Apple HomeView ➹

This feels like Pixar’s Luxo or the classic half-dome iMac crossed over into the WALL-E universe, and looks like it is going to be cloned to oblivion. The $299 price is… interesting considering the tech inside it (parts of what it can do are highly non-trivial, and very much the kind of AI Apple likes doing).

I feel somewhat vindicated that Apple seems to have built a Siri for Families of sorts, but at the same time I have to wonder what flavour of it (and when) will be available in Europe, and exactly how much more bang for the buck it affords than, say, hacking a cheap Android picture frame–which is what I’ve been doing for a while now with the Lenovo ThinkSmart View.

I do think I want one, but there are a few things to settle besides price and value. For starters, having more screens in the house doesn’t seem like a winning proposition (the HomePods we’ve got work OK for alarms, reminders, etc.), and the American fascination with the kitchen island (which, by the way, needs power sockets in the middle…) doesn’t translate to European flats.

I find the Apple Home Collection a lot more interesting, but I’m going to reserve judgement until I understand whether it’s worth considering switching any of my home automation hardware… and all the LG gear is extremely expensive as such things go these days.