Sonos Gives a Lame Reason For Bricking Older Devices in 'Recycle Mode' (engadget.com) 236
Sonos has a good reputation for building quality speakers, but its latest move has disappointed some buyers, reports Engadget. From a report: Recently, the company offered a trade-up program, giving legacy customers 30 percent off the latest One, Beam or Port. In exchange, buyers just had to "recycle" their existing products. However, what Sonos meant by "recycle" was to activate a feature called "Recycle Mode" that permanently bricks the speaker. It then becomes impossible for recycling firms to resell it or do anything else but strip it for parts. Sonos suggests that after bricking the device in Recycle Mode, users drop it off at a recycling facility or give it to Sonos to do the same. However, those facilities are unable to resell the products, which could bring around $200 to $250 in good condition. The problem was brought home by Twitter user @atomicthumbs, who works at an e-recycling facility. "This is the most environmentally unfriendly abuse and waste of perfectly good hardware I've seen in five years working at a recycler," he said in a series of tweets. "We could have sold these and ensured they were reused, as we do with all the working electronics we're able. Now we have to scrap them."
Brick Sonos (Score:5, Insightful)
as in don't buy their overpriced tat.
Make it clear to them that this behaviour is totally unacceptable.
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I have a lot of Sonos equipment. I really hate them now due to changes and reduction of features that they have imposed on users. I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone, unless they want to buy a couple pairs of Sub/Playbar and a dozen other speakers off me...
It is really a shame; they used to be such a great product.
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What do you mean by "reduction of features"? I've never seen that and had Sonos devices plus a central NAS as my home music system since around 2007, and i've never noticed any loss in functionality.
If anything.. the minor slight annoyance is they keep ADDING (not removing) features like more and more online music services I don't need and pushing out updates for the mobile apps that require a disruptive update to the entire system, And then require annoying manual actions on my part to then update t
Re:Brick Sonos (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Brick Sonos (Score:5, Insightful)
Try to adjust the bass / treble settings on any of your rooms without first having to sign into a Sonos account.
They are just speakers, right? What value does having "an account" have to you? I have always refused to use any app or device that requires an "on-line account" unless it intrinsically needed such a thing to do the thing you bought it to do. Any such "feature" is just a way for them to spy on you and control the product you bought as if they still owned and were just loaning it to you.
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Two years ago I had Sonos well integrated into my home automation system; I had stations programmed and easily accessible through my portal, and everything worked great. Now they want you to use a smart speaker or some other crap to do the same thing, and less transparently. A year ago you could stream from your phone/computer without issues, now it is a mess. Playback reliability was better before, now speakers stutter despite having strong signal.
Using a NAS to store your music for playback is a mess n
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Sounds like greedy bean-counters have taken over the company. Also, how tone-deaf can you be? Bricking a working product is about the most stupid thing you can do in these times.
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Reasonably, a company making audio products does not usually need to be some fast agile technology company. Very little has changed with amplifier or speaker technology since the 70's with the exceptio
Re: Brick Sonos (Score:3)
As I said, beam forming (and room defined equalization) is really the only new thing, and that is only because the computational power needed dropped under $5-10 BOM in additional parts. Systems in the 90s used a microphone to calibrate output, but it was usually pricey stuff like B&O.
Re: Brick Sonos (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Brick Sonos (Score:5, Interesting)
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Do you think they will stand for that?
"Sorry the cloud service that this speaker requires is no longer available. Please upgrade to the 2020 model for another year of support."
Re:Brick Sonos (Score:5, Insightful)
If enough people refuse the discount and pay full price instead, then Sonos will not engage in this behavior again.
I'm pretty sure that if the penalty is that you give them more money, that won't change their behavior.
Re:Brick Sonos (Score:5, Funny)
I'm pretty sure that if the penalty is that you give them more money, that won't change their behavior.
Why would they continue to offer a discount if no one is using it?
We need to show them that we don't want their damn discounts. I just went to Amazon and ordered a dozen Sonos speakers at full price. You should do the same. TFA is right, we need to teach them a lesson.
