R.I.P. SONOS CR100

Reijer

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Apr 22, 2014
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On the Dutch site hifi.nl are two article published about the SONOS CR100. In the articles is explained that SONOS will disable the CR100 by software update. You find them here: https://www.hifi.nl/artikel/26391/Sonos-CR100-R.I.P-vanaf-april-2018,-bedankt-voor-de-trouwe-dienst.html and here: https://www.hifi.nl/artikel/26480/Sonos-CR100-R.I.P.-deel-2,-wie-is-de-eigenaar-van-gekochte-hardware.html

Strange action, from different points of view.

First: when you buy a piece of equipment, who is the legal owner of that piece? And is legally for an manufacturer to decide to shut your piece of equipment down. That a company stops with the support and no longer updates it's software, I can understand. But that a company decides to disable good working equiment is mindblowing for me. The same as your laptop or TV is no longer working because the manufacturer decides you need a new one.

Is this news about the shutdown of the CR100 new in the U.K?
 

Reijer

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I know, Bigboss, that supporting the software has it's borders. But disable, shutting down, making inoperative of a device that is financially, legaly, etc, yours is a strange development.

The claims of SONOS are invalid. The battery can be replaced. It's still a good functional device, according to some even better than tablet or smartphone because you don't need a router of WiFi. It has no moving parts so it does't wear down. And it's my honest opinion that it is not sustainable to force people to buy a new device while the old one is still in good working order. That it is no longer supported with new software, that is the choice of the owner, not the company.

I've worked years with an old iMac. It could not update it's OS, it was slow, but in good working order. It's my choice to work with it so it's my risk. Would be strange if Apple decide that my trusty old Mac no longer will work and shut it remotely down.

Who's device is it? Apple or mine? SONOS or mine?
 

insider9

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From legal point of view when you're buying a piece of hardware you are actually buying it. Whereas if you're buying a piece of software you're buying a license to use it.

When you purchased Sonos you did just that. I believe Sonos missed a trick here. Sending a firmware update which kills an otherwise functional product is bad PR and questionable for whatever reason. However evolution of their software is within their rights. They could update everything else to make CR100 unusable. I'd do it that way. No gray areas, system evolved, old CR100 no longer works.

Now, think of it this way if you bought and early Android smartphone assuming it would still work you could use it. But the number of apps available would be pitiful. Effectively making it an ordinary phone. Yet people accept this.

Unless you purchase a lifetime licence to use a particular software you really have no choice. And even then you don't have a lifetime of updates.
 
insider9 said:
From legal point of view when you're buying a piece of hardware you are actually buying it. Whereas if you're buying a piece of software you're buying a license to use it.

When you purchased Sonos you did just that. I believe Sonos missed a trick here. Sending a firmware update which kills an otherwise functional product is bad PR and questionable for whatever reason. However evolution of their software is within their rights. They could update everything else to make CR100 unusable. I'd do it that way. No gray areas, system evolved, old CR100 no longer works.

Now, think of it this way if you bought and early Android smartphone assuming it would still work you could use it. But the number of apps available would be pitiful. Effectively making it an ordinary phone. Yet people accept this.

Unless you purchase a lifetime licence to use a particular software you really have no choice. And even then you don't have a lifetime of updates.

That sounds a bit like Microsoft sending a Windows update to kill all computers not using Windows 10.

Highly unethical, possibly illegal, and very poor PR to boot.

I am not aware of what exactly this bit of Sonos equipment does but if it is working in a system now surely there is a way to stop it receiving any more updates?
 

Diamond Joe

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I think it's a quite appalling decision, I guess there are very few users left, however, if I used the controller I'd make sure I didn't update the software (the last few updates have made my system unreliable anyway, but that's another story) so I could continue using it.
 
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I'm definitely old-skool. All my network player/streamer does is play tracks from my hard drive, which have all been ripped from good old-skool CDs. I like "legacy" systems as they are now called. Never could see the point in streaming, I have artists I really like who I never get bored listening to, I'm no hurry to discover new ones through a streaming service.
 

daveh75

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Reijer said:
I've worked years with an old iMac. It could not update it's OS, it was slow, but in good working order. It's my choice to work with it so it's my risk. Would be strange if Apple decide that my trusty old Mac no longer will work and shut it remotely down.

You'd think, but...

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/26/17052652/apple-tv-itunes-compatibility-original-windows-vista-xp

Who's device is it? Apple or mine? SONOS or mine?

As has been pointed out the h/w is yours but the s/w or the right to use it isn't.

Its not just the tech sector btw, do some reading up on how US farmers are turning to cracked firmware from Ukrainian sources to get around John Deere's abhorrent practices
 

Gray

Well-known member
In 1984, when I bought my Quad FM4, nobody warned me that they'd be contemplating a switchoff of FM just 34 years later.

If and when they ever do switch it off, at least there would still be several alternative ways of listening to programmes no longer on FM (Although that's really no consolation for my Quad)

I'd feel more than unhappy if I were you Reijer. It may be the way of the modern world that things are more transient, but it's not very nice.
 

Reijer

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FM radio is still around, Apple TV1 can still be used for streaming music or photo's from a iOS device, while SONOS is killing a good piece of equipment.

It's the same as: factories stop producing CD's. All the CD's that you have can still be played. But what if they shut down your CDplyer because it's 15 years old.

I don't own any SONOS equipment but it's the companies power to kill a good piece of equipment because they think it's old and obsolete. It's bad PR, it's bad out of durability and it's almost criminal to force you, as a consumer, to buy there new stuff.

The same counts for Apple. After High Sierra, software lower than 64 bits is no longer supported. Is it progress or is it blackmail to buy new stuff while the old one is still in good working order? And new software is not always better.
 
Reijer said:
FM radio is still around, Apple TV1 can still be used for streaming music or photo's from a iOS device, while SONOS is killing a good piece of equipment.

 
In case you have missed this:

https://www.whathifi.com/news/apple-cuts-itunes-store-support-first-gen-tv-streamer

You have a choice to not update the CR100. They've already told you this, in case you want to continue using.

The only reason Sonos isn't supporting high resolution audio yet is because of its pledge to continue supporting its devices for as long as possible (despite risking losing market share). Current devices will become obsolete if Sonos does that.
 

daveh75

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Reijer said:
The same counts for Apple. After High Sierra, software lower than 64 bits is no longer supported. Is it progress or is it blackmail to buy new stuff while the old one is still in good working order? And new software is not always better.

You don't have to stick with OSX though.

You could install a Linux distro and have an upto date, secure machine that will run far better than on a bloated, decrepit, unsupported and insecure version of OSX...
 

Reijer

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daveh75 said:
Reijer said:
The same counts for Apple. After High Sierra, software lower than 64 bits is no longer supported. Is it progress or is it blackmail to buy new stuff while the old one is still in good working order? And new software is not always better.

You don't have to stick with OSX though.

You could install a Linux distro and have an upto date, secure machine that will run far better than on a bloated, decrepit, unsupported and insecure version of OSX...

Thanks for the Linux tip. I'll investigate.
 

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