Legacy Program

It does seem reasonable to create a Sonos Legacy at this point because of the obsolescence of a piece of hardware.

Good idea; Sonos is, at the end of the day, just a home audio appliance, and not a computer. If washing machines and microwave ovens can continue to work until their mechanical hardware fails to beyond repair, and do not become obsolete because of changes in the control tech, the same should apply to a home audio system.

There is no reason why this could not be done.


No reason? How about the cost of supporting multiple versions of the Android, iOS and Windows apps, as well as the firmware for each Sonos device, and the cloud services that they communicate with? Must be difficult and costly enough already, with a single version to deal with across all these platforms. Imagine having to add more upfront questions about the customer's system, on every single support call. Not to mention additional procedures and documentation for every support tech. Could add several minutes to every support call. Very costly.

Oh, and of course the legacy app would need to be kept updated, as Apple deprecates various functions that the legacy app might be using. So, additional design and development costs, both very expensive, every time Apple or Google or Microsoft decides something must change. And, of course, change management, and documentation of every change. The list goes on and on. Oh, and Apple only allows a single version of an app on its store, so there's that little detail. Google too, i would imagine.

I love how these things are always so simple to those who've never been involved in large software development projects, lol.

There is no reason why this could not be done.


No reason? How about the cost of supporting multiple versions of the Android, iOS and Windows apps, as well as the firmware for each Sonos device, and the cloud services that they communicate with? Must be difficult and costly enough already, with a single version to deal with across all these platforms. Imagine having to add more upfront questions about the customer's system, on every single support call. Not to mention additional procedures and documentation for every support tech. Could add several minutes to every support call. Very costly.

Oh, and of course the legacy app would need to be kept updated, as Apple deprecates various functions that the legacy app might be using. So, additional design and development costs, both very expensive, every time Apple or Google or Microsoft decides something must change. And, of course, change management, and documentation of every change. The list goes on and on. Oh, and Apple only allows a single version of an app on its store, so there's that little detail. Google too, i would imagine.

I love how these things are always so simple to those who've never been involved in large software development projects, lol.

This is the best argument I have ever seen for why it was a spectacularly bad idea to move away from dedicated controllers and become dependent on the whims of third party hardware and OS vendors in the first place. With all of those costs it is crazy to even support one firmware version across multiple third party platforms when a dedicated in-house controller could eliminate those expenses and uncertainties entirely.

You seem to have forgotten that with the Sonos One, or a cheap Echo Dot, Sonos doesn’t actually need a hardware controller. Your voice can control most things now, with far more to come.

A dedicated hardware controller, in 2018, especially one with an ancient click wheel, is a very outdated thing. Have a look at Apple. Do you honestly think they will come out with a dedicated hardware controller for the HomePod? :?

Clinging to outdated ideas because .001% of your customer base stubbornly resists change isn’t a business model, it’s a sure way to fail.

Working in tech support myself, my standard response to OP's request would simply be 'Sorry, your system's outdated. Please update in order to get rid of potential bugs and security issues. After that we can take a look.'
Yes, you paid for the system.
Yes, it's harsh to suddenly lose support for a formerly working setup.

It's a cruel, cruel world out there.

You seem to have forgotten that with the Sonos One, or a cheap Echo Dot, Sonos doesn’t actually need a hardware controller. Your voice can control most things now, with far more to come.

A dedicated hardware controller, in 2018, especially one with an ancient click wheel, is a very outdated thing. Have a look at Apple. Do you honestly think they will come out with a dedicated hardware controller for the HomePod? :?
...

Actually I think that manual buttons rather than touch screens or voice control is just better. I look at cars from 10 years ago, a dedicated radio display, a dedicated satnav screen, dedicated heater controls and so on. Modern cars have all these combined into one UI that does not allow me to change radio station whilst the satnav is giving directions or allow me to see at a glance what the temperature in the vehicle is. Car manufactures think this is what their customers want, but I am not so sure.

If I want to link or unlink say 15 out of our 23 zones (sorry "rooms") then Echo Dot is just not an act of war compared to a CR100 or CR200.

Voice control is slower than a button or scroll/click wheel - Fact.
Smartphone type apps are slower than a dedicated controller - Fact.

Everything else is just noise, we are being made to accept an inferior slower UI, no ifs, no buts! Now this may well be a sound business decision (time will tell) but that does not mean that what we are getting is the best we could be offered.

I'd support this.

T

Working in tech support myself, my standard response to OP's request would simply be 'Sorry, your system's outdated. Please update in order to get rid of potential bugs and security issues. After that we can take a look.'
Yes, you paid for the system.
Yes, it's harsh to suddenly lose support for a formerly working setup.

It's a cruel, cruel world out there.

Yes, I think you may well be right.

I guess I thought I was buying a whole house audio system back in 2004 rather than a software based product that could be changed against my wishes.

I purchased my first HiFi in 1976 and every component still works even the remotes and later added CD multi-chargers! I replaced this system in 2004/05 with Sonos as it offered a better multi room experience that was easily controlled with the CR100s.

Since then Sonos have added more and more features and options but each one has made the control and easy of use that little bit harder. In 2004 you unpacked the box and plugged the ZonePlayer in and it just worked. Now try that with a 2018 SoundBar, Sub and a pair of Play 1s, you will not find these newer products so easy to just "plug and play". Back in 2004 we never had any dropouts week in week out, now our Sonos system suffers the odd dropout here and there most days. Now this is not a big deal and reflects how much more our Sonos system is doing (5.1 in the living room etc.) compared with 14 years ago. But we never asked for all these new features and given the choice of new features at the expense of losing a great UI (the CR100) we would keep the CR100 and dump; the SoundBar, Sub, Play 5s, Play 3s and Play 1s!!

Whilst adding new products and features is all well and good and perhaps even necessary for Sonos to survive, I dislike that what I purchased has been taken away from me. - It is indeed a cruel, cruel world!!

This is the best argument I have ever seen for why it was a spectacularly bad idea to move away from dedicated controllers and become dependent on the whims of third party hardware and OS vendors in the first place
The outcome of this has become a tail wagging the dog thing with what are essentially remote control devices being the tail; all that is needed for the audio part to still work just as well will still be fully functional while the remote control(UI) demands drives further obsolescence of the relevant hardware. One only hopes that it will be a long time before any units like ZonePlayers/Connect/Connect Amps/Play units suffer this fate.