End of Software Support - Clarifications

Shocking. I have been buying several Sonos products over time, I started with a Connet:Amp (and stupidly gave away a traditional high end amplifier thinking I had bought the product of the future!) It turns out that my Connect:Amp is now going to be obsolete… Is that a joke? Now I own several Sonos products, various Play1s, Play 5, Sub, beam… about 12. I spent on Sonos so much more than any other previous sound system (owned those and have delivered for decades - as one would expect from any decent product… I like to use all my products, old and new, together ie grouped. This news of separating legacy products from newer ones is kick in the teeth.

Sonos, you have now lost my loyalty. I have been your advocate. I converted many friends to Sonos - I will be embarrassed when I see them now…. I will no longer buy anything from Sonos. Your bribe of 30% off on a new product is an insult. I only want my products to work (together) as I was promised when I bought them - whenever that might have been. If your products are obsolete you should take them back and replace them or offer a refund. You will never get a single penny from me. I will start looking for an alternative - many something old fashionably reliable.

I am so angry I could go on. Betrayal. A con. Theft....

Obviously I will not buying any more Sonos products, now I know that modern products might be legacy tomorrow. can anyone suggest an alternative system where I am unlikely to be so shabbily treated?

Hmm.  I was wondering when the other shoe would drop?

I was one of the many affected by the discontinuation of the Dock, which faithfully played music from legacy 30-pin interface iPods, notably in my case the last generation of full iPod.  There hasn’t been a stored file audio player that came close to that device, and the Dock was a brilliant way to access and control the iPod from Sonos software to broadcast music on an installed Sonos system.

Much like this original announcement, Dock users were bluntly told that the Dock would be bricked (well in this instance the “legacy” devices wouldn’t be bricked, they would just fade away and become irrelevant or non-interoperable), would disappear from our systems and that was that.  The impression in the threads that I wrote in at the time from Sonos staff seemed to be indignation that we were still out there using those old, arcane, iPods for music playback and that since Apple had long since abandoned 30-pin connectors, we shouldn’t be using these devices anymore.  We weren’t even offered a discount code or a peace offering.  And one day the Dock was gone.

There was much comment in the community about the Dock being bricked, but were were told the same line, the device had reached the limits of its ability to be supported, at least in terms of software support, and that it was being written off entirely.  However, there were far fewer Dock users, so there was no CEO response and no “promise” of some kind of middle ground, even if it wasn’t ideal.  We were bluntly told that it would continue to operate as a charger for any iPod in the dock.  One Sonos staffer managing the boards even told users that we could just run an aux cable from the headphone jack to the back of the Play:5 and use it that way.  Of course, that completely defeats the point of having Sonos control over the iPod and being able to manage in from anywhere in your home.  But I digress.

I'm not so ignorant to not acknowledge that hardware eventually becomes overwhelmed with software progress.  I’m writing this on a 10 year old iMac, and frankly, it is starting to show its age.  On the other hand, Apple hasn’t reached out and bricked it, nor have they come out and openly told me that your device is going to be so severely marginalized that it might as well be bricked.

Unlike a personal computer, where most folks think getting 5 years out of a device is pretty darn good, audiophile speaker equipment is considered something that is good enough that it could, potentially, be passed along to new generations.  Sonos has to determine how they future-proof their devices to be just as long lasting as those Bose 901s that somebody purchased 30 or more years ago and keep passing down from generation to generation.  What is Sonos’s approach to keep “legacy” hardware going.  Is it going to be tighter software development, middle-ware that operates from the Sonos controller software?  How about using the Boost as a mediator that manages old and new devices?

However Sonos tries to resolve this issue; however they try to find a way forward, the viewpoint that high end speaker setups are anywhere close to disposable is a non-starter with Sonos purchasers.  Most of us have purchased Sonos instead of well known or proven audio brands because we wanted quality sound reproduction in addition to wireless, whole home audio, and nearly brainless setup.  We all paid a premium for quality audio hardware with attention to detail in terms of software and deployment, and that is an unwritten contract which basically binds Sonos to their legacy hardware for a much longer time period than 20 years; arguably closer to 50 years.

Good luck Sonos team.  I certainly hope that you determine a “way forward” which looks a lot more like the lifespan of a good set of Bose 901s than the lifespan of a bluetooth speaker you picked up at a comicon.

