In this excellent review by Om Malik I think it’s abundantly clear that with Apple’s new “HomePod” smart speaker they aren’t trying to compete with Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Home. They’re trying to delight customers of the high end speaker/audio brands whereas Google and Amazon have products that are being used to try and sell advertising and more goods.

I think there are some good analogies here with Apple’s approach to Healthcare that isn’t focused on reimbursement is different from practically every other major brand. Apple won’t need to compete with the Electronic Record Corporations that sell to governments and insurers nor will it need to overly worry about brands like Google or Amazon (who want to sell your information or sell you on more healthcare services) they’ll just need to communicate why you need to be wary of too-good-to-be-true & free* services and can trust them and the services they provide to you (and those you care for).

The future belongs to those who are doing things today to build a virtuous cycle of Attention and Trust.