As an aside, a woman I was dating about three years ago wanted me to take a look at her Sonos to see if I could get it working.
We never quite got to that stage before the relationship ended. Sounds like I dodged a tech support bullet.
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
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Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
#52Patrick 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."
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Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
#53So what are people using instead of Sonos AMP for home sound control?
Apple airplay works flawlessly. Or you can buy an old Amazon fire and connect them to your own hardware. Both of these solutions allow you to use any speaker/amp setup you choose. And if you truly care about sound quality, this is the only path.
What’s a good way to Airplay to your own speakers?
Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
#54I’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…
This seems like a strange gripe for this thread. That is something you could have looked up before purchasing the speaker.
I also might be in the minority but I much prefer Wi-Fi streaming to Bluetooth in my house.
Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
#55My 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…
This was always Sonos' destiny, from my perspective the current state of affairs is not an accident, it was always the whole business model of the integrated "home audio system" brand they are building.
Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
#56They violated the "Things You Should Never Do, Part I" rule: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-... It's such a TEMPTING rule to violate... The amazing part was how BAD it went, supposedly engineers were raising every red flag possible that it wasn't ready and still they did it. Considering how bad it was I can't imagine having any faith in anyone up the chain of command having the power, or…
The rewrite couldn't have caused this, because there was a single German developer who wrote a usable app, see this comment elsewhere [1].
Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
#57I’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…
> If you’re an Android user, the limitations are even more frustrating. Playing music directly from YouTube isn’t possible without jumping through hoops Unfortunately that's due to Google's bullshit. There's a lack of appropri APIs, that's why you'll notice that any "smart" audio device (by smart I mean, integrates directly with music streaming services/locally stored music) doesn't support YouTube nor YouTube Music.…
Soooo maybe Sonos could just put bluetooth on their speakers then?
I get that google is shitty, but that doesn't make sonos a saint.
Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
#58They violated the "Things You Should Never Do, Part I" rule: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-... It's such a TEMPTING rule to violate... The amazing part was how BAD it went, supposedly engineers were raising every red flag possible that it wasn't ready and still they did it. Considering how bad it was I can't imagine having any faith in anyone up the chain of command having the power, or…
The rewrite couldn't have caused this, because there was a single German developer who wrote a usable app, see this comment elsewhere [1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42683999
I think the article actually goes into detail why a rewrite does cause these things. The reasons matter.
Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If you’re an Android user, the limitations are even more frustrating. Playing music directly from YouTube isn’t possible without jumping through hoops Unfortunately that's due to Google's bullshit. There's a lack of appropri APIs, that's why you'll notice that any "smart" audio device (by smart I mean, integrates directly with music streaming services/locally stored music) doesn't support YouTube nor YouTube Music.…
Google Assistant also stopped working abruptly on many devices, Sonos included for months. This guy did exactly what some Google exec wanted, which was to exact revenge on Sonos over a patent loss.
The patent on changing volume for more than one speaker at a time? That was such bullshit. The software changes forced by the ITC ruling forced Google to basically break speaker groups.
Not a surprise that might have resulted in some frayed business relationships.
Re: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence steps down after disastrous app launch
#60Sonos hardware is the stuff I see at thrift stores for ~$8 and won't even bother with. When you're as user hostile as they are you end up in landfills. Wish somebody would figure out how to unlock them and convert them into general purpose music streaming systems.
Someone finally did for at least the Sonos One. After selling it in stores they quickly abandoned it. The CEO promised air play 2 update while it was being sold and then back peddled after discontinuing it. At first they said they would retire it entirely and effectively kill it. They eventually back peddled on that too after massive backlash. This was when I decided never to buy their locked in garbage again. Meanwh…
Huh? Sonos has done lots wrong lately, but the Sonos One does natively support Airplay 2, was in stores for over 7 years, and still works with the current Sonos software as well as, uh, anything does these days. Perhaps you're thinking of something else?