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from the planned^Wscheduled-obsolescence dept.
Sonos, the consumer electronics company known for audio streaming and "smart" speakers, has decided that the music controller device, the "CR100", has reached end of life. By which they mean they will be pushing a software upgrade that will kill it.
... the next Sonos update in early April will turn off the CR100 connection -- unless you decide you don't want any updates at all. (Make sure you set that up in advance -- if you accept the update, you can't undo it and go back to using the old controller.)
That means if you want to keep on using a device you're happy with, you have to give up all the new features on all your Sonos speakers.
The company says its primary concern is the age of the lithium ion batteries in the controllers; although in that case an official device recall would be better than an update that stops them working - and a battery replacement scheme would handle the problem just as well.
Although the controller is old (Sonos stopped selling the CR100 in 2009) it is still perfectly functional for many users. However, according to a forum posting explaining the options these users will have to choose between the CR100 and the functionality of the rest of their system:
... opting not to update means you will not receive any new features or future security patches for your entire system – not just the CR100. For example, being on an unsupported version means that you might lose connectivity to music services, as is already the case for Google Play Music on the CR100. It is necessary to configure your system in advance to avoid future updates. Any update applied to the firmware and/or to the app, even unintentionally, is irreversible.
Originally spotted on The EEV Blog Youtube channel.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 12 2018, @02:31PM (1 child)
What? You don't want to re-purchase our product ever several years? Be a good little consumer nigger and buy what we tell you to buy. Look, they have blue LEDs! Niggs love blue LEDs!
(Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday February 13 2018, @07:08AM
Yep... troll.... but your message is loud and clear. We keep buying crap. So they keep making crap. And getting our money.
Not everyone out there is a Soylentil. Most of us have the technical acumen of knowing crap when we see it.
But there are an awful lot of people who are swayed by presentation more than substance. And those guys keep being taken to the cleaners... over and over and over. And they keep funding all this crap.
I have said it before, and I will say it again..... for some people, presentation is everything. Even shit will be received as a delicacy - if correctly presented.
And they end up with all the shit.
And our landfills overflow with shit.
While "businessmen" grin all the way to the bank with the funds given by people gullible enough to fall for their sales pitch.
If one thinks education is expensive, try ignorance. And I do not mean "university". I mean dig into things youself - ask questions - be curious as to how your stuff works. Don't delude yourself into thinking someone else is going to try to guarantee you a happy life. You are the captain of your ship, and if you don't know how your engine works, you are gonna be in for a helluva lotta trips to the cleaners.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]