How Smart Speakers Are Changing the Way We Listen to Music

https://pitchfork.com/features/article/how-smart-speakers-are-changing-the-way-we-listen-to-music/

by ohjeez • 8 years ago

45 53 8 years ago

djrogers• 8 years ago

Somewhat interesting, but this really comes off as a Luddite attempting to explain smart speakers to people who’ve never heard of them.

He’s not ready to talk to a plastic puck? His friend ‘taught’ her echo to play ambient music? Honestly this sounds like it should have been written in 2015.

ACow_Adonis• 8 years ago

This luddite clicked the link thinking "what the hell is a smart speaker?" and then had the internal monologue: "oh, a marketing term for those amazon alexa type things millenials with too much money buy".

Honestly, to me the article comes off reading like a not so subtle ad...with gratuitous namedrops and a sort of strawman "I don't need this product...but all my friends!"

Anyone want to place bets that it is?

briandear6• 8 years ago

An Alexa as a music speaker? Barely a step beyond a transistor radio when it comes to audio quality. Listening to serious music on that is blasphemous.

a-dub• 8 years ago

shrug he's writing about the impact of these things on the music industry in a music publication. It's not going to be as fawning as one of those absurd go-go-gadget-fanboy websites, but it seemed like a perfectly reasonable exposition of what they are, specifically for providing context for how they might impact the music world.

and tbh I'm not really ready to talk to a plastic puck either. It's pretty weird, not to mention the uneasiness of having some poorly secured hacked up version of Android running 24/7 in my house with a big fat microphone attached designed to pick up as much as possible.

...and who knows, maybe his friend did tech it about ambient by writing an Alexa skill to organize her ambient playlists.

jib• 8 years ago

Voice control of lights, AC, music is great when doing things that involve using both hands (cooking, baking, maintenance work), as is note taking.

It’s not about talking to, it’s about proper hands free control.

95% of things are better controlled with hands, but there is a significant set of things where voice control is superiour (usually due to your hands being otherwise occupied).

simsla• 8 years ago

He's missing some important facts in those areas as well. He talks of the effects of the walled garden of Alexa + Amazon Music on Spotify, but it's long been possible to use competing services (like Spotify) on Alexa...

taneq• 8 years ago

I don't think 'Luddite' is the right term here - the Luddites were specifically a group who protested against the impacts of mechanisation on the labour market. They didn't hate technology in general.

'Technophobe', maybe?

bni• 8 years ago

It could be he just doesn't like this particular tech

briandear6• 8 years ago

My HomePods + Apple Music are extraordinary. “Hey Siri, play Delta Blues.” Bam. Play music I would like. Bam. Play Kind of Blue in the Living Room, play the Harry Potter Soundtrack in the kid’s room. Bam.

HomePod and Siri may not order pizza yet, but it does what it does incredibly well. I even replaced a sound bar for the TV with a stereo pair with a minimal footprint. There was a lot of lamenting Apple Music’s not being Spotify, but now, it’s pretty clear that in my house, Spotify fails to compare — especially when you use Apple Music with CarPlay. The next five years is going to be really fun I think!

culturestate• 8 years ago

I even replaced a sound bar for the TV with a stereo pair with a minimal footprint

Do you do this via AirPlay? If so, how do you find it? I’ve been considering doing the same thing, but I run exclusively from an Apple TV.

briandear6• 8 years ago

On Apple TV, in audio settings, you can select home pod sources. Pretty seamless.

mirimir4• 8 years ago

I hate being spied on. I don't even use music streaming services. Maybe if I could manage it all anonymously, I suppose.

But damn, the possibility that I could say "Play that song that goes like this [hums a few bars]" would be very cool. Or "Play that song with [some lyrics]." Or "I liked that, but wasn't there an older version?"

briandear6• 8 years ago

HomePod doesn’t “spy.” The Siri stuff is anonymous. Apple doesn’t know that you asked Siri for directions to a porn shop: unlike Google and Alexa where their business model is based on “spying.”

You can actually use Siri to identify songs (thanks to the Shazam acquisition.) “Hey Siri, what’s this song..” it then listens and identifies the song.

rsync• 8 years ago

Echo/Home/Alexa devices are the modern day equivalent of winXP systray icons ... their number is inversely correlated to the intelligence of the user.

smt883• 8 years ago

These are two of the most idiotic biases I've ever seen on this site, and that's saying something.

