SONOS LOST LEGACY CUSTOMERS LIKE ME

It’s absurd to think any company is going to keep manufacturing devices that are compatible with 20+ year old designs.  Nobody does that.  Does your iPhone still run iOS 1.0?  Does your printer still support a parallel port?  Do computers still come with PCMCIA slots?  All of these were standard well after Sonos’ first products were designed. 

the speakers are in walls-- do your light switches become obsolete in your home when they get old?  No you can buy the same thing-   Does your faucet become obsolete?  How about your lamps?     So your logic is replace everything even if it still works?  hmmm

It’s tough for users and manufacturers to maintain functionality across multi generation hardware and applications. I had to recycle a perfectly functional cellphone because the towers stopped supporting it. I also had to replace a computer because it was too slow for practical use. Web pages that might struggle loading for most of a minute would “blink” on the new computer.

Of course, as a user I’m annoyed about the expense and environmental impact of being forced to abandon functional hardware. Manufacturers also have an issue with “free support forever”. Eventually this becomes a significant burden while supporting a diminishing percentage of their user base. 

In the case of SONOS, they are still supporting players manufactured in 2005. This is highly unusual. But, SONOS must evolve. The original hardware does not have enough memory and functionality to run features that new users expect from modern equipment. SONOS must continually attract new users in order to provide “free support forever”. This implies evolving the underlying software. There is also a problem hiring software engineers to maintain older systems. Newly trained software engineers are unfamiliar with and don’t want to mess with obsolete, but still functional platforms. Government is facing issues with older, poorly documented, massive systems as programmers retire.

With respect to SONOS, I expect that they will continue to provide minimal older equipment support for the immediate future. I don’t know exactly what the “immediate future” is, but it will never be long enough because we tend to think of audio equipment as “buy once, use forever”. 

It is odd that all the devices listed as evidence why are not computers, whereas each Sonos is, with a CPU, RAM, and a network interface.

Small computers, certainly, but each device is controlled by firmware/software.

Which isn’t the case for light switches (old style, at least), faucets, or lamps (again, old style). 

You can’t be comparing basic plumbing or electrical components with a computer driven smart speaker, are you?  If you are, I suggest that level of obtuseness is purely manufactured and I’ll not carry on with the conversation. 

Also, you stated “the speakers are in walls”, yet in your first post you claim to have “15  Pay 5’s,    8 Play 3’s,   several sub woofers - 2 soundbars.  several connects, sonos play 1s”, none of which are speakers/streamers designed to power in-wall speakers. 

Something isn’t adding up . . . ​​

i still use my Tandberg 3000, 3001, 3002  and Lynn turntable and Chapman speakers--  yes there  are speakers in the walls connected to the connect as well 

What is the latest firmware update for the Tandbergs? What file formats and music services do they support?

I would assume you’re talking about speakers connected to a Connect:Amp?  A connect doesn’t have the ability to power passive speakers you typically place in walls/ceilings.  Regardless, those speakers would not be Sonos speakers and can be used with any amp, Sonos or otherwise.  Whether you stick with Sonos or not, I would not look to change those out unless you want to upgrade those speakers.

My old system works great--  I never had the negative experience users have had when they migrated t o the newer controller…..

My point is that although I love my SONOS system - I am locked in with what I own- because nothing they make works with legacy speakers anymore-- 

You can run a split system for Gen1 Play 5’s and other products that can downgraded to S1 (if that is your choice). You would then have the option to setup a separate system for Sonos S1/S2 products and those that are only compatible with the new App.

As others have said or eluded to electronic equipment have  life spans. To be honest there are two:

1. Product failure

2. Obsolescence

Sometimes the two coincide and at others one occurs before the other. Sonos on the other hand does still support older working gear via troubleshooting and working/non-working older gear via discounts toward newer gear. The discounts do have conditions that must be met:

The gear is registered to your account:

1. You are the original owner or

2. You purchased the equipment used but the previous owner did not claim the discount