End of Software Support - Clarifications

I suspect that’s because it was in the financial statements. We’ve seen some individual investors getting out but perhaps the more corporate investors believe this is part of some great masterplan and Sonos is going to make loads of money now that it’s free of the dead weight of its older products.

I suspect they’re wrong. Unless Sonos have got something pretty impressive in store (which is hard to believe for a company whose software has evolved at a glacier pace for the last decade) the average consumer is not going to go for them when Amazon and Google have cheaper, more featureful and more rapidly evolving offerings.

So Sonos still haven’t had the courtesy to send me the email about this change, but fortunately it’s been well publicised elsewhere.

Logging into my account now shows that I have a mix of “legacy” Connect, Connect:Amp and Play 5 Gen 1s as well as many non-“legacy” components.

I understand that 15 year old designs cannot support the newest features, but it’s impossible to believe that they could not allow older devices to at least remain in the same network as newer devices just as “dumb” players of streams from the newer devices.  I can only surmise that the changes are due to either incompetence or deliberate handicapping of older products.

Either way, instead of purchasing more Sonos products and continuing to encourage others to do so, I will be drawing a line under being a Sonos customer.  More open standards which do the same as their original synchronisation USP now exist and, I think this demonstrates, are the future (whether Airplay or the WiFi equivalent standard).

Please please please just roll me back to version 9.X or something similar where I had lock screen controls and could play from my iphone. It’s all I wanted and all I need. Your “new features” are actually a reduction in features for me. If I could have 9.x with updates for security I would be happy and continue to happily buy. It is a travesty if these perfectly functioning speakers go to landfill because of your greed and selfishness. Or, open source the software for the “legacy” stuff because you aren’t going to make any money out of people upgrading….. just look at all the comments here. 

And to those like sambeny asking why people are getting upset and taking action…. please. History shows us that taking action CAN have an impact, but if you passively accept this stuff it will only continue. We HAVE to fight this

I have money to spend either to upgrade, which I will be forced to do in the future WHEN my legacy hardware stops working with the modern hardware or stops working altogether, so, do you really think I will drop another wheelbarrow full of money into SCAMOS’ lap, or move on to better technology that MIGHT last longer than SCAMOS did. Why beat a DEAD horse.

Yamaha’s MusicCast seems to be a viable alternative as I plan on moving on from SONOS.  The big advantage is that it has bluetooth built in, so streaming anything is possible to the Yamaha’s even if they decide to stop supporting their “legacy” products.

This website explains how to simply create a whole house audio network out of just bluetooth products and control them all.

While I also like BlueSound, they are pricey.  Yamaha’s RX-485 (a five channel 115 watt amplifier AVR), which has multiple inputs for sources, a stand alone remote should they stop supporting the app, can actually get OTA radio, and is network ready, can be had on Best Buys eBay website for $280 (free shipping).  Considering the SONOS AMP is $455 (yes, that’s AFTER the 30% discount), the Yamaha is looking like an amazing deal.  

Here’s a link to see what the MusicCast app looks like.

Any BlueSound advocates that would like to let me know its advantages over MusicCast, please chime in.  I’m making the switch in a week because I just put my $6,700 worth of SONOS equipment on eBay.

You’re preaching to the choir. I know that. Most of the people who’ve posted on the now 128 pages of complaints on this forum know that. 

The party claiming that old products cannot be patched, at the same feature set and level of capability, to keep them working is Sonos. I literally quoted the statement from the Sonos representative on this forum, and I’ll quote it again:

Sonos will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes, but our efforts will ultimately be limited by the lack of memory and processing power of these legacy products.

Note that that sentence is not on the subject of new features, it’s specifically about the ability to maintain the ‘experience’ that we have now.

Sonos has a serious problem. The “LEGACY” product announcement is just a symptom.

For almost 15 years, really since the dawn of consumer digital music, Sonos has sold and supported a fantastic platform that did something no one else did nearly as well -audiophile quality home music from multiple sources. Sonos was the only truly open, audiophile-quality digital music platform. The hardware + software bundle was in another league from competitors - and so were the prices (generally 100% higher than next best alternatives). Alot has changed since I bought my first Cr100 controller.

