I gave up when I reached “At its inception the Sonos home audio experience required a proprietary device called a Bridge ($100_USD)” which is completely wrong so who knows what else is.  Bridge was never a requirement and wasn't available at inception.

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Audio is held to a different standard. Other home electronics, thermostats, lighting, drapes, etc., are allowed to require some sort of “hub” device that integrates control and communication. Audio devices, particularly SONOS, are expected to directly interact without requiring a “hub”.

I don’t know when you purchased your products such as “home electronics, thermostats, lighting, drapes, etc.,” as requirements do change overtime. The only devices I own that require a “hub” (meaning a separate coordinating device) are smart lights/plugs (mine are Philips Hue).  My thermostats, drapes, appliances and cameras (*) all function without a hub. In fact I can control my Mom’s thermostat via an app and she lives 800 miles from me. 😊

 * Each of my Arlo cameras will function individually if I want to set them up as such. I use a “hub” only to view them under a single app and store recorded motions.

The original sonos devices did use sonosnet for wireless communication. Did not require a bridge (which didn’t exist) and didn’t even need an internet connection.

Wasn't the Bridge offered so you didn't need Ethernet to one of your Sonos? Can't remember that far back.

I miss the "no Internet" option even though my current ISP's reliability is much better than the last.

No reason at all to even mention Bridge or Boost, you just needed to wire in any component.  They were added years later if it wasn't convenient to wire a component.

So that the post is not tainted by comments regarding a Bridge and/or Boost I have removed all reference to the same. It appears everyone is overly concerned about those devices as to their use and when they were or were not required. Which quite frankly IMO is minutiae in terms of the true purpose of the post. I hope others can read the post and gleam valuable information/knowledge (without distraction) that they may find useful.

I couldn’t care less about how other companies handle their support cycles—I didn’t buy their products. 

Sonos knowingly crippled every owner’s system (except OP if we are to believe it) by pushing out an unfinished app and firmware, then failed to fully restore the missing features even after 17 months. This wasn’t a misstep, it was a betrayal of their users.  
 

I don’t think anyone was “overly concerned about those devices as to their use and when they were or were not required”. I think the concern was, at least my concern was, your retelling of sonos history was inaccurate/incorrect. Thanks for fixing it.

I think this has a lot to do with the speed and bandwidth requirements of the communication, as well as power requirements of the smart devices. Thermostats, lighting, drapes are relatively simple with only a small set of commands, nor do they really need to communicate directly with other smart devices.  Thermostats may be the main exception, if if there are satellite sensors involved, but I would argue that thermostat itself is it’s own hub.  Many of these devices are battery operated, and therefore need to conserve power with low energy communication protocols.

Sonos, or any wireless audio system, with a hub sounds like a really bad idea.

Maybe it's time to close this thread as I've only posted to correct misinformation yet have had an unsolicited PM from the OP abusing me.