.

It is not that the software will stop functioning, at least in terms of being able to play the items you have already downloaded. The change is that the iTunes Store will no longer be available and you will not be able to re-download previously made purchases.

Starting May 25, Apple will introduce security changes that prevent older Windows PCs from using the iTunes Store. If you have Windows XP or Vista PC, your computer is no longer supported by Microsoft, and you're not able to use the latest version of iTunes. You can continue to use previous versions of iTunes on your Windows PC without support from Apple. However, you won't be able to make new purchases from the iTunes Store or redownload previous purchases on that computer. After May 25, you'll need to use Windows 7 or later with the latest version of iTunes to make purchases from the iTunes Store and redownload previous purchases.

Closing Thoughts

I still own my original Apple TV. The featured photo at the top of this post is of my Apple TV taken with my iPhone X. The Apple TV has come a long way since its origins. I powered up my original Apple TV and it still works. I did have to hunt a bit for the remote for it, but I ultimately did find one of my original remotes that worked. I do not know if I will do anything with it. I may, like many others, end up using it as a stand for my iMac.

: Apple.com.

I am not investing in any crypto currency. The thought has crossed my mind, but I am a bit too risk adverse to get into that. I do not invest heavily in stocks either. I was asked by a friend about my thoughts on thoughts on crypto currencies. I had not planned on doing a blog post, but decided I might as well. These are my off the cuff thoughts about crypto currencies, as I understand them.

While I think crypto currencies can make some add to the wealth of some, is a bit too volatile for anybody to seriously get involved in investing. This is for a few of different reasons.

The first is that it takes a lot of computing power to be able to mine cryptocurrency. Not just like running a single computer all the time, at its full maximum, but instead large server farms that consume more power than some entire power stations can output. You would need that much power to be able to mine enough currency to make it worthwhile, unless you have a lot of capital to throw at mining coins.

The second is that countries are already starting to regulate it, which in some respects is a good thing, but it may cause panic and a sell off, meaning some could lose a substantial amount of money. It may also mean that being able to convert crypto currency to another currency may be limited.

Third, let us presume that one does invest, and you decide to sell. Right now for some exchanges it can take a few days to actually perform the sell the coin, which, given the violability, can lead to wild fluctuations when it does come to selling. Meaning that you could lose money if the value of the coin is lower than the time you wanted to sell.

The fourth reason is that there are an ever growing number of crypto currencies that are emerging, and until the overall market shrinks, in terms of number of coins, it will be hard to determine where, and when, to invest. For those who are more prone to take risks, this is actually a good thing, as they can invest early, and possibly make a huge profit. At the same time though, you could stand to lose everything you invested. Whether that is from a coin going bust, or whether its from something else, which leads to the next point.

The fifth item, is the lack of backing. While it can be argued that the American dollar is not really backed by anything physical, like gold, it is still backed by the word of the U.S. Government, no matter how dubious that may be. Crypto coins, as of right now, are not really backed by any type of security for their value like real-world currencies are. So this is a problem.

Lastly, also on the topic of security, but in a different nature, crypto coins are ripe for theft. The big crypto coin exchanges are currently prime targets for thieves. Some of this is due to the exchanges' lack of security. If a thief can cause the currency stored in one's wallet and transfer that value to their own wallet. Thereby causing loss for many, through no fault of their own, but through the negligence of another entity in whom they trusted their information.

As to whether crypto coins will become an actual currency in the future has yet to be determined.. I do think that the block-chain technology, upon which crypto-currency is based, will actually be more useful to more people; even if they do not use the technology directly.

Those are my thoughts on crypto currencies, as it stands now. Even with all of that, there is still a small part of me that is kicking myself for not trying to mine a couple of bitcoins back when it was brand new. Alas, that seems to be my lot in life.

Earlier this year Apple announced a shift for macOS Server. Since writing up that article I have been thinking about some directions that Apple could take macOS Server. I have a couple of ideas, and thought I would share them.

Per Apple, the primary focus for macOS Server going forward will be device and storage management. Device Management within macOS Server is handled through Apple's Profile Manager service. One of the primary tasks with Profile Manager is to be able to restrict functions on iOS devices. With this being the focus, there is a possibility for some expansions. This is great for solution companies, but what about individuals?

Profile Manager can be installed, and managed by just about anyone. The tricky part is that some of the settings are not easy to understand and determine how they affect operating of an iOS device. Most of the setting are somewhat self-explanatory, for those more technologically inclined. What if Apple were to make profile manager non-techie friendly? This is my first idea.

User-Friendly Profile Manager

There are many different aspects to iOS that can be configured with Profile Manager, but many users are not like myself, and are able to understand what impact each of those settings could have, when they are set. I would love to see Apple create a cloud-based management portal for non-techies. In particular, one that can allow parents to manage their children's iOS devices.

Many parents would love to see the ability to limit the days and times that the iOS devices that their child has can be operated. In addition, they would also like to be able to allow certain applications all the time, like apps for school work, or maybe evening learning applications.