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It is a well known fact that Shanghaibill is a sonos Exec.
Re:Brick Sonos (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, fuck that guy, I hear George Sonos has it in for Trump anyway.
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If enough people refuse the discount and pay full price instead, then Sonos will not engage in this behavior again.
Dumbest thing I've read all day.
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Dumbest thing I've read all day.
Then you obviously didn't read TFA. It is the dumbest thing I've read in a week.
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I agree with you. But you either didn't read TFA or you misunderstood it. It is expressing the exact opposite viewpoint.
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>If enough people refuse the discount and pay full price instead, then Sonos will not engage in this behavior again.
That's exceptionally stupid. Do you think they give out the discount because they want people to receive it, or do they give out the discount so they can promote a lower price? Would more people buying at regular price decrease the value of advertising a lower price?
You're like, a magical anti-expert who is wrong about every topic. You don't even need to do any research, you start out with no knowledge and full confidence that you have the answers. You've probably never looked up anything in your life. You
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
brick market in trouble? (Score:2)
No one needs bricks anymore?
paperweights, film props, blunt weapons, door stops?
Nice headline, here's the reason... (Score:3, Informative)
"having modern Sonos devices capable of delivering these new experiences is important. So the Trade Up program is an affordable path for these owners to upgrade. For those that choose to trade-up to new products, we felt that the most responsible action was not to reintroduce them to new customers that may not have the context of them as 10+ year old products, and that also may not be able to deliver the Sonos experience they expected."
In other words, these older 10+ year old gadgets do not have the processing power to run the latest software or support modern features. AT&T turned off 1G and 2G support, bricking many devices. They can't support old stuff forever.
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They can't support old stuff forever.
Yes they can, but they choose not to because of money.
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They can't support old stuff forever.
Yes they can, but they choose not to because of money.
That’s not entirely true. Older devices used bandwidth less efficiently, and supporting them required keeping swaths of spectrum dedicated to an ever-decreasing number of devices, while being unable to use those bands for the growing pool of newer devices. There’s only so much spectrum available, practically speaking, so there really are practical limits on how long you can keep early cell phones working, even if money were no object.
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Maybe not money directly, but sure it's going to relate to money at some level. I'd bet that a large part of this is about protecting the brand, not wanting a bunch of frustrating old devices to give a bad user experience and tarnish their reputation.
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I suppose they could but that would mean that each new generation of products would be even more expensive to cover the ever growing cost of support, and eventually their sells would suffer.
Re:Nice headline, here's the reason... (Score:5, Insightful)
They can't support old stuff forever.
Nobody said they had to... but consider what would happen if this attitude carried to other products, such as cars, refrigerators... You don't 'brick' someone's old car just because they bought a newer model of the same car under some loyalty program discount - you either buy it on trade-in for additional money, or let them sell it to someone else.
Sonos could have simply let their users sell off the old product at a decent discount, if only to introduce the brand and product line to potential new buyers - If their product doesn't suck, it would be pure marketing gravy for them, and would very likely increase the number of folks who eventually plonk down for the next iteration of their speaker set once that comes out.
Re:Nice headline, here's the reason... (Score:5, Interesting)
Back in 2018 I bought a new-off-lot car with some very useful features. Early in 2019 the manufacturer killed the product line 2 years before the next refresh was due. Any time in the past 40 years I would have said, fine, I'll keep this one for 10 years, but given how dependent this vehicle is on its software, continuing supply of very complex spare parts, and mechanics knowledgeable in that product type I have serious doubts it or any auto of similar vintage will survive the 20 years which became the norm from the 1995 model year forward. IMHO it is a small step from there to automakers giving an end-of-life date for cars on the first sales contract and them bricking them on that date.
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Re:Nice headline, here's the reason... (Score:5, Insightful)
A huge swath of quality, affordable used vehicles destroyed
Unlike an old "quality, affordable used vehicle" an old Sonos does not generate smog, excessive emissions, leak oil or ... until this update ... in any way have a negative environmental impact compared to a new one.
