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…