David Sparks, on the Apple’s rumored Echo competitor:

I think the existence of a such a product would signal Apple opening Siri up further for third party development. I don’t mean I think Apple would open it up to third parties the way Amazon has but I do think a product like this would only make sense if Apple were simultaneously opening up more categories of applications with Siri hooks. An obvious one would be audio controls. If I could use such a device to start a podcast in Overcast or a playlist in the Sonos app, things could get interesting.

This is the kind of functionality I’d want from a Siri speaker. Not everyone subscribes to Apple Music or uses Apple Podcasts. I don’t think third-party media apps should be treated like second-class citizens on this type of device.