Comparing the two cases is silly. One decision (Sonos's) is an environmental disaster as far as it can be for a small speaker, the other was to provide both economic and environmental benefits.
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You could trade in an older F-150 for a new F-150 that got 1 more MPG.
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That 1 MPG wasn't all the difference and it's foolish to suggest it was. Newer cars have better emissions control, and are far less likely to do things like burn oil, that are huge contributors to urban smog. Most of the cars that were turned in for this discount were emissions nightmares even under the emissions standards they were built under.
The Federal rebate wasn't about improving mileage although that was a secondary effect in most cases. It was about taking a lot of really old polluting cars off the
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Re:Nice headline, here's the reason... (Score:5, Insightful)
Like any thing, there are pros and cons. The cons include those cheap old vehicles not entering the second hand market, the pros include less destruction of our habitat.
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Penguinisto : You don't 'brick' someone's old car just because they bought a newer model of the same car under some loyalty program discount
John Deer : Hold my beer..
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Yeah, and they *can* be recycled. It's just they won't end up refurbished in the Amazon supply chain. Probably I don't care so much because I have the same amount of Smart TVs as I do Smart Speakers (zero).
Its a fucking speaker (Score:2)
Audio codecs haven't changed in a decade. There is absolutely no reason for this. Like when companies get rid of old test equipment by smashing it.
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There are several new, high-quality codecs in Bluetooth, as well as things like Opus.
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HiFi equipment used to not come with planned obsolescence. Guess at least for Sonos, that time is over.
So sell it! (Score:5, Insightful)
The app has an option to transfer ownership of the system, so do the right thing and sell it. Its old products are well supported so they retain good value after some years.
They are being honest about what are they going to do with the thing if you want the discount, they are in the business of selling hardware not refurbishing it. Not right from the lifecycle perspective, but definitely better than making it obsolete after a couple years as we see in other products...
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+1 informative - sorry, already commented.
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My Speakers (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:My Speakers (Score:5, Insightful)
Are 30-years old and have RCA inputs.
Shhhhh. Don't make their heads explode by telling them you have a product for three decades which just works because it doesn't need to be connected to the internet. That would be like saying light switches work perfectly fine without the need for a "smart phone" and software to run them. The simplest solution is anathema to these people.
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I guess if I were an Apple customer I couldn't use these speakers
There's adapters for everything.
https://www.amazon.com/Modeshe... [amazon.com]
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All you need is a bluetooth receiver to plug into your amp. It'll sound like -ish being bluetooth, but who cares about sound quality anymore /s
But seriously, yeah a quality BT reciever will let you continue to use your speakers.
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It'll sound like -ish being bluetooth
Na, google up on BT codecs.
If your BT audio sounds like -ish, it's because you went cheap and didn't get one that supported any of the higher end codecs.
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> and have RCA inputs
Sonos sells a crappy multi-room sound system.
You have a single-room sound system. They're not comparable.
I used to have speaker wire running everywhere with amps and switchboxes, but Chromecast Audio were $18 a piece, cheaper, and more functional. Installing a new unit or relocating one is trivial, especially outdoors.
Of course it's a Google product so they got canceled but maybe a Chinese factory can sell something very similar on eBay.
Pulseaudio-DLNA on linux can send to them, so
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Are 30-years old and have RCA inputs.
I guess if I were an Apple customer I couldn't use these speakers but I have no issue interfacing them with all kinds of devices with an analog output.
You're lucky. Most stereo speakers today cost a fortune and come with a stupid 'wire grabber' mechanism rather than a connector.
Better yet, mono speaker cabinets for guitars come with the same 1/4" jack used by the guitar. Plug the output of the amp into your guitar by accident and blow up your pickups.
This is what you get for buying "smart" speakers (Score:5, Insightful)
This is what you get for buying "smart" speakers.
Why do speakers need to be connected to the internet?
If there were only devices you could plug your existing speakers into, a magical device that would let you bluetooth, airplay, stream, etc etc to your 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. year old speakers.
