Having been a victim of the Squeezebox eco-system that is now defunct I wade into the SONOS water with trepidation. Actually truth be told I've dove in head first owning a dozen or more SONOS products. My concern with yet another wireless speaker and further market fragmentation from the likes of Apple that SONOS could go the way of the Squeezebox. Worse case if this happens and the SONOS servers are gone that connect us to all these 3rd part music streaming services how useful will these wireless speakers be that have no speaker terminals? Can we still play or locally stored music from our iTunes library? When the operating systems change and there is no SONOS to update the apps and PC programs what then. I'd like to hear an official statement from SONOS of their plan B for those of us that have invested thousands of dollars in their gear. Hate to be a doom and gloomer but this has happened to be once already.



David

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Squeezebox survivor here as well.



First, Sonos is going strong right now and continues to expand. They should be around for the foreseeable future. Squeezebox was a single product line for a large company that really had no focus on the Squeezebox line (so completely different story). I think the Squeezebox demise came about from lack of support by Logitech and then it actually being too open source. As in too open source - the server was often flakey caused by trying to give everybody everything. And with the addition of the free software version there was no longer a reason to keep buying the hardware. They put themselves out of business with the enthusiasts (and not to mention the duet being the most unreliable piece of hardware I have practically ever owned).



So we have a different story with Sonos - but the concern is still valid. Especially in past as everything had to go through Sonos servers.



Now we are starting to see things like Spotify Connect, Airplay 2 support - stuff that eventually if Sonos were to go under could be supported long after Sonos is gone.



Maybe worst case scenario if they ever stopped selling the hardware to support their developments - they would have to go to some type of subscription service to maintain the software/servers.



Right now - Sonos has about the best track record in my house as far as keeping their products from becoming obsolete (its still hard to believe their first players are still fully supported).

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There is about 0% chance of Sonos giving you an official Plan B if they were to go out of business.

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Squeezebox survivor here as well.



First, Sonos is going strong right now and continues to expand. They should be around for the foreseeable future. Squeezebox was a single product line for a large company that really had no focus on the Squeezebox line (so completely different story). I think the Squeezebox demise came about from lack of support by Logitech and then it actually being too open source. As in too open source - the server was often flakey caused by trying to give everybody everything. And with the addition of the free software version there was no longer a reason to keep buying the hardware. They put themselves out of business with the enthusiasts (and not to mention the duet being the most unreliable piece of hardware I have practically ever owned).



So we have a different story with Sonos - but the concern is still valid. Especially in past as everything had to go through Sonos servers.



Now we are starting to see things like Spotify Connect, Airplay 2 support - stuff that eventually if Sonos were to go under could be supported long after Sonos is gone.



Maybe worst case scenario if they ever stopped selling the hardware to support their developments - they would have to go to some type of subscription service to maintain the software/servers.



Right now - Sonos has about the best track record in my house as far as keeping their products from becoming obsolete (its still hard to believe their first players are still fully supported).



Thanks for your thoughtful reply and yes SONOS is different than the Squeezebox but the flashback still looms in the back of my mind. Perhaps your thought of a subscription service or ability to buy software updates to support the programmers despite there being no more hardware being sold would address this concern. As an Apple fan I completely get the tighter control of hardware and software and is part of the reason for SONOS's success.



Every opportunity I get I promote their products to friends so they remain in business and stay profitable.



The official from SONOS as far as a plan B is a pipe dream I realize but it would be nice to hear something nice a fluffy from them to make me feel good.:8

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