Sonos contributing to electronic waste

From my understanding, Sonos intends to keep the program going indefinitely, but obviously, they cannot promise that the program will continue for as long as Sonos remains in business.  If it proves to be bad for business in whatever way, I’m sure they will put an end to it as a reasonable time.  As far as people rushing to recycle, your assuming that people are actually doing that.  It’s possible, but as far as know, Sonos hasn’t released any numbers on that.  There are those on here that think it’s a sign that older programs will be de-supportted, but it’s just speculation that the general Sonos customer thinks that way.  Regardless, there isn’t a reason to think that Sonos would end the old products without giving customers a chance to apply for the discount.

The smart thing for a customer to do would be to weigh in the personal value of the old products and whether or not it makes sense for them to get a new product.  This is what I’m doing and what everyone else who’s shared their plans is doing.  I’m not sure why the general Sonos customer would just panic and trade in their working units under some assumption that they have to.

One thing that bother’s me about the whole argument that the Sonos program trade up program is environmentally flawed is it places all ‘blame’ for recycling instead of reuse on Sonos and not on the individual person who chooses to participate in the program.   I get that Sonos is changing the dynamics of the decision to recycle or reuse with this program, but if reuse is important to the customer, they will make the choice to reuse instead of recycle despite incentives.  It’s ultimately still the customers values that matter, and the customers decisions to make.

But that is not what you said.  You stated “we’re still talking about bricking Connects that may have been bought a few months ago”, as if they were actually Connects being bricked a few months after a sale. 

Nothing but melodrama and FUD (as usual).  

I have asked questions; I have not said what the answers are, let alone saying they are true or false.

I have not delved into the SMB question for the same reasons; it does not bother me. Perhaps the answers to my questions, once validated, will get me worried, but I tend to doubt that, based on common sense. 

Say I have a Connect Amp, used to play just CDs ripped to a NAS. Both connected to the internet connected router. What could happen, other than the Connect Amp stopping playing as a worst case, if updates were turned off? 

Or for that matter, even where the Connect Amp is used to play Apple Music. 

Could someone raid my bank account  to which I have internet access and empty it once updates are off? If so, how?

So long as there still is a significant discount available on whatever is the existing price of a new Port in the future, this still won’t generate a lot of waste. 

What would help make this a good scheme is for Sonos to declare prominently that it will remain a Sonos policy from here on out: Put up an approved/registered model for recycling at any time in the future and the new unit will be discounted by 30%. That should allow for software upgrades that render units obsolete to be not as unpopular as they are now, and also not have people rush to recycle simply in anticipation of this happening.

Why there need at all to be such upgrades that get units wasted before the hardware fails is a different question altogether, I suppose, and one that I would still ask for what is merely a home audio system. It is the largely meaningless upgrades that are making for more electronic waste, not the trade up scheme that is being misidentified as such. But Sonos is a very small part of an environment that is geared to this way of living in every domain, with fashion in personal wear leading the bandwagon, so it isn't easy to see how Sonos can buck this trend all by itself.

The “trade-up a device” program end date hasn’t been mentioned that I have seen.

Once traded in the discount is permanent, only expires when used.

I have one sitting in the pool, waiting for something I can’t resist.

Who would pay new prices for a Connect just to brick it when you get the same rebate for the cheapest (barely) working one off ebay?

Now a contractor that has a lot invested in their connect setups might want to grab a spare or two at new prices.

Even if this is a mistake we’re still talking about bricking Connects that may have been bought a few months ago…. Can’t be right, surely….

I would guess that’s more of an issue with updating the website  or marketing oversight rather than intentionally misleading customers.  But if that’s the sort of thing that you normally find unethical, then so be it.

I misspoke.  $50 less.  Not sure what you are claiming is lame and unethical?  That the Connect is still for sale while available for tradeup?  That the Connect sale page is some what hidden on the site?

Well, agreed then that it should probably be removed.  Not sure why anyone would buy them for $50 more than the Port, unless they were unaware of when the Connect  was first released.  

I get that Sonos likely has some stock they are trying to unload, and do believe the units will function just fine for several years.   I suppose it may make sense to get these if you’re looking at a Connect as something you use for 3-4 years and upgrade later on to whatever currently meets your needs.  Seems like that would be a rather tiny market though.

Where is the Connect listed for sale on the Sonos site?  I don’t see it anywhere, including under refurbished products?