Really good old speakers get passed down generation to generation.
Connected shit is obsolete the second you slit the tape on the box.
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So, your answer is in your own statements. Why do you need a smart speaker to connect to the Internet? So it can stream for me, rather than streaming from my cell phone. It is nice to have my SONOS speakers play directly from Tidal or Pandora, rather than dependent upon my cellphone to stream that media then transfer over via Bluetooth or DLNA or some other transport that goes away when I turn my phone off (or leave home - meaning now my wife has to go and start up the same channel again on her phone, in
Re:This is what you get for buying "smart" speaker (Score:4, Insightful)
So, your answer is in your own statements. Why do you need a smart speaker to connect to the Internet? So it can stream for me, rather than streaming from my cell phone.
Christ, is it that hard to understand? The speakers live forever, the electronics not so much. The electronics come and go, and some of them can actually do everything you're talking about, and do it while hooked up to a 1947 Klipschorn fed by a Fisher tube amp monobloc. (not my setup, but I wouldn't kick it out of the house if I had it)
Or can you not hear the difference between Sonos, and a really sweet pair of speakers?
If not, then yeah, keep buying Sonos. Your money, spend it as you wish.
I just frown on shit audio with obsoletium baked right into it.
Re:This is what you get for buying "smart" speaker (Score:4, Insightful)
Sonos is not merely a "smart speaker". If I wanted Smart speakers: I would just get a Google home. I have multiple thousands of $$ invested in Sonos hardware; Mostly Sonos ZP90s and
Sonos ZP120s, and only 1 unit that is a Sonos S5 speaker.
Although they are 12 years old at this point... there is really No reason the existing hardware ought to need stop doing what it has always done – these devices have 2 purposes which is to (1) execute their self organizing network SonosNET and (2) To co-ordinate with each other and play music from the audio source; the Sonos Zone Units or speakers are NOT the controller – the controller is an iPhone/Android app, and while Sonos keep's updating the ZonePlayer software; the ZonePlayers ought not to have any reason for hardware changes to be needed, since the computers Sonos embedded in these devices have more than sufficient hardware specs to both play music AND stream from the internet: there's No conceivably-needed change that ought to ever require an update, unless they just want to make a new piece of hardware that has control features built in like an Alexa voice command that needs microphone...
The purpose of Sonos is to be a A Home-Wide Audio System.
Meaning I can play music in any room of my house and link zones to play the same song on multiple audio devices perfectly synchronized, and it can be Music from any source be it my private NAS, iTunes, or Online streaming.
This is MUCH better than having a "Smart" speaker, because it means I can choose my speaker arrangement or even custom-build my speaker arrangement.
If I have large rooms with cathedral ceilings, for example, (which is definitely the case); there is no way a "Smart speaker" will ever accommodate the room and sound good throughout the room, but my Audio amplifier with 4 large custom speakers and subwoofers plugged in to my Amp can definitely meet the needs of the large rooms, for example, and that's just the start of how Multi-Room Audio is important and Smart Speakers are not even adequate for music enjoyment.
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I totally get it - the ability to control the sound around my entire home (and backyard, and garage) is great. I worked at SONOS for a few years, did transducer engineering for them (I was actually their first transducer engineer). I even made my own waterproof Play:3 for use in the backyard - and it's still running today, 8 years (and a lot of rain and wind and sun) later.
Your big room may be a challenge - but in a more normal-sized room, a pair of Play:1s and a SUB is a really, really good sounding setu
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If there were only devices you could plug your existing speakers into, a magical device that would let you bluetooth, airplay, stream, etc etc to your 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. year old speakers.
Cool so it moves the problem to the other end of a really short cable?
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Cool so it moves the problem to the other end of a really short cable?
Yep. And if you select carefully, maybe the thing you buy to plug your fine old speakers into *isn't* something with a remote brick switch from a shady vendor.
See my point now? The speakers, once properly selected and you really like 'em, should serve you for *decades*. All your life, even.
