Posts by McBiter

Latest patent brouhaha: Sonos wheels out Doomsday device in bid to block Google Home sales.... The Register

There goes another one

Surely the American anti-trust laws should be used more to prevent a 'minnow' being stangled by a leviathian.

Sadly SONOS seems to be an a hiding to nothing. If they win and get significant damages they could repay all their shareholders and quit or lose and watch their market being gobbled up.

How long will it be before your home audio has not only a microphone but a camera to ensure the 'safety' of your environment. Will you know when it's on or off? Do you know what data is kept?

Progress?

It seems to me the barriers to innovation are increasingly high resulting in near monopolistic control, Not exactly in a consumers interest.

Smart speaker maker Sonos takes heat for deliberately bricking older kit with 'Trade Up' plan

Re: The Ponzi-model

Yes- within limits an excellent idea.

I'm a great believer in using high quality previously owned products, especially those whose life is likely to be good and have not been superceded by genuine technical inovation.

While there are undoubedly improvements to the newer models offered by SONOS many of the simpler aspects on which they were originally sold remain valid and their quality, both percieved and actual, good.

Given the need to produce a product aimed at the higher end of the market and that part of that mandate must be quality, it seems counter productive, particularly in todays more ecologically aware climate, to effectively destroy a perfectly good product mainly to promote new sales.

Certainly there is the issue of on-going support but the underlying philosophy is evidently driven by sales and developement. The challenge in the wings from Google and Amazon must be intimidating given they seem to be closing in on the same market and the need to promote new and technically adept product high but the marketing might be better suited to a reverse logic 'we didn't brick your old sonos because that would hurt the planet'.

I'd pay- not $20 a year- but I'd pay a small sub. to keep my kit vaguely up to date and to have an altewrnative to Alexa or whatever.

Sonos will deny updates to those who snub rewritten privacy terms

Digital bullying

I own and use a Sonos system linked into traditional speakers. Why? Because I can easily access all my stored music and some online services like the radio and spotify using an iphone.

In contradiction of some of the earlier posts there is no similar system easily available of anywhere near the same capability ( no this is not an advert!) It can be flaky and loses connection regularly but it works.

I resent being forced to give away more details about my life but we are told this is the price of progress.

No doubt the next move will be to charge users for use of the product on a regular basis ( the Microsoft model)

How about someone creates a competitor?

UK local govt body blasts misleading broadband speed ads

I'm a rural user.Despite being about 2 miles from the box we used to achieve acceptable speeds of around 4Mb BUT in the last couple of years the speed has deteriorated and of late, with regular drop outs lasting 2-3 minutes.I suspect this is due to inadequate capacity of some piece of kit along the way and the increased number of users added of the same period.

I understand the need to make a return on an investment; I understand the resources needed to develop the network but what I do not understand is the timidity of the regulator and the bared faced lies uttered by the main provider, Outreach.

10 years ago it might have been possible to underestimate the future needs of the population in terms of electronic connectivity but the evidence of miscalculation is now so profound that it will hinder future productivity. This continued self approbation by BT and it's sidekick, OpenReach, demonstrates monopolistic disdain yet again.

Some honesty in their accepting earlier assessment of demand was inadequate allied to measurable ( and not by their own 'up to' standards) targets might defuse the significant distrust currently displayed.

And a regulator with some balls!