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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

#351

Post by w4der »

cogman10 wrote: post #299
ToniCipriani wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arguably HP open-sourced webOS, but they did also got backlash because they killed that entire product line without warning.

They killed the product line almost immediately after release. And they fired basically everyone they acquired from palm. It was a real shitty move.

It is a pretty sad story, and one that has been rather well told:

https://www.theverge.com/2012/6/5/3062611/palm-webos-hp-insi...

https://www.philmckinney.com/i-convinced-hps-board-to-buy-pa...

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

#352

Post by justinclift »

daseiner1 wrote: post #304
wwweston wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And some people have been advocating for Apple to do something similar with old iPhones and tablets for a decade, and there’s no sign. Their privilege but not great for the world.

Would you elaborate? Because my understanding is that Apple has offered outstanding support for older devices in terms of iOS support for quite old devices.

Apple don't give people the tools/keys/etc to load new OS (etc) onto a device once it's no longer supported.

So, at best the device can just be used with the latest version of the software Apple allows until it's a security nightmare and better off no longer used.

Instead, if Apple gave people the ability to load something (prob a Linux) onto those old devices, then those old devices could be used usefully for quite a few more years.

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

#353

Post by ranguna »

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…

Bose: does something bad. People: complain. Bose: undoes what they did and does something slightly better. You: complain.

I'm not sure I get the logic here.

Slowly but steadily I'm comprehending why companies are getting tired of some people. No matter what companies do, people will always complain. Don't get me wrong, there's always room for more improvement, but a slight complement for their slight improvement won't hurt anyone + a change in tone from complaining to suggesting improvements would be a nice bonus.

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

#354

Post by emptyfile »

daseiner1 wrote: post #304
wwweston wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And some people have been advocating for Apple to do something similar with old iPhones and tablets for a decade, and there’s no sign. Their privilege but not great for the world.

Would you elaborate? Because my understanding is that Apple has offered outstanding support for older devices in terms of iOS support for quite old devices.

[dead]

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

#355

Post by dear-leader »

hnlmorg wrote: post #346
troupo wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few years back Sonos was going to EoL and brick a huge humber of their "legacy" devices and that those devices would prevent new ones from getting updated. After backlash they reversed their decision and all devices remained functional: https://www.businessinsider.com/sonos-device-support-ceo-apo... However, I wouldn't expect anything from Sonos at this point in time.

And before that it was the “recycle mode” that actually bricked the hardware thus contributing to e-waste: https://www.whathifi.com/news/sonos-explains-why-recycle-mod... Sonos did revert that decision after mounting public pressure too. However they keep pull these kinds of stunts and then later apologising for it. My point is: are you actually changing if you keep making the same mistakes and then only saying “sorr…

I don’t understand what you mean when you say the whole smart speaker industry is crooked.

Every company that makes smart speakers is crooked? Or, the making and selling of smart speakers is inherently unethical?

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

#356

Post by hdgvhicv »

_yb2s wrote: post #313

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.

I have a speaker in the lounge and kitchen. Wr want to be able to listen to the same thing whichever room we’re in. Or perhaps we don’t.

Being able to say “play this stream in room 1,3,6 and this in room 4 and nothing in room 2,5,7” is a valuable feature for people who don’t live alone in a studio flat.

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

#357

Post by prmoustache »

daseiner1 wrote: post #304
wwweston wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And some people have been advocating for Apple to do something similar with old iPhones and tablets for a decade, and there’s no sign. Their privilege but not great for the world.

Would you elaborate? Because my understanding is that Apple has offered outstanding support for older devices in terms of iOS support for quite old devices.

> Apple has offered outstanding support for older devices in terms of iOS support for quite old devices

Did they gave instructions on how to unblock bootloaders. released the source code and drivers under an open source license?

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

#358

Post by prmoustache »

astrange wrote: post #323
awesome_dude wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whilst the support might be "outstanding" - the discussion is what happens once devices are no longer supported.

You can't release all the documentation just because the entire phone isn't supported. Many of the components come from other suppliers and aren't obsolete, and you can't just reveal all your suppliers' IP.

You could if you had a tiny bit of respect for your customers and obtained the necessary licenses to do so.

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

#359

Post by dspillett »

pavon wrote: post #263
dspillett wrote: post #53

This is not open sourcing any actual software or hardware it is “open-sourcing the API documentation for its SoundTouch smart speakers”. You might be able to point them at an alternative back-end¹ if you want the cloud features, but that will need to be written from scratch rather than being forked from code provided by Sonos. > When cloud support ends, an update to the SoundTouch app will add local controls to retai…

According to this comment[1] by an OSS developer working on reverse engineering the device, the documentation released doesn't allow them to implement an alternative backend. If I understand the purpose of the interfaces correctly from skimming the reverse engineering effort github[2], the API released documents the HTTP interface between the phone app and the speakers, which has been available for years, and covers…

Ah, that makes sense as well. Not sure why I fixated on what the speaker might call out to, and didn't think of what might want/need to control the speaker.

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

#360

Post by cogman10 »

w4der wrote: post #351
cogman10 wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They killed the product line almost immediately after release. And they fired basically everyone they acquired from palm. It was a real shitty move.

It is a pretty sad story, and one that has been rather well told: https://www.theverge.com/2012/6/5/3062611/palm-webos-hp-insi... https://www.philmckinney.com/i-convinced-hps-board-to-buy-pa...

I worked at HP as an intern during the saga. I even got to attend a training by the Palm team... Which wasn't great.

My impression just from that training is that WebOs was extremely mismanaged. The training was billed as a "how to write apps for WebOs" and it instead was an hour long meander by the Palm employee about how different the company culture is and how hard it became to do anything.

I had the distinct impression they didn't even know that the training was supposed to be before being assigned to do it.

I think that's indicative of everything. HP had this product that they were trying to shoehorn into the most bizarre places. At it's core it was a mobile Linux os which used html/css/JavaScript as the main user experience engine. And HP was trying to put that on printers and rack mount displays. The one place they didn't seem to care putting it was the mobile devices it was designed to target. They simply half assed the launch of a product.

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