When we started developing Airhome technology, the basis was really pretty simple, we just thought that everybody would want a built-in home audio system even though they don’t necessarily know it yet, so that’s exactly why we started.

We wanted to make a dent in the world of home automation and impact the future of home audio and entertainment at large, permanently. And seriously, we actually believe we could do it! 

After all, Apple was an outsider ‘computer’ company that changed the music industry forever. They did it by focusing on designing a simple yet superior portable music experience for music lovers around the world, because it was something they were passionate about, and it was something they knew they could impact and change for the better, permanently. They made a deliberate choice to connect with people through a universal medium, a passion for music.

In some ways we like to think of Airhome as the superior 'stationary’ music experience. It is designed to reinvent the home audio experience from the ground up, making quality audio a part of your daily life at home. Airhome is so easy and convenient to use you, there’s not much else to say accept that you just listen more, that being the case, there’s really nothing more that needs to be said.

The magic of the iPod and Apple’s extraordinary success in the product category is that the superiority of the iPod is still not clearly quantifiable, even with all the internet meme’s in the world. Try Googling “what’s the difference between an iPod and an MP3 player?”. The only substance in that discussion is that the iPod had a superior user experience; it made portable digital music enjoyable and accessible in a way that no other MP3 player ever did. 

The common explanation: it was simple to use and a joy to interact with. By design, it just worked. It was exactly what you would have thought all MP3 players should have worked like since the beginning of time. Other alternative products just never hit the mark. 

This is how we think: if simplicity worked for them why couldn’t it work for us? If they can change things, why can’t we? It seems to me that was an overarching message from Steve Jobs as he so generously explains in this video.

So with Airhome we wanted leverage the almighty simplicity and by design make streaming home audio more enjoyable and accessible beyond all words. 

Let’s change the way music is enjoyed at home for the next generation. And in our case, because Airhome is a built-in home product, let’s make sure it’s just as simple to install as it is to use. After all, if it’s going to be installed in every home, we need to simplify the installation too!

Naturally we needed a powerful name for the product, like the title of any timeless album or movie, so we picked Airhome. It seemed a worthy title which is now synonymous with the 'wireless home’. I can assure you we designed every detail to live up to the name so Airhome would define the experience we wanted to have in our own homes.

One thing we knew was that if we were going to solve for music in the Smarthome we would need to make a product that becomes a part of the home, full stop.

For decades, home audio and home automation component systems have been designed to be placed on shelves and counter tops, or in racks and in closets. Why? Because it’s always been that way? Hasn’t anybody noticed the clutter and complexity of those component systems?

The recurring phrase in our minds was, why does it have to be that way? Above all else, we believe that Airhome needed to become a part of the home infrastructure. It must become an integrated part of our homes to become an integrated part of our life at home, basically just like any other appliance or utility - built-in, accessible, convenient, standard. That’s the game changer we are shooting for.

Take for example the microwave oven, it started by taking up kitchen counter space, and eventually became a standard “wall mount appliance” in every home. Or how about the dishwasher. Remember back in the day when it was introduced, it would be positioned at the end of the counter, and then when it was filled with dishes and ready to run a cycle, you would drag it across the kitchen and temporarily connect a hose to the kitchen faucet so it could clean the dishes, high tech right!?

The funny thing is, sometimes in the present, when new innovation is right in front us, we find it difficult to connect to the past and how we got here. It’s important to remember, “the past often repeats itself.”

Sometimes we have a natural tendency to make things more complex in our minds to justify them, and the innovation right in front of us, particularly when simple and obvious, is nearly invisible with that mindset. 

That is of course until we experience the innovation first hand for ourselves and determine that just as with the microwave, this built-in Airhome audio system is something no home should be without. And just as with the iPod and portable audio, home audio probably should have been like it is with Airhome since the beginning of time.

What we envision is a world where people chuckle and shoulder poke and say, “Hey, can you remember a time without Airhome?”.

We of course know that the hardest part is keeping it 'simple’ (or K.I.S.S.). And against all natural intuition, the series of decisions we needed to make to avoid making Airhome more complex is staggering. Statistically speaking, Airhome is an unlikely design outcome, but we remained steadfast in the creative process and built upon our conviction that simple is best. I’m proud to say that at every turn we maintained that less is more.

And simple is really hard! Just as hard as Steve Jobs says, I can’t help it, I’ve got to quote Steve Jobs. I’ve always been inspired by the man, and if it were not for his innovative wisdom and legacy of quotes, I can honestly say Airhome would not exist. Steve once said,

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

We may not move mountains, but we’re definitely counting on a few house parties!

Speaking of moving, the move from home audio components from shelving, cupboards, and closest to standard built-in home appliance is a dream come true for all of us, and we’re proud to say we’ve taken some risks, and that we’ve given it all we have when designing the product to impact the future of the wireless audio at home. Our vision is clear: to make Airhome a standard appliance of the modern home.

I thoroughly enjoy connecting the dots between Airhome, microwaves or even dishwashers because I bet in the early days, if you went to someones home and asked them to permanently fix the dishwasher under the counter or mount the microwave on the wall, they would have thought that was silly and said, “Who would ever want a "built-in” dishwasher or “wall mounted” microwave?”

We can learn a lot about designing for the future by mining past technology. A lesser known but equally inspiring tech visionary is a guy named Bill Buxton, and he once made a great commentary on design, he said,

“Great design is as much about prospecting in the past as it is about inventing the future. What Apple did was learn from history, and adopt, adapt, and assimilate past success to current context. That is simply good, intelligent design in action. It is also a very good lesson: an obsession with the new and original, without a deep literacy and appreciation for the past, leads to a path of missed opportunities.”

Airhome design summary:

1. Airhome is wired like the good old fashioned electrical panel, an incredibly useful slice of technological history that’s wired in every home. Learn more >
   
   
2. Airhome is wall mounted like the trustee old microwave, a tried and true method of providing convenience and clearing out the clutter from the counter-tops. You can mount pretty much anywhere including the utility or mechanical room. Learn more >
   
   
3. Airhome is controlled wirelessly using Wi-Fi®, just like any other Wi-Fi® product in your house. Just grab an iPhone®, swipe up and press AirPlay® Learn more >
   
   

Simple to install and easy-to-use. That’s Airhome.

It’s built-in to change the way we interact with music at home. It’s designed to make us look back and reminisce with a smirk about the ways we use to play music at home in the old days. And just like all with other appliances, you could never go back and live without it once you’ve had it.

We hope you will enjoy living with it as much as we do!


Logan Jacobs
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