I used to be, well, not an audiophile, but a wannabe audiophile. Lack of money was always a major hurdle.
When I was a teenager, our hippie neighbor Will was our stereo dealer. Chronically unemployed, Will would sell used stereo equipment to people in the neighborhood as a sideline.
But being a hippie, profit was never his motive. He sold me my first stereo system — which I slaved all summer in a dreadful aluminum smelting plant to buy. (I found out that the guy I replaced had been killed in an industrial accident; later that summer, I came close to being killed myself.)
I set up the stereo in my bedroom, but a few weeks later, I came home from work to discover Will had let himself into our house (he had a key) and swapped out the speakers for a better pair. He did this for free — his commitment to great customer service.
A few weeks later, he did the same thing with the amp. At some point, he gave me a better turntable, too. He did the same thing with my dad’s stereo, which was in our living room. He was like a reverse burglar, letting himself in to upgrade our audio systems.
In the years since, I tried to buy the best stereo equipment I could afford, until relatively recently.
Multipart hi-fis with enormous speakers gave way to a multiroom Sonos setup, followed by a handful of HomePods and HomePod minis, which are now the main source of music in our home.
In terms of capital outlay, the HomePods cost significantly less than the systems that came before. Sure, they don’t pack the same oomph as my old component stereo, and I can’t play records, but Apple’s smart speakers make up for that in convenience and functionality.
The biggest drawback is that right now you can only pair two — so this rumor about the next big HomePod upgrade couldn’t have me more excited.
Also in today’s newsletter:
Let’s admit it: Most USB-C docks are pretty boring, but how freakin’ cool is this one?
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: Apple’s beautiful Apple Studio Display with nano-texture glass and a tilt-adjustable stand is down to its lowest price ever, according to CamelCamelCamel. Clip the coupon to save nearly $200. #affiliate
Nvidia’s new workload-sharing scheme for AI looks really interesting, but I wonder how many people have these kinds of setups? Maybe it’s more than I suspect.
If accessory-maker Baseus nailed the rumored dark cherry color for next week’s iPhone 18 Pro, I think it looks pretty good.
AT IFA, Europe’s answer to CES, Ugreen unveiled some interesting stuff: a new line of AI-powered smart home accessories controlled by an unusual voice-powered central server; some crazy-looking security cameras; and a 25W Qi2 magnetic power bank that’s liquid-cooled via a micropump.
The great Apple accessory company Spigen posted an interesting X post today, possibly teasing a folding iPhone case, that generated an insane number of comments. See below.
And lol, unsurprisingly perhaps, yesterday’s poll about Lake Ontario also generated a lot of comments (and votes) — I tried to include only constructive comments.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
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