But I guess people what small packaging and convenience over outstanding sound. Hence, atrocities like Sonos, Apple Speakers, the old Acoustimess from Bose, etc.
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I think the point may have been that truly good speakers aren't cheap. Further, they are typically one of the larger parts of the system - requiring a fair amount of materials to manufacture. You're better off moving the "smart" part of the system to some other place in chain so that it can be easily and affordably upgraded (think a small device such as a chrome cast using the optical audio output connected to a pre-amp). That way you get to keep the use of your hi-fi speakers for many years. Additionall
Re:This is what you get for buying "smart" speaker (Score:5, Interesting)
If there were only devices you could plug your existing speakers into
But that creates an 'analog hole'. Which is one thing that Sonos (and many other manufacturers) would like to plug.
Sonos is garbage and has a reputation to match (Score:5, Informative)
All this company does is sell malware that happens to act as "speakers". You need a fucking account just to use this shit. "You must register your Sonos Products in order for them to work."
Every button or action you press is recorded and transmitted to Sonos there is no opt out.
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This is why they have no place in my home.
First, why do I need an account to use speakers? That in itself means that the speakers will be returned because they failed to perform their primary function.
Second, why would I buy their speakers? If I want good sound, I can buy studio grade monitors for cheap from local pawn shops. I can buy new and get two very good monitors with plenty of bass for $200, while the Sonos stuff starts at $200, and their decent stuff is way higher. I really don't need cheap Wi-
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I picked up most of my hi-fi set-up from a local, used hi-fi shop and craigslist. It seems there are a ton of audiophiles always looking to upgrade and they unload lightly used, well cared-for equipment for great prices. The guy I bought my amp from had literally 7 high-end amps for sale. He had gone on an upgrade streak over a few years and his SO was fed up with a closet full of unused audio gear. He was really nice and took the time to walk me through all the features and options. I could tell he wa
Re: Sonos is garbage and has a reputation to match (Score:2)
Isn't REUSE better than REDUCE?/Bose Experience (Score:2)
In the TFA, there's a graphic in @atomicthumb's tweet which says the "Most favoured option" is to "Reduce" over "Reuse". Does that make sense? I would think that "Reuse" of anything (which is what is being discussed here) would be always preferable.
A month ago, my 10+ year old Bose QuietComfort 3 stopped working - as I reply upon them for travelling I asked Bose if I could use them for a rebate for a new set. They did (and I got a QuietComfort 35 II replacement at a great price) but rather than brick the
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"Reduce" means "Don't buy it in the first place", thus reducing production, with the idea being that the raw materials remain unmined.
Utter Crap (Score:2)
The entire Sonos line of speakers is utter crap anyway, a complete waste of time and money.
So what if the $0.35 worth of electronics is "bricked". The $0.24 speaker still works and sounds exactly like a $0.24 speaker.
Re:Utter Crap (Score:4, Interesting)
I know, at least on the SONOS speakers I designed the transducers for, they were not $0.24 speakers. And the acoustics engineer I worked with had not only several Stereophile Class A speakers to his credit, but several award winning pro-sound speakers, too... I myself did transducers for a few pro monitors that earned "Monitor of the Decade" awards, and many more consumer products that earned exceedingly high praise and multiple awards.
The key with SONOS was to bring as high of a sound quality as possible, with as much convenience to play music as possible, at a relatively low end price. A pair of Play:1s and a SUB is a very formidable setup for $1000 - and I'd challenge you to put together an equivalently-featured system (speakers, amplifier, source) for the same price, that sounds as good.
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They are such high quality that SONOS is afraid to post specifications. It is all unadulterated crap designed for the tone-deaf.
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I'd agree with this if your intent is to buy new. The used market, however, is a treasure trove of great, affordable gear.
Nice to know (Score:2)
They have a built in way to irrevocably brick all their devices... why would that function possibly be needed? Jesus imagine an update going wrong ... :eek:
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The real reason is sound (Score:3, Insightful)
If a customer exchanges an old version of a device for a discount on a new version, that removes a device from the secondhand market. Obviously the motive is profit. They are doing customers of new devices small favor, and sticking it to second hand users. Oh well. That's capitalism. Calling it "recycling mode" isn't capitalism though, that's marketing, and marketing is almost always rotten.
