End of Software Support - Clarifications

just don’t hit the “Please update” button every time you log into the system...because if you ever do by accident...blam!

You say you have a lot of great new products and features in the pipeline yet you do not mention any of them.

You expect us to upgrade to the latest products which still do not support ALAC or FLAC and in my case (Play 5, connect and amp) which do NOT support Alexa or Google.

How do we know whether these new products are Play 5 or newer which DO support these features? Then we have just wasted many thousands on what would then be OLD products.

If these NEW products support those features and are a replacement for these so called legacy products, will there be a discount to then upgrade?

Perfect statement...If I want to interact with Alexa I’ll just talk to my toaster or desk lamp I don’t need another gadget in the house eavesdropping on my conversations.  Did  anybody really say, dam I wish I could talk to Alexa through my speakers?

I’m blown away that sonos would do this. They need to realize that this is the beginning of the end, and not for just their products but their business.  Current customers, whether or not a ‘legacy product’ owner, can see the writing on the wall…...they know their own clock is ticking.  Unhappy customers advise potential customers.  I was brought into the fold buy a satisfied customer and now I have 16 of their speakers and amps in my own home.  Do you think I’m going to advise a sonos purchase to the people I talk to?

Dead. In. The. Water.

One email, one dead brand.

Despite adoring your product and spending pretty much 18 hours a day listening to them in multiple locations, you’ll never get another cent from me, nor from 10,000 others.

The new message is much more artfully stated and it does promise “bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible” which is an improvement, despite being super vague. But ultimately the message did not change. Legacy devices still won’t get software devices, they still are going to need a split system, etc etc. It’s not stated but it’s apparent they will still block updates to other devices if the system is not split. There are still no details about how that split will work in practice. (Grouping? Same or different app?) It’s the same message as before, wearing a nicer suit.

Anyone mollified by that apology clearly didn’t read it.

Currently playing a ripped Indigo Girls CD that I bought whenever.  Not a stream from a playlist.  But I get it, SONOS has been watching everything I have -- and have not -- played over the past 10 years.  Sonos knows when the speakers are in use or not.  Exactly like Amazon and Google devices do. And scum FB and its tech.  Makes you wonder -- is what you get from them really worth it?

Patrick your apology today was a joke and you know it.   do you remember when Sonos touted this non-obsolescence strategy during the runup to its 2018 initial public offering: “People are used to buying commodity tech that needs to be replaced, but we’re differentiated because our product persists,” Mike Groeninger, Sonos’ vice president of finance

and there you go  it’s all about money and customer loyal is just a BS notion to get us to buy a companies product  

If Patrick doesn’t do the right thing we can only hope Sonos loses the Google lawsuit so that Goggle can flood the market with a similar Sonos product line at an affordable price.  
 

and then Patrick can say he was part of  the demise of both the RIM Blackberry and Sonos.   

Can you just image if Tesla did this….

I’m sorry since you have an older Tesla in your garage, you won’t be able to update your current model because they are incompatible with one another btw you’ll have purchase another charging station because just like apple we change the plugs with each new upgrade.   

This whole fiasco has be rethinking all my Sonos investments (even that word feels strange now). A few minutes ago, in an earlier post, I compared a Sonos component to an Nvidia Shield, but the more I think about it the closest equivalent (the Port) is more than double the price with less memory, processing power, and capabilities. I really was fooled by the myth that Sonos was not an electronic company but something more. 

Only thing saving me is my 2 x legacy play 5’s are in rooms that i don’t link, 1 is connected to my iMac in my home office, a Play 3 is in my daughters bedroom was told today by support they have newer tech even though its older than my play 5’s.  

Bridge i don’t really need to be using.

Sad to think though my playbar/sub and 2 x 1’s in my lounge room could become legacy soon.

I wouldn't buy anymore now.

The original Nvidia shield came out in 2015 - still getting system updates- Sonos Connects from 2015 not in a few months. 

Connect 32mb ram lol

Shield 2gb ram

Sonos just trying to make a buck 32 mb Ram lol

I really appreciate that Sonos listens to the customer base. I am a huge fan of Sonos and relatively heavily invested - three Sonos 1s, 3 Sonos 3s a Sonos 5 and a Playbar.   But I have also bought Sonos for both kids - a 2nd Gen Play5 for daughter and Sonos One for college aged son.  It means a lot that you will stick with me and support me. Your product support (I’ve used you guys every time I’ve moved and there is no better support team anywhere) is awesome and I feel like no matter what you make the system work.  That’s huge. 
I do want to grow my Sonos system.  I’d like to do another Play5 and tie it to my turntable like my daughter sis with hers.  I’d like to buy a couple Moves to use by the pool.  I will continue to grow and eventually replace.  But it also important to me to do it at my pace, on my terms.  I appreciate so much that you heard that from others and are figuring out how to keep us all in the gold and all happy.  
After all that, I’m going to check out the trade up program too.  Maybe that new Play5 will be sooner rather than later.  

I am with Mike886.  I too have spent a lot of money on Sonos 3,5,beam, etc etc.  These were sold as a premium product and so I expected that to be respected by the company too.

Clearly after dumping Apple Music you now want to dump your own brand.…

Thanks for making my investment in you worthless.

