Sonos junking older products as 'legacy'

studentguy

There's a lot of misinformation on this thread. I need to try and clear it up.

People aren't complaining that updates are stopping because they don't want new features, they are complaining about updates stopping for the following reasons:

* No more security updates, I'm sorry but anything connected to the Internet needs to be patched in order for it to remain safe (they may have rowed back here, but they haven't been intensely clear about it)
* Sonos devices rely on Internet services to work, such as tune in or Spotify, if the API on Spotifys end changes, the Spotify playback may stop working. People want a guarrentee that any regression is fixed so that their products don't become expensive paperweights
* Sonos are saying that if you have old and new products on your network, you will be unable to get new features on your newer products as the old ones disable it. So in effect, sonos are punishing people who have older tech by holding their newer tech hostage until they upgrade
* Sonos equipment is expensive. It's not commodity equipment. People bought into sonos on the promise it was an investment and they could build up their system over time. This no longer seems to be the case, and people who bought into this are betrayed. Not only that, but people who aren't yet affected are now worried about h I w long their equipment will last. The trust has gone.
* The official upgrade policy of sonos is wasteful and expensive. Rather that offer a way to service your older equipment and replace the motherboard with a new motherboard with more CPU and ram (a pretty easy job), sonos want you to throw your whole speaker out. Not only is this expensive, but throwing a whole speaker out when a easily replaceable component can be replaced instead, during a climate emergency us bordering on criminal.

They haven't backtracked either. They have simply announced a way to separate your old and new speakers, which is a shall improvement, but when the USP of sonos is whole room audio, splitting the system into two defies the point.

This isn't just a case of people with old equipment complaining. This is a case of people with expensive equipment, some of which despite the official spiel is only a few years old, being told that their equipment will no longer work the way it was sold as, unless you're willing to hand over a lot more money. This is supposed to be a money saving website, surely you can see how dangerous this precident is?

fred246

I've always tried to stop people buying this sort of stuff with limited success. I think it's bought mainly because it looks good even though the sound quality isn't great. It just makes so much sense to keep everything separate. A high tech source which connects to the internet and can be upgraded/replaced as necessary and then a separate amplifier and a separate set of speakers.

Neil49

I've pasted below an email from the Sonos CEO sent out overnight.


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 honour that investment for as long as possible. Whilst 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, whilst legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalising details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.

Whilst 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 programme 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

Chino

Neil49 wrote: »

I've pasted below an email from the Sonos CEO sent out overnight.

Why? The text of this letter has already been linked to in post # 21.

pedal999

I deliberately didn't respond to the comments like....
-- why are you surprised
-- calm down
-- don't understand why you are all getting so angry

as none of you know our individual situation, and possibly / probably not had the email I/we had announcing the May date for final updates..., so I wouldn't expect everyone would understand why we are angry, but to be respected for being so, would have been nice.

However in the spirit of sharing true information and not opinion or fake news, this is the content of an email I (& others) have just received from Patrick Spence, Sonos CEO.

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 honour that investment for as long as possible. Whilst 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, whilst legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalising details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.

Whilst 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 programme 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.

It would seem Sonos have more empathy and understanding that some of the posters here, sadly.

I'll remember that next time I think of venting anywhere online.

pedal999

fyi
I can assure you I did check before posting that no-one else had..
It would now appear a few of us have befallen the same problem, that logging back in we weren't shown the full thread before posting the CEO email content.

parking_question_chap

fred246 wrote: »

I've always tried to stop people buying this sort of stuff with limited success. I think it's bought mainly because it looks good even though the sound quality isn't great. It just makes so much sense to keep everything separate. A high tech source which connects to the internet and can be upgraded/replaced as necessary and then a separate amplifier and a separate set of speakers.

Totally agree, if so some unknown reason somebody needs to have music in all of their rooms then they should just buy some second hand active speakers from ebay and plug into the 3.5 jack on the phone. The difference in audio quality will be negligable.

rollingmoon

studentguy wrote: »

This is a case of people with expensive equipment, some of which despite the official spiel is only a few years old, being told that their equipment will no longer work the way it was sold as, unless you're willing to hand over a lot more money. This is supposed to be a money saving website, surely you can see how dangerous this precident is?

This 'dangerous precedent' was established a long time ago by the likes of Apple. I'm surprised that people are surprised by this (although it seems Sonos have now decided to compromise) - a speaker that runs software is, sooner rather than later, going to find itself scrapped.



I'll stick with my old Wharfedales, thanks - 25 years young, and still going strong. One had a driver replaced about 10 years ago, but that's it. Better for my pocket, my ears and the environment.

kangoora

pedal999 wrote: »

It would seem Sonos have more empathy and understanding that some of the posters here, sadly.

I'll remember that next time I think of venting anywhere online.

I really don't think empathy and understanding had the slightest impact on their decision. I firmly believe this was a humiliating climbdown by a CEO whose marketing department has told him unless we get some sort of fix in for this debacle NOW we are going to lose millions in sales.

I'm with the poster above, I'll stick with my stack system that cost me £1k in 1990 (roughly about £3k now in terms of my wages). All I've had to do is replace a tuner a few years ago that cost me £200 second hand off Ebay in all that time. 90% of the time I only listen to music in one room in the house anyway.

RumRat

kangoora wrote: »

I only listen to music in one room in the house anyway.

So, it's not really a comparison....