End of Software Support - Clarifications

I’m based in the UK, this company seems to have pre-empted Brexit - it seems just about every EU/EEA country is listed in their drop-down except the UK (tip: choose Ireland for English). That’s not to say I won’t be tempted anyway…

This for example, is what Sonos should be charging for the Port:

https://www.teufelaudio.com/multi-room/teufel-connector-p18477.html

I mean, how much electronics are needed to stream music and send the signal to my Pioneer SC-LX81 (which, incidentally, is a bit outdated but I’m able to upgrade at a time of my choosing)?

I’ll miss my ZP-80 when it eventually gets replaced. Why on Earth should I pay Sonos £279 (assuming 30% discount)? The usual answer is vendor lock-in, but if Sonos break compatibility, even that won’t matter anymore.

Hi Ryan,

Do you have anything to share with us to calm us down or are we all correct that Sonos is shafting us?

To be specific:

1. Will Sonos continue to allow multi room synchronised audio with all products people have in their homes regardless of age?

2.  If we choose to buy a new Sonos device, will this device function as part of our complete home system as described in point one without hobbling the new device by putting into a legacy mode?

1. Is it true that you will only guarantee support for 5 years in new devices?
2. finally, why does the current marketing material for sonos on your website still claim that “everything works together”?

I am surprised as to why we haven’t been put at ease yet? Is this because we have been dumped as customers? I’m asking because it is only fair to let us know... as The Clash famously asked: “Should I stay or should I go now”?

Patrick

This is not a misstep, this is a horrendous business decision bordering on arrogance.  You've let customers purchase your products knowing they will be obsolete sooner than anyone would normally anticipate in the hope that they will part with their hard earned money to upgrade.  Do you realise how that actually looks to us the customer?

You've not addressed the issue of the measly 30% discount offered, which considering the cost of the equipment is nowhere near enough.

Nothing in this email has given me any incentive to change my views on Sonos so I will use the system until it no longer functions for how I use it then I'll dispose of it and find another non Sonos solution.

"Without us Sonos wont exist" - Having seen all the feedback to date i suggest you have another rethink on your strategy before your concern becomes a reality.

Couldn’t agree more; this is utterly abhorrent and completely against everything Sonos have stood for in the past. 
 

Not to be able to add your new products to your existing set up just means people will switch to other set ups in protest at you forcing them to ugrade.

Running two separate systems separately is NOT a fix..the whole point is that people will want to continue to add to their existing system - not create two separate ones!

Ridiculous idea unless you want to provide closer to 100% discount on your new products?! 30% is not reasonable at all. 

There is clearly huge anger by many here at Sonos.

I am more hopeful.  They are not Apple or Google: they have heard from us and done their best to act to reassure.  If purchased by Apple or someone else, I would absolutely bet the obsolescence train would already be running. 

Time, of course, will tell how well they can deliver on their promise of “co-existence” of older kit with new.   Working in tech, I absolutely get the limits on the older units, and am glad they will try to address that.  Makes sense.

For us, their speakers have pretty well worked for many years.   I move downstairs for a break from my study and continue listening to the music or radio show I was on upstairs with minimal effort.   We have celebrated 18th, 21st and many parties with sound around our rooms: Happy days!
To those who stomp and promise to leave the Sonos family: I understand the anger….but I do wonder about cutting noses off to spite faces: I have not seen *any* solution that works so well (& that would never run into issues 5-10 years down the line!).

I get that we all think of ancient speakers that still work in our old hifi systems….but these are not IoT devices, offering many varied services to play through what I still feel are pretty decent pieces of kit.

In short: many people and companies make mistakes.   I like that they have tried to listen, and look forward to see how they navigate 2020.  Maybe I’ll put off any new purchase to 2021 though ;)

What a move Sonos. You're holding me to ransom. Spend more money or the whole network gets it. Why would I ever give you another penny when any new purchases will become hobbled the moment I connect them to my existing products, and when I now know that every purchase runs a high risk of being forced into obsoletion from afar. I loved my modern young speakers, but this hobbled network, with talk of dropping services rather than adding, is not what I was sold. You've lost me as a customer. And I can't help but feel that there's still one more announcement on the horizon ... this awkward change to your business model surely isn't the sound new foundation from which you plan to build a future on; this is surely a first step towards something more dramatic. I'm out. I want my money back. Such a shame.

This is utterly abhorrent! Me, like so many here have bought into the Sonos family to be able to continue to add to their system set ups.

We’ll just move onto other systems in protest at you making our products obsolete.

Permitting them to work on a separate system is NOT a fix..we want them to all work together on the same network!

A 30% upgrade discount is also not at all reasonable. Closer to 100% please or do a U-Turn on this ridiculous idea and protect your customer base.

Let's be under no illusion this 32mb limit is simply guff.

These "legacy" devices, when in a mixed environment with non legacy devices, need to be nothing more than thin TCP clients streaming an audio feed.

There is absolutely nothing preventing software being written that allows the newer clients to serve legacy devices in a mixed environment, software updates or otherwise.

The ONLY thing preventing this is the ability or desire for sonos to do this.

Effectively they would operate in a very similar way to thin client PCs.  Those haven't got the power to run desktop apps, so they just serve as a dumb terminal to a server elsewhere on the network.

This is absolutely NOT about the hardware limitations, and everything to do with sonos's ability and effort to serve the loyal customer base. Let's not forget the expensive connect:amps were being sold as little as few years ago.

Hello

If an end of life option for the amps would be that they could simply be grouped in and play from more capable units, that could be fine,  Remove all their music selection / queuing etc capabilities   Just volume.  Free up their compute resource, and make them dumber.

Perhaps even remove wireless capabilities , wired only - since one can get a wired connection from a wireless bridge these days easily and cheaply

One would need a more up to date unit to interface to services / airplay and so on, but that is how most of us with big systems work today anyhow,

A change like this would not harm my usage of my 26 unit sonos setup and render it pretty future proof.

michael

Entirely agree..I have one of the connect amps and love it! It means I can play my old analogue mission speaks through a mission amp and have fantastic sound! 
 

cant understand why they wouldn’t opt for the ‘thin client’ solution you’ve so eloquently put!!