My first Amazon review went live this morning…

Too late. I think it`s an unbelievable behavior.

I will now sell my 18 Sonos products including my “4 OLD Play 5” via ebay-kleineanzeigen.de even if I will get really little money after the announcement - thank you Sonos. You definitely los a customer for ever. 

I already ordered a completely new system from Teufel/Raumfeld.

I have been a loyal customer nearly from the first day. Initially the reason to choose Sonos was that it simply worked perfectly “out of the box”. As time went by the problems came. From year to year the app became worse and I experience increasing connections problems.

Sonos threw away the market leader position and with the last announcement kicked the cusomers in the ass.

Frank  

I’ve been a customer of Sonos products for 15 years but I find this announcement outrageous. I  only bought a Play 5 4 years ago (2017 in fact, so how does that sit with the 5 year promise even?), so that was a waste of £500. 

As others have posted, if they are doing this now, why would you buy new products at significant cost with this hanging over you?

I’m going to sell all of my players to avoid this risk and switch.  I have also updated my Amazon reviews from 5* to 1* to reflect this decision by Sonos. 

Sonos had my loyalty.  They don’t anymore.

I’ve hesitated for a week before posting, just to let the red mist pass, I’ve reflected on the reassurances given by Patrick Spence, reviewed the wording, the detail of the offer and with a calm considered train of thought, I can say that I don’t think a company has ever broken my trust, disappointed me, or angered me to such an extent with a single action ever before.

I’d almost describe it as feeling broken hearted, jilted by a brand I trusted, admired and was on the brink of investing in further.  Over the years I’ve recommended Sonos to countless friends, helped family setup their speakers and proudly extolled the quality and capability of the product (despite the App consistently being flakey).  I dread the moment a family member calls to me to tell me they’ve got the obsolescence email.

When I first read the the announcement, frankly, it read like a “f*ck you, consumer” and feels pretty much the same several days later.

• So no, Sonos, I will not be taking you up on your 30% “offer”.  It’s offensive on environmental, financial and common sense grounds
• I will no longer recommend you to friends or family and instead share with them my utter dismay and disappointment
• I certainly will not be investing in any more speakers

And when you cease to support my £000’s of perfectly working hardware and through software incompatibility force them into needless obsolescence, I will not replace them with another Sonos.  That you anticipated I might do, was an incredible act of arrogance.

You have broken the trust and confidence and make me plan a non-Sonos household.  I hope you find a way to repair the damage, but you’ve really given yourselves a challenge.

@Ryan S, or anyone at Sonos reading this: regarding the blog post “A letter from our CEO”, it appears something has been lost in translation:

Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.

Unless this was worded exceptionally badly, it implies two separate zones for old and new.

A solution that doesn’t allow old Sonos products to work with new is not a solution. I’ve explained this in detail already alongside other problems that your CEO hasn’t attempted to address. In the hope that a simpler message is more likely to be understood, let me say it plainly:

I will not buy new Sonos products that don’t work with my old Sonos products as one multi-room system.

From what i have read, he was in charge when Blackberry got “legacied”…

How a guy that ran a succesful phone manufacturer into the ground is put in charge of any company that wants to survive is beyond me.

Shocking. I have been buying several Sonos products over time, I started with a Connet:Amp (and stupidly gave away a traditional high end amplifier thinking I had bought the product of the future!) It turns out that my Connect:Amp is now going to be obsolete… Is that a joke? Now I own several Sonos products, various Play1s, Play 5, Sub, beam… about 12. I spent on Sonos so much more than any other previous sound system (owned those and have delivered for decades - as one would expect from any decent product… I like to use all my products, old and new, together ie grouped. This news of separating legacy products from newer ones is kick in the teeth.

Sonos, you have now lost my loyalty. I have been your advocate. I converted many friends to Sonos - I will be embarrassed when I see them now…. I will no longer buy anything from Sonos. Your bribe of 30% off on a new product is an insult. I only want my products to work (together) as I was promised when I bought them - whenever that might have been. If your products are obsolete you should take them back and replace them or offer a refund. You will never get a single penny from me. I will start looking for an alternative - many something old fashionably reliable.

I am so angry I could go on. Betrayal. A con. Theft....