As someone writing software on my family's PC 15 years ago, I tended to add 5+ systray icons over the standard ones my parents had. If only I'd known how stupid they made me...

Regarding speakers, you're likely referring to the privacy tradeoff. People could say the same about someone using a credit card, grocery loyalty program, or any wireless carrier. We all make privacy tradeoffs on a daily basis as a cost for having a modern, convenient life in a capitalist society.

dmichulke• 8 years ago

GP meant of course icons such as those of your ask toolbar, pc cleaner, some AV, some boot speedup program, a handful of other "security programs", ...

User232• 8 years ago

Do you really believe that having an always on Internet uploading microphone in your private domicile is equivalent to using a grocery loyalty card? Also phone carriers have well established restrictions on lawful intercepts.

sctb• 8 years ago

Well, that's just not very civil. Could you please refrain?

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

smt883• 8 years ago

It's ironic that my response calling biases "idiotic" was flagged, and the original comment calling millions of people stupid was not...

millstone• 8 years ago

Smart speakers feel like tablets: an initial burst of sales, followed by years of decline as the devices sit in drawers. They're priced right for gifts and impulse buys (especially with the heavy discounts), but they're in practice less useful than they seem, and their actual utility is vulnerable to being eaten by smartphones.

However they will endure as ad-ons. The latest Bose headphones have Google Assistant built in, Sonos soundbars have Alexa, etc. Just like TVs became "smart" (i.e. equipped with ads and analytics) we will see more and more "smart" devices with this stuff integrated. It's a checkmark in the feature list, and a revenue source for the tech titans. Hug your dumb devices tightly!

sigi452• 8 years ago

I don't think so.

I'm using our echos every day for time keeping, weather, music and lights.

My tablet (Nexus) I played with it way shorter.

Also I miss Alexa when I'm in a hotel.

What? No music? No timer? No quick weather report? No alarm clock and for the lights I have to use a switch?...

It's not just a gadget it is a very convenient input method.

And it is already super useful but still basically the first generation of devices.

arbie• 8 years ago

Also I miss Alexa when I'm in a hotel.
What? No music? No timer? No quick weather report? No alarm clock and for the lights I have to use a switch?...

There is now an Alexa app that provides the same functionality on smartphones.

gumby• 8 years ago

Also I miss Alexa when I'm in a hotel.

Just bring a hockey puck one with you when you travel.

baybal2• 8 years ago

Yes, and to begin with. Retail sales numbers were surprisingly bad, given the enormous marketing spending.

I feel this is another smartwatch moment

gbog• 8 years ago

I used recent speakers as simple Bluetooth speakers for a few years, and recently exhumed my old loudspeakers, those classic wooden box pairs with cables and rotative potentiometers. There's no photo: the sound is (was) much better.

Do you know the story with Spanish tomatoes? It's the same, they made them more convenient, easier to carry around and sell, better calibrated, more stable, etc. but suddenly some people tried the old tomato type and noticed that the only thing we should care about when buying them is... taste. Same with speakers: smart or Bluetooth it whatever is just a way to sell us speakers whose sound is fake (because it is cheaper to process the bass with a chip)

melling• 8 years ago

There are over 150 million tablets shipped every year:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/276635/market-share-held...

I personally love my iPad and I’m on my 3rd one. I do wish it could replace my laptop. The Microsoft Surface seems to be doing well too. I’m considering getting the next generation.

Anyway, the narrative you’re spinning on tablets isn’t accurate.

As for smart speakers, I’ve had an Alexa for 6 months.

You’ve probably underestimated them too. For $30-$50, these little devices, while limited, are useful. Music, timers, limited shopping, weather, and random searches, ... it gets used daily.

lotsofpulp• 8 years ago

Tablets (iPads in my case) have been a lifesaver in my businesses and for family members. For family, even 90 year olds who don’t know English can reliably communicate with all of their family using Facetime, and in business, there is no excuse for why it doesn’t work or it was brought down by malware. If it breaks just go and buy a new one and restore from iCloud.