In order for Apple to provide this type of service, additional and more granular restrictions would be needed for iOS, but providing this type of service, as well as the restrictions, would go a long way to helping parents keep an eye on what their children are using.

The reason for making this could based, instead of just iOS-based, would be so a parent could adjust settings from anywhere. It would also be useful to have an app for the

Cloud-based Profile Manager

One of the other ideas that I have pondered, is one where Apple provides a cloud-based profile manager, similar to its current form, just cloud-based instead of on-premise. This would not necessarily replace profile manager for those who host it within their company, but could allow smaller companies to get into Profile Manager without needing to have a server on-site.

Profile Manager requires an Open Directory server to connect to. This means that you either have to have one on the same server as the profile manager server, or one that can connect.

Providing this service would require an additional Open Directory server to be present on the Profile Manager server. This server could be a secondary server, but one would be necessary. If a company is only hosting their profile management server in the cloud, then it would make configuration a lot easier.

Providing a cloud-based profile manager server could be a benefit smaller companies who would want to be able to have the ability to control devices, but do not have the internal expertise to manage a macOS Server. Similarly, this could help Apple add to its services revenue, which could help in the long run.

These are just a couple of ideas for where Apple could take macOS Server. Only time will tell if this is the direction Apple will take macOS Server or not.

Yesterday I wrote about the HomePod leaving white rings on surfaces. There are some additional clarifications regarding the white rings.

The type of surfaces that are affected by this are surfaces that have been treated with wax or oil. This issue does not affect Medium-density fibreboard (MDF) wood, or any sort of other treated wood. This means that most surfaces should be okay.

The second clarifications that is needed is that this is not an Apple-specific issue. This type of issue also affects Sonos speakers as well as Amazon Echo devices. So this is not exclusive to Apple, but it can also affect Apple products.

The primary issue that is causing these white rings is the interaction of the silicone base with the wax or oil-treated wood. The chemical reaction that occurs between the two surfaces is facilitated by the vibration of the device and is the primary cause of the white rings.

Ultimately, what this means is that users who have oil-treated or wax-treated woods in their home will need to put something under their home pods, or other speaker device, it could be something as simple as a cloth, or even a paper towel. I would recommend something soft, like felt.

It appears that the HomePod is leaving white rings on stained wooden furniture. To put it bluntly, "why"? Apple has been testing the HomePod in employee's homes for a couple of years, how could this not have been noticed before? This seems like an oversight on Apple's part.

This was initially pointed out by The Wirecutter.

Be careful where you put it. The HomePod’s base left rings on wood finishes. The rings faded over time, but we wouldn’t risk it on good furniture."

From Apple's own HomePod support article:

It is not unusual for any speaker with a vibration-dampening silicone base to leave mild marks when placed on some wooden surfaces. The marks can be caused by oils diffusing between the silicone base and the table surface, and will often go away after several days when the speaker is removed from the wooden surface. If not, wiping the surface gently with a soft damp or dry cloth may remove the marks. If marks persist, clean the surface with the furniture manufacturer's recommended cleaning process. If you’re concerned about this, we recommend placing your HomePod on a different surface.

If this was a product from another company, it would be one thing, but this is Apple. Apple is typically known for their quality hardware, but this seems like they should have tested this. Per the WireCutter review, Apple recommend “try cleaning the surface with the manufacturer’s suggested oiling method” — in other words, go refinish your furniture." This is just unacceptable for most users, it would be for me.

I am not likely to experience this issue, as my HomePod is either sitting on a glass shelf or on carpet. However, if I ever put it on my computer desk or in my living room, which has hardwood, then I will need to place it on something. I am hoping that Apple will be fixing this in future versions. It may be simply fixed by putting a felt bottom on the HomePod, or even just providing a felt cloth. If I move my HomePod, I will put a felt cloth under the HomePod to avoid this issue. Regardless of a simple fix, Apple does need to address this issue.

Photo source: thewirecutter.com, Photo by Jon Chase.

At their World Wide Developer Conference last June, Apple announced a brand new product, and not just an iteration on one of its existing products. This product is the music speaker, called the HomePod. The HomePod officially became available on Friday. Despite nearly 11 inches of snow falling in the Chicago area, I ventured out to get the HomePod that I ordered for Pickup at the Apple Store. I was not sure if the Apple Store was even open with all of the snow, but they were. As a side note, my nearest Apple Store is just about five miles from my house and it can often take 25 minutes to go through with traffic, even with the slow driving, it was only a 15 minutes to get there, which is a nice change of pace for getting to and from my local Apple Store.

The Size

Almost every company will list the dimensions of their product, Apple is no exception. What you do not expect is the actual size of the HomePod. The device is quite compact and smaller than you might expect. The size makes it ideal for being able to place even in places with limited space.

The Weight

Within the diminutive space taken up by the HomePod there is a lot of equipment. The HomePod is surprisingly heavy at five and half pounds, or two and half kilograms. It is not unmanageable by any measure, but it is surprising how much they have packed in there. All of the technology is used to make the HomePod sound as good as it can. Before we can get to how it sounds, you have to set it up.

