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Sonos's “recycle mode” intentionally bricks devices so they can't be reused

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Re: Sonos's “recycle mode” intentionally bricks devices so they can't be reused

#321

Post by asdff »

Hackbraten wrote: post #248
zxcb1 wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It is painful to realize that Apple has turned into that. My reference example is a Mac Mini and MacBook Pro which I bought around 2012. Both still work, and are upgraded with dual SSD and 16GB RAM. It is, however, not possible to upgrade or even reinstall the OS. Linux is now the only option, which without they would be useless. With my latest MacBook Pro, I already know that there are no upgrades, the keyboard…

> It is, however, not possible to upgrade or even reinstall the OS. I don’t feel it’s fair to expect a vendor to actively develop major feature upgrades for a seven-year-old computer. What keeps you from downloading and installing macOS High Sierra or Mojave on your 2012 hardware? Both versions still receive security updates, don’t they?

The 2012 can even install catalina.

Re: Sonos's “recycle mode” intentionally bricks devices so they can't be reused

#323

Post by TeMPOraL »

ryandrake wrote: post #235
TeMPOraL wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> stream audio from streaming services, which have APIs that change regularly, and require some level of DRM and subscription management That's a good point and it makes it even more important to push back - abusive, customer-hostile business models don't just affect the direct customers, they spread and infect everything downstream.

Sonos is a particularly horrible company though, with software particularly hostile to end-users. There are many cases where they actively prevent you from using the device that you bought. When a software update becomes available, you can no longer use the Sonos app or connect to a Sonos device, making the device essentially unusable, until you update your software. When Sonos, for example, changes their Terms of Se…

Thanks. I've never bought anything from Sonos so far, but after everything I've read here and in this thread, I'm blacklisting the company and will advise anyone I know to do so too.

Re: Sonos's “recycle mode” intentionally bricks devices so they can't be reused

#324

Post by TeMPOraL »

m-p-3 wrote: post #150
TeMPOraL wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of a certain very well known startup in beacon space. I visited them some 6 years ago, back when they were finishing their fist product - a nice-looking battery-powered Bluetooth beacon, completely encased in some kind of silicone. I asked them, well, what's the expected time until battery is completely discharged, and how do I charge it back or replace it? And the answers were, a year or three (depending…

Are you aware of any beacons like these that can be inductively charged, let's say with a Qi charger? I get that you want to keep them as small as possible (and disposable so that you buy more..), but the environmental cost behind that is too heavy IMO.

No, I'm unfortunately not aware of any, but I stopped paying attention to the field years ago, after it turned out to be almost entirely focused on surveillance capitalism.

But back then, the startup I mentioned had a local competitor too (which initially marketed itself to industrial and medical use, aiming to actually improve something in this world for a change - that's why I liked them, until they too pivoted to helping retail fleece customers). The beacons made by that competitor were designed to be opened, and to have the battery swapped when it died.

Re: Sonos's “recycle mode” intentionally bricks devices so they can't be reused

#325

Post by mongol »

o-__-o wrote: post #297
mongol wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have replaced my Chromecast Audio with Raspberry Pi with a Snapcast client. On the Snapcast server side I run a DLNA renderer ("gmrender resurrect"). This allows me to cast audio synchronously to multiple speakers using the Android app Bubble UPNP. Basically, instead of clicking the cast button in an app, I select share, then Bubble UPNP. One advantage to this is that I can "cast" Youtube and get the audio, which C…

The latency of your suggestion is making me cringe. Mpd if you desire a sonos-like synchronized low-lag experience. Streaming direct to pulseaudio is also an option, but requires bandwidth (uncompressed audio)

What latency are you referring to? Latency between the source and the sound from the speaker? For me is this only a problem for the audio that goes with video. For pure music I don't mind. But in the video case I switch to pulseaudio directly but obviously lose the multispeaker setup.

Re: Sonos's “recycle mode” intentionally bricks devices so they can't be reused

#326

Post by maweki »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #116
maweki wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's "illegal but we'll do it anyway since any penalty is less than what we made because of it" and there's "it's illegal so let's not do it as it puts our CEO in jail". I thought this was obvious.

ok but then from what I've observed of the world incredibly illegal would be if 1. the CEO ripped off a bunch of rich people 2. the CEO ran a cocaine smuggling operation with a handful of the board on their private jets. 3. the CEO murdered the hot intern he was dating and made up a particularly inept story about having been out sailing when it happened, even though being found with her blood all over his luxury pent…

Strange, right? It seems like in capitalism nothing is incredibly illegal for the rich.

Re: Sonos's “recycle mode” intentionally bricks devices so they can't be reused

#327

Post by LatteLazy »

reeddavid wrote: post #23

What a total waste. Apparel companies are starting to participate in the secondary market for their used gear, why can't Sonos do something similar? Examples: - Patagonia Worn Wear ( https://wornwear.patagonia.com ) - REI Used Gear ( https://www.rei.com/used/shop/gear ) - Arc'teryx Rock Solid ( https://rocksolid.arcteryx.com ) As it stands, Sonos is effectively buying their old speakers and then throwing them away. C…

Patagonia are famously environmental and not really run on a capitalist basis...

Re: Sonos's “recycle mode” intentionally bricks devices so they can't be reused

#329

Post by duelingjello »

kevmo wrote: post #162

This is a common tactic in America's industrial products.

IKR. I have a nice Anker waterproof rechargeable speaker w/ subwoofer that doubles as a battery bank that was $75. It seems darn durable and works for me. Screw Sonos.

Re: Sonos's “recycle mode” intentionally bricks devices so they can't be reused

#330

Post by Cougher »

mark-r wrote: post #243
SquishyPanda23 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get a number of small amps these days that will plug into the speakers and sound great. Many will also support Bluetooth so you can stream to your stereo.

Bluetooth is the biggest joke foisted on audio. Even at its best there is mandated compression, which means the highest quality signal will be mashed into a lowest common denominator piece of garbage.

Not to mention all the basement "remixers" who use audacity or whatever to "improve" the sound before they stream it, or max the volume to the point of constant red-lining, nevermind downgrading it to mp3 instead of using a lossless format.
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