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Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

arstechnica.com

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Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#311

Post by arjie »

Wafje wrote: post #225
ktg0215 wrote: post #8

This is how "end of support" should be handled. Instead of turning devices into e-waste, open-source them and let the community extend their life. Kudos to Bose for setting a good example. More companies should follow this approach - especially as right-to-repair becomes a bigger issue.

Bose should not receive praise for this move. Bose only took this action after community backlash. In an older version of their end-of-life announcement, most functionality of the speaker systems would have removed and transformed the devices into dumb-speakers/amps. Good that they changed their statement and took the right action. Even better for the community for stepping up and 'forcing' Bose to do so. Sources: ht…

I've got a simple formula in life for when people do things beneficial to me: I praise them for it and encourage them to keep it going. If someone does things antagonistic to my interests, and then corrects course in reaction to objection, they can be sure they're going to be rewarded. This has worked for me.

If your belief is that some other tactic works, then I can see why you'd do that. For my part, carrot + stick has always worked better than stick + more stick.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#312

Post by smarx007 »

marcosdumay wrote: post #150
port3000 wrote: post #6

Good for them. Makes me more likely to consider buying a Bose in future, not just because I know it won't be bricked, but also for the environmental impact of this. Kudos.

If I'm understanding it right, any new speaker you can buy from them will still be dependent of some cloud service. On that case, no, that wouldn't make me consider buying them. Because the one I can buy lacks exactly the feature that would make me consider it.

I am assuming that the GP was referring to buying these exact speakers second-hand, given how they spoke of the environmental impact.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#313

Post by _yb2s »

Why would anyone want a smart speaker, when every speaker acts as one when hooked to the sound output of a phone, wirelessly or wired?

I'll admit, I don't want or use 'smart' anything, and am currently trying to disable smart devices that were already present in my home from the previous owner.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#314

Post by Yodel0914 »

sosborn wrote: post #190
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To be more specific, Sound Reproduction Fidelity is not the same as Pleasant Music If a speaker reproduces some music with 100% accuracy and the result is unpleasant, doesn’t that just mean the original music—as created by the artist—is unpleasant? Where possible, I’d prefer a speaker that respects the artist’s decisions instead of inserting itself into the creative process.

Unless you are listening through the same studio monitors in the same room or headphones as the mixing engineer, it will never be the same. IMHO, people place too much importance on "accuracy". While accuracy might be objectively measured, it means nothing when it comes to individual taste.

There’s a whole field of research on this (look up Floyd Toole) - while any one individual can have skewed taste, on aggregate people prefer speakers that are as close to neutral as possible.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#315

Post by EdwardDiego »

arjie wrote: post #311
Wafje wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bose should not receive praise for this move. Bose only took this action after community backlash. In an older version of their end-of-life announcement, most functionality of the speaker systems would have removed and transformed the devices into dumb-speakers/amps. Good that they changed their statement and took the right action. Even better for the community for stepping up and 'forcing' Bose to do so. Sources: ht…

I've got a simple formula in life for when people do things beneficial to me: I praise them for it and encourage them to keep it going. If someone does things antagonistic to my interests, and then corrects course in reaction to objection, they can be sure they're going to be rewarded. This has worked for me. If your belief is that some other tactic works, then I can see why you'd do that. For my part, carrot + stick…

It works on dogs, children, and adults, the inability to praise the good because they did something bad prior feels like more of the online black/white moralism that used to characterise Twitter dogpiles.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#316

Post by cromka »

aeyes wrote: post #153
LetsGetTechnicl wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was reverse engineered, not opened by IBM

No, they published schematics and full BIOS source code. But it was not libre, they held the copyright to the source code. So to get around this, competing companies wrote a spec from the source code and then had another team which never saw the code implement a new BIOS from the spec.

That's exactly what blackbox reverse engineering is.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#317

Post by hnlmorg »

filoleg wrote: post #237
Wafje wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bose should not receive praise for this move. Bose only took this action after community backlash. In an older version of their end-of-life announcement, most functionality of the speaker systems would have removed and transformed the devices into dumb-speakers/amps. Good that they changed their statement and took the right action. Even better for the community for stepping up and 'forcing' Bose to do so. Sources: ht…

> Bose should not receive praise for this move. Bose only took this action after community backlash. They received the backlash, they responded to it by properly addressing the criticism and doing the right thing. It should be praised. Especially since it wasn't some PR-centric damage control, but an actual direct address of the specific points their original approach was criticized for. Compare Bose's response to th…

Sonos gets backlash every few years and they don’t change. It’s almost as if consumers are shit at boycotting companies.

Which does make Boses move even more impressive when you think about how it wouldn’t have affected their business to do nothing.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#318

Post by ssl-3 »

BobaFloutist wrote: post #166
JodieBenitez wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bose in general (there are many models...) is not what I'd call high-fidelity. It doesn't mean you can't enjoy your music or your movies with it. Just don't buy this if you care about transparency, otherwise it's usually a pleasing hearing experience. Their PA line is IMO overpriced and sacrifices too much to the design and weight.

I've been playing with the idea for a bit, can you give me an order of magnitude for "entry-level HiFi"? Even if that's an oxymoron, how many zeroes does it take to get an experience that's noticeably superior to, say, default car speakers or built-in Smart TV speakers?

Better than smart TV speakers? That's a low bar.

A $40 Bluetooth box from any big name brand is better than the speakers in a smart TV.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#319

Post by jameshart »

ktg0215 wrote: post #8

This is how "end of support" should be handled. Instead of turning devices into e-waste, open-source them and let the community extend their life. Kudos to Bose for setting a good example. More companies should follow this approach - especially as right-to-repair becomes a bigger issue.

It's definitely laudable. But does raise the question... why was the API not open in the first place.

Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers

#320

Post by rvz »

Wafje wrote: post #225
ktg0215 wrote: post #8

This is how "end of support" should be handled. Instead of turning devices into e-waste, open-source them and let the community extend their life. Kudos to Bose for setting a good example. More companies should follow this approach - especially as right-to-repair becomes a bigger issue.

Bose should not receive praise for this move. Bose only took this action after community backlash. In an older version of their end-of-life announcement, most functionality of the speaker systems would have removed and transformed the devices into dumb-speakers/amps. Good that they changed their statement and took the right action. Even better for the community for stepping up and 'forcing' Bose to do so. Sources: ht…

There is no winning or redemption after getting cancelled it so seems.
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