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Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch

theverge.com

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Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch

#21

Post by sagacity »

This story reminds me of the new platform and related apps that were launched for the public broadcaster in The Netherlands, NPO. Pre-launch there were rousing interviews explaining how they rebuilt the system from scratch in a way that would allow them to release often, innovate quickly and generally work in an agile fashion.

Meanwhile it has been over a year and basic stuff like "continue to watch next episode" and "child profiles" are still either broken or missing.

And, of course, the old (functioning) apps don't work anymore.

Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch

#22

Post by Bhilai »

I’m not an audiophile, but after hearing Sonos at a friend’s house and being impressed, I decided to purchase a speaker for my kitchen, where I often listen to music while cooking. I opted for the Sonos Five, assuming that Bluetooth connectivity would be a standard feature on a standalone speaker, especially at this price point. To my surprise, a speaker costing nearly $600 doesn’t support Bluetooth—it only works via Wi-Fi streaming!

If you’re an Android user, the limitations are even more frustrating. Playing music directly from YouTube isn’t possible without jumping through hoops, such as linking the Sonos app to YouTube or relying on third-party solutions. Ultimately, I returned the Sonos Five and chose a portable JBL speaker instead. It connects seamlessly via Bluetooth and gets the job done without any unnecessary complications.

Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch

#24

Post by wnolens »

I also started investing in Sonos recently and damn the software is terrible. While I wish I could get 100% of my money back, I'm not sure there any turnkey alternative that is better. Every time I research I come back with "Sonos sucks but it's still the best".

Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch

#25

Post by ubermonkey »

coreyh14444 wrote: post #15
fidotron wrote: post #7

My system has only been usable thanks to the efforts of a random German that wrote Sonophone; one guy outperforming a whole company. And Sonophone is very much "OK" in the sense it works, but it's got the strangest UI. This CEO, and his associated product management organisation, has completely destroyed all the goodwill that used to exist around Sonos, especially with respect to their ability to function almost enti…

Patrick was at Sonos for 12 years, and 14 years at RIM before that, so he doesn't really fit the MO of a "bouncer.

Well, with that resume he should get a new gig in no time!

Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch

#27

Post by mikeryan »

awnird wrote: post #11

Patrick destroyed a successful company, and will be receiving millions of dollars on exit. His current replacement was an executive at the failed Quibi service. Nothing in tech will improve until there are actual consequences for people like this. Serial failures just hop from job to job. ruining products and lives along the way.

Tom Conrad didn’t have anything to do with Quibi’s failure. The app was actually pretty cool. That was a bad business model which a good product couldn’t fix.

He’s a product guy going back to being CTO at Pandora. He seems like a pretty good interim choice all things considered.

Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch

#28

Post by coreyh14444 »

awnird wrote: post #11

Patrick destroyed a successful company, and will be receiving millions of dollars on exit. His current replacement was an executive at the failed Quibi service. Nothing in tech will improve until there are actual consequences for people like this. Serial failures just hop from job to job. ruining products and lives along the way.

I replied the same thing in another thread, but Patrick was at Sonos for 12 years, and 14 years at RIM before that, so he doesn't really fit the MO of a "bouncer."

Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch

#30

Post by ubermonkey »

canadiantim wrote: post #3

Sonos has been terrible vendor lock in for a long time. So user hostile

I mean, they were FOUNDED as a fairly turnkey solution -- lock in was baked in from the jump what, 20 years ago?

At that time they had a great product, and were doing something genuinely novel and cool. Then they sat on their hands for too long.

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