I one decision you have done the one thing that when lost is both priceless and impossible to recover.  You have lost our trust....

Do you really think that 30% off inflated prices for “upgraded speakers” is the way to reward loyal customers that have been subjected to planned obsolescence?  I bet you cant wait to see the next read out of your NPS score.  My entry is 0.0.  Way to screw up your fan base guys!

Also concerned by the silence from SONOS. Is this arrogance or panic?

They have so misjudged their proud, loyal and commuter community.  So much trust and faith has been lost

i fully understand technical Why things can’t be supported but these are normally single Household items not multiple expensive items. 

Also, there is nothing to replace my amps   

2 x sonos 3

1 x play 5 (first gem)

2 x amp

4 x play 1

Look at the Sonos SEC 10-K filing and it explains it all.  It’s all coming down to a critical cash infusion to keep the company alive.  Sonos tech is solid but I think that the elephants are going to crush them.   The “upgrade” for me would be almost $3000.  I’ve been a Sonos buyer for a very long time.  Long enough to collect a number of their “abandoned products”.  From what I understand from their 10-K Sonos expects to continue loose money.  Sonos also announced that they are about to embark on a patent dispute with both Google and Amazon.  Patent suits suck cash out of a company.  Looking to going back to a central system.  Thank goodness the wires are still there. 

There are many like me who just want sound, we don’t want Alexa, Google Home Airplay 2 or any other ”intelligent features” other than music and TV integration. Sonos is not proposing any sonic improvements and frankly I have no desire to partake of any intelligent directions they are trending to. 

If a new product became available for DTS or Dolby Atmos it might be a consideration. But Sonos has defiantly rejected these protocols against all requests. I would still expect all my other products to continue to operate and share the sound without the other intelligent features. Surely software can be developed for the different classes of equipment to separate intelligent functions from sound (which is why we bought your systems).

This announcement has been a great betrayal of trust and to be honest I would not be prepared to consider further purchases unless Sonos clarified even the smallest grey area that still exists. Once trust is lost it is a long way to recovery. Your announcement was truly regrettable. The back-step announcement I’m afraid is only little comfort. It will take time to see just what Sonos does from here and it will cost your company dearly in the interim. No one in their right mind would recommend a company capable of changing direction so destructively as this.

I won’t invest any more money in Sonos if the older part of my system won’t work with newer parts.  

Hey Sonos ..

You’ve certainly shot yourselves in the foot here, most of your loyal customers have several components in their system , I don’t think anyone will be considering expanding their system from this point forward..!

So if additional sales was the goal (with 30% discount) forget it .

I see you’re taking Google to court , hope you get some cash to make up for lost future sales ..!

Time for a rethink 🤔

I’m not sure which CEO statement you read, but the one I read is crystal clear. The system will be spit. Modern products will work with each other. Legacy products will work with each other. It never says, or even implies, that modern products will work with legacy products. This was a VERY carefully written letter. If all the products will work with each other, they most definitely would have said so. In fact, it would have been bolded in large letters. 

The letter from your CEO is not acknowledging one of the key complaints, and the language implies it is being swept under the rug.

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.

You clearly haven’t heard us. One of the main complaints and points of purchasing Sonos speakers is so they work together, not to have two split “modern” and “legacy” groups in my home, and figuring out which ones work with which. I want to be able to play music from some, or all of them. Your speakers are clearly capable of doing this because they can pass a music signal from one to another with ease currently, so it stands that they should be able to do this long into the future. It’s not rocket science, its just a music data stream. Maintaining backwards compatibility with that can’t be difficult. The technology already exists and you’re already using it. But you keep wording your responses quite specifically to state that you are intending to fragment your speakers in the future so that they cannot work with each other.

To my fellow Sonos Community,

Don't be fooled by Patrick's response.  Remember, Sonos planned for this backlash.  They are proceeding with their agenda, not matter what they say.  See below.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-is-sonos-dropping-support-older-speakers-and-does-the-reason-hold-up/ 

Tech outlet The Register did some digging through Sonos's Q4 2019 10-K financial filings and discovered that the company had both been planning for the obsolescence of its products and the associated backlash from customers.

"We expect that in the near term, this backward compatibility will no longer be practical or cost-effective, and we may decrease or discontinue service for our older products," the filing explains. "If we no longer provide extensive backward capability for our products, we may damage our relationship with our existing customers, as well as our reputation, brand loyalty, and ability to attract new customers."
------------------------------------------- 
My Sonos Universe: Sonos Sub | Sonos Playbar | Sonos Amp | Sonos Play:5 | Sonos Play:3 | Sonos Play:1(2)

Gifts to family -- Sonos Play:1 and Play:5

Referrals to Friends (that I know of) -- Sonos Play:5 (3) | Sonos Sub (2) | Sonos Playbar (2) | Sonos Play:1 (10) | Sonos Amp (2) | Sonos Move (2) | Sonos Bridge (2)

Spence was an SVP in Sales and Marketing at Blackberry.

So it seems he helped kill one brand which once enjoyed the support of fervently loyal customers.

And it seems clear he is now on a path to destroy another.  With two ill-considered emails.

In years to come this will be a business school case study in incompetence.  

You really can’t make this up.