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Calling it "recycling mode" isn't capitalism though, that's marketing, and marketing is almost always rotten.
Marketing is a huge component of Capitalism; you have to convince people the need your product or service, even when they actually don't
Cash 4 Clunkers 2.0 (Score:2)
This reminds me of Cash 4 Clunkers, where dealerships poured toxic chemicals into an engine, destroying the engine and taking (In many, not in all cases) an otherwise perfectly serviceable car out of service to put a new car with better emissions on the road, ignoring the simple fact that continuing to drive an older car is better for the environment than building a new car.
The discount is optional..
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That program pretty much killed the cheap used car market. This is a great video explaining how https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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No, it certainly did not. It raised prices on used cars for a while, but they are cheap again. Further, the only part of those vehicles which was ruined was the engines. The rest of the vehicle could legally be salvaged. I bought a tailgate off of a clunkered F250. Most of the vehicles in the program were busted old F series, many of which had the pathetically gas guzzling 460 motor. We're better off without them on the roads on every level.
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You need a video to find out something obviously false? I can walk down the street and find a used car lot to check if it is true, or just open craigslist.
I definitely wouldn't watch a video to learn an answer that would actually be made of words, but here it is pretty obvious that it is full of shit just by the words that you used to describe the thesis.
Learn to read, quit letting morons spew their bullshit directly into your head like that. Control the screens you look at. Learn to think for yourself and
Option (Score:2)
So it's an option for existing users. So, if you don't like it, don't exercise the option. There's nothing keeping you from buying a new one and selling the old one.
Sonos are Ass wipers (Score:2)
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Well, the $0.25 speakers will still work. It is the $.32 cents of electronics that won't work.
What speakers? (Score:2)
You are not buying ... /speakers/ ...
You are buying a license to speaker *usage*!
You will be paying money every time you listen to (approved) sounds!
Don't even try to do anything else with it. Or we will jail you for infringing on our sonosual property! We OWN the action of making sound with that speaker! Hahaha! Yes, it is madness, and makes no sense whatsoever, but neither does "intellectual propery" and nobody cares!
Sicerely,
Sonos Corporate
Your gateway into a insert text!
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What's next, a monthly subscription or the speakers stop working?
I know you're being facetious, but the rent-seeking subscription model is a real thing. Next-up "speakers-as-a-service"
Damn him. (Score:2)
Damn that George Sonos!
k.
There's a lot of complaining on this thread (Score:2)
And not a lot offered intelligently as an alternative to the niche that Sonos successfully filled, albeit with a distasteful commercial model.
You love Raspberry Pi style SBCs and Linux, right? Enjoy looking into Volumio, then.
https://volumio.org/ [volumio.org]
Phishing? (Score:2)
The link claims to go to engaget dot com but actually redirects to guce dot advertising dot com
Good reputation? They are the Beats of speakers. (Score:3)
With their proprietary protocols and interfaces, they are actively stifling interoperabiliy and compatibility, to get you vendor-locked in.
Everyone with a clue smells that half a mile away, and would never even touch them with a ten foot trash grabber.
And their upshot of that is, that they can overprice their products.
Look up what you are buying. Make sure they support open official standards, and proudly support repariability. Don't let criminals rip you off. And you will be happy with it for a loong time.
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I have a Sonos One in my office space. I run it from a Linux app, Noson, and it's pretty nice that way. This wouldn't be possible if there weren't some openness in their protocols.
http://janbar.github.io/noson-... [github.io]
92 percent "still in use today" (Score:2)
Sonos products do last a long time, with the company claiming that 92 percent of them ever sold are "still in use today."
I could see how that would be mortifying for shareholders. This is their way of doing something about it.