The Setup

The Setup of the HomePod is just as simple as setting up a pair of AirPods or a pair of Beats Solo 3 Wireless headphones. There are seven screens to the entire setup, The steps are: initial setup screen, location, personal requests, terms and conditions, account, and examples for what you can do.

The Sound

One of the things that I am doing, throughout most of the day, is listening to some sort of audio. It could be podcasts, audiobooks, or even music. The last twenty years have mostly been with headphones, and not on speakers that are not very close to my ears.

Apple has position the HomePod as a music speaker first and foremost. It is not easy to describe just how good the sound is. I have tested in four different rooms, the master bedroom, the second bedroom (which really is an office), the living room/dining room, and the bathroom. Each of these rooms are different sizes and have different materials in them. In all of the rooms the HomePod sounds good.

During my initial testing in the living/dining room, which has hardwood floors and is the most open space, it did not sound as good as the other places. Do not get me wrong, it still sounds good, just not as good. I would think that it might be better with two HomePods in that area, but it will not work until iOS 11.3 is available.

One of the tests that I wanted to make sure I did was using the HomePod as a speaker for the Apple TV. I did this with two different items. The first was the latest episode "My Next Guest" starring David Letterman. This was the episode with George Clooney. The second, and one I really wanted to test was a with a movie. In this case, Geostorm. With both of these, and both of these sounded really good on the HomePod.

Smarts

The HomePod is a high end music speaker and a smart speaker second. Siri on the HomePod is more limited in what it can do, as compared to an iPhone. It can perform some functions, particularly related music. If, during setup, you opted to allow personal requests, it can perform some of those tasks. When I tested adding information to an existing note, it did work, however it took several minutes for it to arrive, which is not typical when adding notes from other iOS-based devices, or even a Mac.

When using the phrase "Hey Siri", the HomePod can most definitely hear further than any other Siri-enabled device. I was a couple rooms away and the HomePod heard me without any issues. This is really convenient. And I did not even have to yell, or even raise my voice in order to have Siri hear me.

Frustrations

The HomePod is a voice-only device, which in and of itself is not a problem, however with other iOS devices around, it can be an issue. Normally I have my iPhone wherever I go, and sometimes I have my iPad as well. When I uttered the trigger phrase, "Hey Siri", the HomePod and iPhone would do a quick determination of who will take the request, which was usually the HomePod, the iPhone would dismiss Siri. However, the iPad never entered into this determination. It always perform whatever action I asked of the HomePod or iPhone.

Closing Thoughts, For Now

I have not determined where the HomePod will ultimately end up. I have been moving it between the master bedroom and second bedroom, depending on where I am doing things. The final answer may be for me to buy a second HomePod and keep two of them in different rooms, but this is not a cheap solution. So far, I am enjoying the HomePod. After I have had some extended time to test it, and really put it through its pace, I will write a full review.

Everybody has heard, and likely uses, the term "app". In case you are not aware, app is short for application. A decade ago, prior to the release of the iOS App Store, an app was something that ran on a Mac or PC. With the ability for third-parties to create applications, the term "app" became part of the lexicon.

With everyone using the term "app", the question becomes, how do you define an application? Having used technology for the last 25+ years, the term "app", and all it encompasses and represents, has become instinctive and intuitive. Additionally, it is not often something I think about.

However, after listening to episode 259 of the Accidental Tech Podcast, I began contemplating the term. What prompted this is something discussed in the episode. Casey Liss said that he created a Mac app. John Siracusa argued that it was not a Mac app, because it was a command-line based.

This got me to thinking, "How do you define what is an application?". I generally agree with John, on many things, but in this case I must disagree.

After some thinking, I think I have a way to define an "app. My definition is: "Any set of compiled, or interpreted, code, along with its supporting assets, that is run on a specific platform." I think this succinctly sums up what an application is.

Some people would likely define an app as something that you interact with and has a graphical interface. Yes, a vast majority of today's operating systems are graphical in nature, and it was a natural progression to make. However, anyone who requires an app to have a graphical user interface is doing a disservice, not only to themselves, but they are also ignoring a significant portion of today's computing resources. The disservice is not only to non-graphical applications, but also to all non-graphical operating systems. Some of these operating systems range from most Unix systems, to the more mainstream ones like MS-DOS, BeOS, OS/2, and even Apple DOS.

With this definition, the interaction method does not make a difference. For instance, if you have a Mac app that is a command-line based application, to me, it is still a Mac app, because it runs on the Mac. It may also run on a Linux box but it is still a Mac app. Similarly, if an app runs on iOS it is considered an iOS app.

It may be seem like a small thing, and the grand scheme it is, but it did get me to thinking. Even though you may initially dismiss any command-line interface, you may also fail to recognize that a significant portion of things that you use on the internet every day runs using the command-line. Just some food for thought.

This is a great clip of Alex Trebek trash talking some nerds in a category. Even though I am a nerd, and do not really care about Football, even I knew two answers and double-guessed myself on a third. The ribbing is absolutely deserved.

Via: Lisette Voytko. Source: Vice.com.