Sonos needs to make money. The market won’t support their premium pricing anymore for hardware sales. People <40 aren’t in the habit of paying cash for electronics. And Sonos really hasn’t ever tapped into monthly subscription revenue. To survive and continue to invest in R&D, Sonos needs to change. Unfortunately the move they took yesterday was the wrong kind of change.

Early and on-going Sonos owners paid a large premium for Sonos hardware they expected to be supported significantly longer than 5 yrs. Regardless of the TOS weasel words, history led them to expect more from Sonos.

I propose Sonos change tack:

Step 1  - revoke the May “LEGACY” deadline. Admit it was a mistake. Make the case that Sonos needs to grow to continue supporting its customers. Remind people there’s no support from a bankrupt company or one that’s absorbed by a FAANG monopolist

Step 2 - re-work the BUSINESS MODEL. Selling high end hardware through limited retail distribution channels isn’t working. Explore options for providing the Sonos experience to (esp younger) consumers as a service rather than a hardware purchase. Partner with a couple mobile phone companies. Let Cell phone networks buy the Sonos hardware and bill consumers monthly. Be creative. Offer entry level hardware (Move + Play 1) as a premium subscription through Spotify, etc.

Step 3 - Provide the Sonos brand evangelists who are your Customers with options:

1. Trade-in Legacy hardware for New Hardware at no upfront cost. Give them ~3yrs of free use. Then charge them a monthly subscription fee equal to #2 above
2. Trade-in Legacy Hardware for $ credit that allows you to trade-in 3 connect:amps for 1 New Port device. Seek to gain trial of the new devices from your loyal legacy customers rather than extracting new revenue. Limit to one new trial device
3. Keep your legacy device but pay monthly software support subscription <$12. If you’ve paid support for 12 months and the device can no longer support Sonos features, be offered upgraded hardware via subscription

The objective is to communicate exciting new options for your loyal Customers, not present them with an ultimatum to PAY or ELSE you’ll be bricked (what current announcement feels like). Most importantly, communicate that Sonos is working hard to solve a real, existential business problem and doing its best to be true to its values and Customers.

Sonos needs to act fast or there won’t be a business left to save.

In my view, Sonos are making a huge mistake here. There are many people, me included, who have invested a good deal of money in products that we believed would give excellent service for years. That is now obviously not the case. I for one am not going to go down the route of taking up the 30% offer to upgrade parts of my Sonos system. That is just setting things up nicely for Sonos to do exactly the same thing in a few years time with other parts of their system. I would rather get rid of my Sonos products and invest elsewhere.

SHAME ON YOU SONOS. YOU ARE A DISGRACE!!

Long standing Sonos owner spread across four homes:

• P5 (gen1) x3
• P1 x6
• One x3
• P3 x4
• Playbar x 4
• Beam x2
• Bridges (x4) 

Two homes are used also as holiday lets and therefore acts as sonos demonstration to the 40 or so families using each home each year. Received many favourable comments from guests using the equipment for the first time.  Far better than trying to evaluate in a noisy retail unit demonstrated by a clueless assistant

My profile shows I have updated - my choice -when new desirable features have been introduced eg bedroom Play 3s replaced by Beams and cascaded down to be rear pair for Playbar.  Was happy to do this.

However, the key features of Sonos to me are : longevity of products and the ability to group any speakers in any combination.

Both these key attributes now appears to be broken.  I’ve been impressed by the development of work-arounds - eg use of Echo Dots to bring voice control to older speakers.

Short sighted policy of Sonos with undoubtedly serious consequences.

Patrick...as a long term Sonos customer/ proponent, I was not pleased with the first email received. My system extents from the interior and exterior of my home and I have a quite elaborate system in my pool area and my first concern was the amount of money I have invested in this system. 

To offer legacy customers only a 30% discount is a slap in the face!

I hope you are rethinking this maneuver and offer a substantial discount to your loyal customers who put you on the map!
 

Regards,

Ed Ciano

Sent from my iPad

On Jan 23, 2020, at 4:48 PM, Sonos <no-reply@email.sonos.com> wrote:
 

We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward: First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work just as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience. 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. While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers. Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn't exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day. If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Patrick Patrick Spence CEO, Sonos