End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

It’s ironic that older whole-home systems (like my parent’s home that have been working perfectly since the 80s and only upgraded if/when/what component they wanted) are still going strong and are in no harm whatsoever. 

Here I am with a system I thought was far more superior and now I wish I had just spent that money wiring mine the conventional way like theirs. 
 

I hope Sonos gets hit with a lawsuit, I’m already brainstorming ideas on alternatives.  
 

I’m hoping other companies cash in on Sonos’ decision to kill their own brand.   
 

I am LIVID.  I too have personally spent over $3,000 worth of Sonos equipment and have been your company’s Pied Piper making fanatics out of friends, family, and random shoppers I have proselytized to in the stores were Sonos products are sold.  I’ve given Sonos speakers as Christmas gifts and purchased them for church raffles and company party door prizes.  The best your company can do is offer 30% off of a $700 amplifier??  TOOLFOOL is correct, YOU GUYS SUCK.  I’m DONE being a SONOS SUCKER!!

I've got 13 speakers in two different accounts. I've given them to as Christmas presents.

Looking at this I'm sorry to say:"No more Sonos for me" 

Am I from a different planet for feeling taken hostage by a company that wants to sell its new products to users after a few years?

i am outraged about the email I received, telling me that four component, some not that old, will stop receiving updates after May. 
i have been promoting SONOS to friends for years. This email triggers a 180 degree in my position. 
I now regret owning the system. 

Appalling. I understand that products eventually become old, obsolete, discontinued, too costly to support. However you are taking all new devices as hostage by not updating them unless the legacy devices are ringfenced in a separate network. 

Moreover, you will still be supporting the Play3? It’s older than the Play5 Gen 1 you are scrapping. Doesn’t add up. 

This is creating e-waste on an unprecedented, industrial scale. Not sure I want to continue with such an irresponsible company. 

Never mind all the money I just lost. I still have a few older Connect AMP, Play 5 from 2015. Five years later you virtually make them useless.

So let’s say I go for the 30% Trade Up discount. What guarantee do I have you in 2025 won’t be telling me it’s time to replace again.

I have around 20 SONOS devices in my two houses. Such a bad investment. I sincerely regret it.

From the Verge:

“But this is the first time that software support is ending, so some Sonos systems will get stuck on whatever software they’re running in May — unless customers quarantine the older gadgets into a secondary network. This software flow is still being developed, and Sonos doesn’t even mention that the option is coming on its FAQ page.”

not all doom and gloom it seems.

I invested in sonos as my whole home system… now you obsolete it piece by piece like a disposable product… FU.   I’ll put a $79 echo or $29 dot in every room next time.   5 zones going down in flames.

Summarizing 3 main points here about the recent Sonos EOL announcement.

1. End of life dates need to be announced in advance of folks investing in a product. If you buy a chromebook now you know the date it will stop receiving updates and potentially not be compatible with partner software. It’s obviously not ethical or OK to tell someone who may just have bought an AMP yesterday that their product may not function correctly and is worth less. We aren’t dealing with an OS here where people are aware that their products come in versions and can break at the software level. It’s egregious enough that legality and class actions are likely in play.
    
2. The narrative is that people have a choice and we’re hearing things like... “If I choose to trade in” or if “I go with keeping my old system”. This should be rejected. Yes, you have the choice to eat your sandwich and buy something new, whatever that may be. Or, you can not accept that a solvent company is making a business decision to bait n switch you. 

1. Regardless of the worst case scenarios, I think posts like this are  almost unnecessary. Failing to do the minimum to make the basic functions work would be brand suicide. Even a tiny percentage of us who are unable to use our devices would be a turd in the olympic swimming pool. Yes, another reference to the turd this is. Even Microsoft has pushed back their PRE-announced EOL. I’m sure the new SONOS investor group looked at this on paper and it made sense. The software engineers made sense as well. In the real world it will be too expensive. They have to be about to walk this back in the form of clarifying that old devices can not be bricked.

From the FAQ page:

How long until existing functionality or features are impacted?

We don’t expect any immediate impact from ending software updates. 

As changes are made to technology in the future, particularly by music service and voice partners, access to certain services or features may be disrupted. An example would be a music service partner issuing a new update that isn’t backwards compatible with legacy software.

My legacy system will NOT be traded up as Sonos recommends.  Me and my system will gladly lose the music service provider(s) than isn’t backwards compatible with legacy software.  Just don’t brick my perfectly functioning speakers with future updates in May.

Early adopter and evangelist too here, long-time supporter and have showed off the Sonos system countless times. I have a house full of Sonos stuff which is now forced into obsolescence and, thanks to their bricking patches, has no resale value. 

This is outrageous.