I’ve also been seeing tons of them as POS at all the new retail/restaurant places I’ve been going to. It’s versatile, secure, resistant to idiot employees, and cheap.

marban2• 8 years ago

Regardless of device or media used, my personal experience has been that while the level of new music discovery has increased by a lot, I found myself much less engaged/immersed when everything is served to you by an algorithm. Compared to decisively picking an album and even with just teasing through the tracks in the order the artist composed it, I'm getting the reminiscent feeling that this is not the best development for either the producer, consumer and media culture in general. In other words, I can't even remember the last time I just sat there and did nothing but listening to music.

rdiddly2• 8 years ago

It's adversity that makes things special and memorable. Scarcity and inconvenience once did that for music listening. Now it's very easy to hear music when you want to, so it's not particularly special; it's plentiful and cheap to the point of near-worthlessness.

marban2• 8 years ago

I guess it's a matter of price as well — in a sense that music is way too cheap for what you're getting for.

genghizkhan• 8 years ago

That's quite interesting. My experience has been the exact opposite. I tend to be far more likely to listen to my Discover Weekly than any other playlist, and I totally love listening to those songs both as their own thing as well as when I'm working. It's just a lot more satisfying to find new songs/artists/albums every week than not. It's just like radio, in a sense, except it's curated using an algorithm and closer to my taste than a lot of traditional radio. The algorithmic part doesn't bother me: I don't really care if the being at the other end of the radio is an algorithm or a person.

Mind you, this is my experience with Spotify: one of the reasons I'm nearly religious in my choice of streaming services. I tried Apple Music for nearly a year when it launched but found little to like there.

jpindar• 8 years ago

Spotify is indeed like radio - but without ads and other chatter, and with info about the song name and artist.

neya2• 8 years ago

Question to HN community: How much would you really like to see a company that purposely doesn't focus on any of the "smart technology" BS, but just on delivering pure, faithful audio. In other words, a "dumb" speaker company.

Because, I think speaker is one of the few industries where you can still add layers of smartness to an existing "dumb" speaker box simply by just connecting it to such a device.

With the gradual shift in strategies of companies like Bose and Sonos, to focus more on smart technologies, I think there is a void created which audio companies were originally known for - good, faithful audio without the buzz words.

As a personal disclosure, I'm interested in this because building loudspeakers is my passion and I would be more than delighted to get my feet wet.

freddie_mercury2• 8 years ago

I don't see any void. I see Dali, Q Acoustics, Fyne, KEF, Monitor Audio, ATC, Spendor, Acoustic Energy, Roth, Mission, Dynaudio, and Ruark.

Every one of those companies had won at least one award for their speakers.

The speaker market is so crowded I can't imagine how anyone could begin to say there is a void.

Name the market void and I bet I can name 20 companies building exactly the speaker you want.

neya2• 8 years ago

Good point.

But, I still think some of those are high end, some of those specialize in pro-audio, some of them target audiophiles. What I mean is, someone for everyday use - JBL or Bose, minus the "smart" options. This company's strategy will not include any smartness, just focus on building good quality, good looking speakers. Say, someone like Sony (their bookshelf offerings are quite good), but without any long term plans to include smart assistants or something similar.

If you still think it's a crowded space let me know, but nevertheless, it's good feedback.

alltakendamned• 8 years ago

For me not so much audio, but I'd be very interested in a proper dumb TV with a good sized modern panel.

briandear6• 8 years ago

Definitely this! I only want the ability to connect an HDMI input and have super picture quality. I don’t need a WiFi “smart” TV. I don’t even want speakers. Basically a really nice monitor at 65”.

TheSpiceIsLife• 8 years ago

I just buy studio monitors and be done with it.

Can speakers possibly sound any better than appropriately sized studio monitors plus maybe a sub?

mirimir4• 8 years ago

And at least 100W clean power per channel :) Plus good filter, mixer, etc software.

thesumofall• 8 years ago

Emphasis on appropriately sized as near field monitors might be inadequate for a large room.

However, there is anyway no rigid line between studio monitors and regular speakers. Plenty of hifi firms try to optimize for a true representation of the music. Hence, you might actually overpay because you pay for studio “extras” that you might not need at home (e.g., an extra solid build)

pbreit• 8 years ago

I listened to Sirius XM’s U2 channel today and it was so much better than an algorithmic run through their library.

smileypete• 8 years ago

For some reason I find the 'full range' bluetooth speakers (Tronsmart T6) are better for background music while doing stuff than a more immersive 2.1 system, maybe because the sound is from a single point source so less distracting?

Also I like to record favourite radio shows using curl then play them back, makes it easy to repeat tracks or skip overly intrusive ads, though I find the non-targeted advertising quaint these days. :)

Crontab• 8 years ago

I am not interested in "smart" speakers or televisions. Like my refrigerator and toaster, I prefer these devices to be "dumb".

How Smart Speakers Are Changing the Way We Listen to Music

Related Stories