End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

Shame on Sonos !!

If Sonos dont leave this policy they will be in big trouble as company.  This leaves many users pissed.

I have been using Sonos for many years and I will definitely not invest more but look for other concepts if they dont change.

What Sonos should do is to support most legacy products but have a matrix of which features valid for each product = new feature may not be supported but all existing that works well.

That’s the key difference - it’s about the scale and expense of say a whole-house system that cost so far perhaps $5-10K that we were ENCOURAGED to build over time, into the fundamental infrastructure of our homes, because of “how easy it is to add more units to the network.”   That’s a far cry from a portable phone device which didn’t cost anywhere near as much or rely on any other phones to work, and is expected to need replacement over time.  Did SONOS EVER suggest in their prior sales/marketing material to expect something like this to happen?  “Build your network, but keep swapping out perfectly good amps and speakers to keep up with our software...”  Hell no, or I never would have bought into this ecosystem in the first place.

SONOS,

I cannot believe your misguided attempt at extorting additional sales from your loyal customer base through the elimination of support for what you label as legacy products. In my case, the Play 5 is affected which was purchased at a considerable cost.  I already fell for this tactic recently with the replacement of my Bridge (with Boost) which I thought or was led to believe would be the extent of the replacement need (at a reasonable cost). Had I known from the outset that I will basically need to throw away (you call it recycle, how very fake responsible of you) more system components after a relatively short lifespan, I would have NEVER bought your product in the first place, nor continued to build out a system now in the thousands of dollars. This was a total lack of transparency on your part, and dishonest/deceptive at best. I suppose I can now expect the remaining  product in my home to successively expire. A 30% upgrade discount is insulting. It’s not an upgrade when you force it on someone. Using an analogy, just imagine you’ve been upgraded on an airline flight and then being told that you have to pay for it at a fictitious discount or you can’t board the flight at all. Plus, threatening to block further updates of non-expiring product if you don’t spend even more $ with you is just plain extortion.

Up until now I have been a loyal fan and have recommended your product at the highest level and this is how you treat me?  You have foolishly squandered your fan and customer base and goodwill.  Do you really think that your customer base will accept this and stay with you? This does not match what is expected of a premium system and obviously anticipated owner experience. Complete BS.

Surely you can and need to do better.

What will you do for me?  I imagine nothing.  Nice job guys!

Mike Kunz
Laguna Beach, CA

App solution needed.

Sonos, a call for you to find a solution to the legacy generation 1 announcement that doesn't cause the mass carbon footprint waste of perfectly good products, and also cause a large proportion of your customer base to simply abandon your products forever.

I am no technical expert but a solution here seems perfectly logical and feasible. You want to develop new software and take new products forward, but at the same time say gen1 products wont cope with those updates. 

You need a strategy of App deployment and retention aligned to generation of products.

If at 30th April 2020 the current version of your App was cast in stone but made available for constant download for gen1 products, meaning I could still use, connect and enjoy my sound system, this would be a reasonable compromise. I'd accept, as in any environment that if I didnt have the latest kit, I might not be able to enjoy the latest features, but I would not expect to lose everything I had enjoyed simply because there was no way to preserve it.

You need a clear differential on Gen1 and Gen2 onwards etc software from May 2020 onwards that customers can make an informed decision on.

Would it be so hard to keep both old and new software apps on the Play and iStore for example?

Also, can we not have a selection in the App to force its hand and prevent it trying to bring updates down for the speakers? We just need to preserve what we have within an App that functions with it.

Please all support this post plus others on the community board to help find a pragmatic solution. 

Thank you

Daily Mail article on the subject. Paper has huge global readership. I suggest you share feelings in the comments

Sonos will end support for older speakers in May and says products will continue to work in the near-term

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7912465/Sonos-end-support-older-speakers-says-products-continue-work-near-term.html?login

Are you for real Sonos?

Loyal customer for 12 years - and with 11 products.

Now you say you will no long support me.

I fully understand that old hardware is dated and insufficient for new updates and features - that is fair and fine. But what is not fair and fine is that you render our complete systems outdated. You ask us to upgrade our full system (or parts thereof) so you can save some dollars on testing. Not good enough.

And then to add insult to injury - you offer a laughable 30% discount - at which rate you still make quite a decent gross margin (and by they way the landing page for the “offer” still does not work - very unprofessional). So you would like to save dollars on development, AND make additional revenue and margin on all you loyal customers when they have to upgrade their systems. Really?

What you seem to fail to realise (as others have posted as well) is that you offer (and we buy) a system. We expect it to work as a system - not only for a couple of years - but for a rather long time.

Was about to expand the system to a couple of other rooms - but will hold back on this for now. There are plenty of other solutions out there now. And whether I “upgrade” my exisitng Sonon - or switch it is the same thing for me. And it seems that Sonos do not care for their customers - so why would I care for Sonos?

AND then there is the small thing call ENVIRONMENT. You “ask” us to ditch perfectly well working hardware with all the electronics and plastics and throw it in the dump - just to replace it with new hardware where we use the same features. Is this your way of addressing the environmental issues we all phase? Which century are you living in?

Just had a look on the Sonos website… I couldn't be bothered reading further after I saw the proclamation of TRUST, ACCOUNTABILITY and COLLABORATION. they all are sub headings under the page heading RESPONSIBILITY. If you want to find the page, click on the link called SUSTAINABILITY under their main menu…..  

Who thinks any of their blurb is sincere?

Does any of it have substance… ?

 

 

I think you have misunderstood the page. They are referring to their shareholders. 

They have a responsibility ….. “For Their Shareholders”

Forward thinking to make sure they make more money ….. “For Their Shareholders”

They will make decisions that will have a positive effect…. “For Their Shareholders”

Exceed Goals… “For Their Shareholders”

Build Stakeholder Confidence ….. “For Their Shareholders”

Be transparent… “For Their Shareholders”

Their customers on other hand can go and whistle, they’re just the muppets providing the funding… “For Their Shareholders”

On a Positive note, I am now looking at new ways to provide music to the house hold now that 2/3 of my system is being kicked into touch. We use streaming services so, “Freezing current software” is a death sentence given they seem to constantly change, update and add new features to their streaming services.

I think I’ll be basing a system around Airplay 2 or Roon. I don’t want to place all my eggs in one basket again. Especially, like most people, you buy a lot of the hardware in one go to get started so when they ditch their customers paid for hardware, you can lose a lot in one go rather than one piece here and there.

Certainly glad I held off till the new year for the Beam, Sub and surrounds. I’ll be looking at alternatives for the living room system now.

EDIT… Oh, and Sonos, 30% is literally taking the P***. That level of discount I can happily throw away rather than taking the risk of you doing this to me again… which you will and now everyone knows it. You’ve successfully killed off ALL TRUST in your company.

I bet the shareholders will be super happy when the share price takes a dive.

I just can’t imagine this could possibly sell more units, I’m certainly not buying more now and every friend I’ve spoken to that was considering it now won’t touch them with a 50ft pole.

Speakers aren’t mobile phones, nobody wants to buy them on a subscription for thousands of dollars.