End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

I’m still processing the notion that  basically my entire 7 zone system is obsolete.

I’ve had SONOS since it was born, I’ve been a promoter of it to anyone who would listen… but I’m actively reconsidering that position/outlook.

My questions:

1. The way the announcement was worded, I’m expecting that at some point in time my system loses CURRENT working functionality - which means it’s useless to me. Is that true?
2. I’m fine just freezing my system at whatever SW version will continue to work on my hardware. How do I do that right now?  I can do without whatever SONOS is developing going forward.

If I’m going to start losing functionality across my whole system, and my option is to replace everything, I’d very actively consider dumping Sonos entirely and using another smart speaker system - if only because Sonos has chosen a path of forced obsolescence.

Dennis

I’ve been on this forum on and off for years, have often played devil’s advocate, and normally I’ve found myself siding with Sonos in many cases;  but in the past two years that position has softened, and today (upon receipt of this same email notification) finally crumbled. 
In the case of the :Connect (my :Bridge notwithstanding), were the Sonos Port replacement model an actual upgrade in terms of hardware (beyond an improved DAC which should be expected in a refresh no matter what), offering additional connection options and more versatility (something I’ve hoped for and looked toward for several years) it would be one thing. But in fact it instead offers very little if any hardware improvement beyond size and color, and removes physical connectivity options, namely the optical port. It is black. It is smaller and rack-mountable. It has 12v triggering. In short it is a different product specifically useful to installers, and adds software connectivity additional that I do not require or have use for.
For my part, since the replacement offers me literally nothing in added value, but only adds additional cost for identical functionality I already have, I will (like others in this thread), for the very first time in roughly 7 years, be exploring other alternatives to replace Sonos. My system will remain as it is. There is no viable reason for me as a consumer to invest more into the Sonos ecosystem if that ecosystem is turning out to be (for most intents and purposes) just another subscription-based model, and a very costly one at that.
My system works and I’ll leave it as such - I do wish the more current offerings had more to offer me, but my life will not end and my music will not stop. I am not “enraged” as some seem to be, but I am quite disappointed and very frankly, cannot be the Sonos advocate I once was.

Ryan’s reply seems disingenuous.  The announcement said that after May your system won’t get ANY updates.  Don’t blame that on Apple or Spotify.  Even if they don’t change anything, SONOS will apparently not update your system.  No bug fixes, no changes needed for new SONOS products, etc.  My system logs way more updates than the few that reflect service changes. 

Eventually, a music service may make changes that are incomaptible with old software.  Thus, functionality will gradually decrease in regards to streaming services.  Local library streaming will be fine.

I’m sure Sonos will have instructions/procedures for locking out updates before the big day comes.  

This is totally unacceptable.  I purchased a Play 5 in the summer of 2015.  I added a connect in the fall of 2017.   I added a Play 1 last winter.  None are even 5 years old yet and now you are telling me that Sonos is abandoning  my products!  WTF!  If these were $49 bluetooth speakers it might be ok, but this is not ok.

I see my original reply was deleted maybe the language Used was a touch strong, never will Sonos see another penny from me after this debacle.

to give a comparison to another company, I had an original B&W zeppelin with the old dock connector once i realised we no longer had a device that would work on it I emailed to ask if they sold a converter or if I could pay to have a new lightening connector fitted. I received a lovely email back offering me the latest version at a whopping 75% discount and I could keep the original and use it with aux in.

Patrick Spence, who took over as Sonos CEO three years ago, has made it a mission to hasten the company’s product release cycle. And as the cycle has become slightly compressed, Sonos has also partnered with other technology companies (like Amazon and Google) who work within their own faster release cycles, and have the ability to dictate when or how certain software features work, or potentially, stop working. 

Written by  Lauren Goode  who is a senior writer at WIRED she covers products, apps, services, and consumer tech issues and trends. 

I read that if you have legacy products connected you will not be able to update your system until you disconnect them.  Once disconnected they will no longer work.

We need to Ban together as consumers and make a report to the

Consumer Protection Agency.

That's nice, thanks sonos. You just ***** over your most loyal customers in a market where Sonos is no longer the obvious choice. I will never buy another sonos product again. RIP Sonos..

One important aspect of Sonos speakers is they do not work without a controller with an internet connection. So when the controller stops working, which it inevitably will without regular software updates, your expensive Sonos speakers will become useless bricks.

If you happen to have a line-in, you may be able to continue using them like it’s 1999. But many Sonos speakers do not have a line in: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/1080?language=en_US

What that means is when (not if) Sonos stops updating your Play:1, Play:3 and gen 3 Play:5 speakers, they will simply stop working soon thereafter and you will have to throw them away.

This is like when the swedish football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic raised a statue of himself in his childhood neighborhood in Malmö, right outside the arena of Malmös football club. A half year later, he bought a huge part in a rival football club in Stockholm. Now, the statue has been vandalized, removed and Zlatan went from a Malmö-ambassador to a traitor whom isn´t welcome back anytime soon.

I thought it was a schoolbook example in how you become impopular, seems like Sonos has taken over the first place now...