241–250 of 253 posts
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Sorry, but any company that wants to collect my personal data just to continue using their product after I've purchased it, is scum.
Any company that isn't collecting data on which features are being used is missing an opportunity
Why is the end user supposed to give a shit about a company's missed opportunities?
Is there a use case for Sonos that good Bluetooth speakers don't address more simply?
* Shared playlist/queue between all users of a household. * No need to have a second device present to stream music. That is, I can start up music with the controller on my phone, and go to the store, but the music still plays since all the streaming is handled by the sonos speaker. * No need to pair your phone/computer to the device every time you come home. Just get on the wifi, and you're set. Those are the big on…
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Generally, I would agree, and in the broadest sense of the terms, they are not equal. You can call anything whatever you want; you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. England used taxation as a way to maintain control over its colonies regardless of how it turned out. Eventually, and most famously, the U.S. realized the taxation was a form of oppression and not for the common good. People who didn't pay t…
The American Revolution isn't nearly as clear cut as that. It wasn't anti-taxation, it was anti-taxation without representation. The colonists were objecting to being taxed without having a say in the levying of the taxes. There were many colonial Americans who would have been happy returning Members to Parliament without independence. The core of the issue really was that Britain defended the American colonies from…
My argument wasn't sound - I'm glad you provided historically accurate facts that were both enjoyable and informative!
Your sidenote is also interesting - and on another note (albeit silly) - have you heard of the AMC drama TURN: Washington's Spies? I've started watching it and have quite enjoyed it so far.
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Tax is not rent unless you're in an actual feudal system.
It's rent. If I don't pay my property taxes, the government will march in and take my house.
Wow talk about blowing something out of proportion. The new software comes with new terms. If you don't accept the new terms you keep the existing software. Over time, it is possible that current software sill stop working with e.g. some future Pandora API, and you'll have a choice of either updating your software or foregoing that feature. I have a Sonos in every room of my house and I've owned them since the very f…
Whatever the rationale, the posts's core statement - that either people accept new contract terms or their device will brick the next time they change the API - is correct. [edit] apparently the models have a line-in socket? In that case, I agree, them turning into regular speakers is better than bricking. However, I still think the article is relevant as it highlights the problem of ownership and terms of sale with…
I've long considered going to Sonos, but I think i'll stay with my Plex VM and my NAS
Plex just updated their privacy policy to infuriate users before walking it back after many people complained loudly.
I wish MediaTomb or Ampache was a better DLNA server than Plex.
Anyone have another suggestion for a pair of wifi speakers that can be assigned to Left/Right to get stereo and can be network streamed to and have another device on the network with a line-in? I was about to buy 2 Play1's and a Connect to do a stereo install in a room where I don't want to run speaker cable. I had researched wackier home-built solutions and was going to give up and go for the Sonos. Now I'm once aga…
look into the squeezebox ecosystem.
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My degree is in mechanical engineering, but I work in software development. Software is eating the world for good reasons. How many gates would it take to have a pure hardware decoder for ATSC? A microcontroller-based dishwasher timer is much cheaper to design and manufacture, and wears out more slowly under many conditions, than a mechanical timer. I wouldn't be surprised if a micontroller could wring another 1% eff…
The "Smart" in the post you replied to stands for something else than your examples (which are absolutely valid uses cases!). We could summarize it as "needlessly Internet connected, reporting to some endpoint in the cloud outside of your control, which is now a point of failure". Indeed my dishwasher is likely more reliable, and my fridge can get more efficient with a microcontroller. But the 2017 version is likely…