Thanks (Score:2)
Oh for God's sake... (Score:5, Informative)
The devices that Sonos is doing this for are among their original product line - the first two generations of Zone Players/Connects, and the first generation of the Play:5, a speaker you haven't been able to buy new since 2009. So basically the devices with the smallest RAM, the weakest processors, the least capable wireless.
Sonos has been good about maintaining backwards compatibility in all their devices up until this point. They've made some... questionable usability changes in their apps from version to version but if you go out and buy a Sonos One right now it'll play nicely with your ZP80 from 2006.
Clearly Sonos knows that there are software releases coming in the next year or so that are finally going to exceed the capabilities of these older units. So they have a choice. They can start working to get the old gear out of circulation now, or they can just keep soldiering on until the day comes that those devices become useless. They're bricking them because IF they were resold, the secondhand buyer would get the same few months use out of them before the aforementioned software updates makes them equally useless. Knowing that, Sonos isn't going to have an official resale program, because they know they'll piss off every single person that buys them when they become bricked in x number of months/years. Likewise, they don't want a ton of this stuff dumped into resale channels like Ebay for the same reason - yes it's more buyer beware, but clearly they're still worried people are going to be mad at them and not the person that knowingly sold them soon-to-be-useless hardware.
Plus, these older units are only b/g capable - they don't play as well in a modern wireless network and if they're part of a SonosNet mesh they drag the entire mesh down to 1.0 speeds instead of the 2.0 capabilities they've had for a decade now. There's probably an escalating support load that goes along with older devices causing problems as people expand their Sonos network.
People buy AirPods - devices which basically go in the trash when the batteries die in 18 months - without blinking and replace their cell phones when the newest shiny comes out even though the old one worked fine, yet bag on a comparatively smaller audio company bricking 10+ year old hardware WITH an opt-in AND a monetary consideration to the original owner? Further proof that people only hate what they're told to hate.
Re:just hack all of them and then the recovery cod (Score:5, Interesting)
Depends on your definition of "hack," and just what the current Destructo-Mat code does. I suspect it permanently burns some PROM or FPGA in a physical manner, thus making something impossible to reprogram sans installing new chips.
Re: (Score:2)
Depends on how "deep" the deactivation mode is. I wouldn't be surprised if there is an e-fuse somewhere that popped core lines to the firmware and the SoC, perhaps even on the SoC die itself.
Re:just hack all of them and then the recovery cod (Score:5, Informative)
My understanding is how it all works is that each SONOS device has its Serial Number indicated by a sequence of cut fuses, and the bootloader for their firmware has custom checks using cryptographic signatures to verify integrity of the software and that a serial number programmed into the NAND matches the hardware serial.
When one puts a unit in "Recycle" mode: the serial number of that unit is added to a Blacklist of some kind on Sonos' servers, and While the device remains active some days the internal countdown timer runs out then the device deactivates, and Sonos' servers will never let you activate that device again, even if you reset the device to factory defaults.
In order to activate a Zoneplayer that has been reset to factory defaults initially; Sonos requires an internet connection to verify and register the device, and the device will contact Sonos' servers for permission before it will allow to install software and register.
If that Unit is one which has been recycled, then you hit a dead end, because Sonos' servers detect that the serial number has been flagged and aren't going to send the digitally signed code specific to that ZP required for the ZP to activate and join your system.
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And Congress hasn't begun an inquiry...why?
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Ah. So if Sonos ever goes out of business or decides not to "support" the old speakers anymore, they brick themselves?
Talk about a product that is defective by design.
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Unless they spent actual money on a special self-destruct circuit, which is unlikely for insurance reasons, it probably means that the microcontroller isn't factory locked and they're rewriting the firmware before setting the fake-fuse bit.
In which case, it should be fairly easy to pull the firmware off a non-bricked device and decompile it and make changes to prevent bricking.
If, OTOH, it just sets an EEPROM value so the firmware doesn't start up, that's even easier as that isn't usually even locked.
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They are money makers for the company maker, due to the treasure trove of analytics they send back. For the customer? Nada.
Toss them in the same dumpster as the smart TVs and other IoT garbage.
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