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This made me laugh. Until it didn't. Great satire is biting and just a bit too close to reality. Not too long ago I wanted to just setup a Bluetooth speaker fo

This made me laugh. Until it didn't. Great satire is biting and just a bit too close to reality. Not too long ago I wanted to just setup a Bluetooth speaker for my mom. It wasn't possible before I not downloaded the vendor's app, setup WLAN, accepted the data "privacy" rules everything including accounts of services used will be sent to the vendor) and then setup the connections to every device in the app (not sure about the last step). Nothing about any of this was described on the packaging or explained up front by the shop. Never again Sonos.

adhesive_wombat 5y ago
I bought a set of Sonos speakers for Christmas one year. They went back on Boxing Day because they were completely useless as they'd only play music via some bizarre app that couldn't read the formats and you couldn't just use Bluetooth so you're SOL if the place you get your media from hasn't "partnered" with Sonos. Such a scam.
- alar44 5y ago
  It's not a scam. It's a zone based music delivery system, not a standalone Bluetooth speaker. You bought the wrong thing.
  - Nextgrid 5y ago
    There's no reason one speaker can't act as a standard Bluetooth audio sink and then convert that to its proprietary wireless protocol & distribute it to the rest of the speakers.
    - alar44 5y ago
      Yeah there is, there's a framework built behind it. That would require building a completely different system for something it isn't really designed to do. I think a large portion of their customers probably prefer that isn't a feature as it's frequently used in business and they want to specifically control speakers to serve different audio and don't want people tampering with it. There are far cheaper Bluetooth speakers with better audio quality. When you buy Sonos stuff, the whole idea is having multiple/many of them. That's the entire point of the product.
      - nullfield 5y ago
        Funny how AirFoil doesn’t have this problem.
        alar44 5y ago
        It's not a problem. Not all things should have every feature. You're not the customer Sonos wants. Buy something else.
xg15 5y ago
> Never again Sonos. I know how you feel, but I don't see how Sonos in particular is to blame. This kind of bullshit has become so widespread you could already call it an "industry best practice". Sonos is just doing what everyone else is doing.
- secabeen 5y ago
  Sonos is also not really a bluetooth speaker. If you want that, you should spend much less on a UE Boom. Sonos has also starting putting Bluetooth LE into all their new hardware, so that they don't have to do a Wifi scan to find new devices. WiFi scan requires location permission on mobile (because you can ID your location if you know the BSSID of nearby APs), and it was confusing. If should be better soonish.
  - ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
    Bluetooth access requires location access as well, as it can be abused to the same end.
- xenonite 5y ago
  "Bandwagon effect".
tragictrash 5y ago
FYI there's this package called Snapcast which will do something very similar to Sonos. Runs great on a pi. I love the idea of Sonos but after the stunts they pulled sunsetting their expensive hardware plus the data collection, I will never purchase. This way, you own the hardware, freely pick your own DAC of any calibur, repairability is great, and you can hook it up to any audio source you want. No data collection.
alar44 5y ago
Yeah, that's not the use case for Sonos. It's not a Bluetooth speaker. They are designed to have a dozen of them and you can combine into different zones and have different music playing in different zones. It's supposed to be complicated, it's a far more advanced system than just a Bluetooth speaker. You wanted a spoon and bought a steamshovel. There's nothing wrong with the steamshovel, you just bought the wrong thing.
- sdoering 5y ago
  I love people victim blaming. I wouldn't have bought this crap if it were advertised as such. I bought an advertised small portable Bluetooth speaker. It didn't tell otherwise on the packaging. Nor at the store. You might blame the store for not informing me correctly. But blaming me for doing the wrong thing is quite an interesting move. Btw. not advertising the necessity of transmitting all your data from usage is probably not covered by the GDPR.
  - alar44 5y ago
    Victim blaming? Who is a victim? You? Because you expect the world to spoon-feed you everything you need to know? Return the fuckin thing and get something else. Maybe you could write the better business bureau a letter about how your speaker isn't perfect for you.
- dTal 5y ago
  That use case does not require sending info back to the vendor either.
urbandw311er 5y ago
It’s a shame you picked Sonos as your example because they’re one of the few use cases where such a setup procedure has some justification. They also have a really top quality product that’s sadly now under attack from jealous larger companies who are trying to erode their market share / FMA by limiting compatibility and features (see, for example, the degradation of Sonos app on iOS over last few OS releases)
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- sdoering 5y ago
  Well. I bought the comparable Bose speaker. It can be used as dumb but-speaker as well as integrated into a system (if I remember correctly - not a feature my mom was looking for). Easy setup. Great sound. Just works and I could walk her through setup from 600km distance.

adhesive_wombat 5y ago

I bought a set of Sonos speakers for Christmas one year. They went back on Boxing Day because they were completely useless as they'd only play music via some bizarre app that couldn't read the formats and you couldn't just use Bluetooth so you're SOL if the place you get your media from hasn't "partnered" with Sonos. Such a scam.

alar44 5y ago
It's not a scam. It's a zone based music delivery system, not a standalone Bluetooth speaker. You bought the wrong thing.
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  There's no reason one speaker can't act as a standard Bluetooth audio sink and then convert that to its proprietary wireless protocol & distribute it to the rest of the speakers.
  - alar44 5y ago
    Yeah there is, there's a framework built behind it. That would require building a completely different system for something it isn't really designed to do. I think a large portion of their customers probably prefer that isn't a feature as it's frequently used in business and they want to specifically control speakers to serve different audio and don't want people tampering with it. There are far cheaper Bluetooth speakers with better audio quality. When you buy Sonos stuff, the whole idea is having multiple/many of them. That's the entire point of the product.
    - nullfield 5y ago
      Funny how AirFoil doesn’t have this problem.
      - alar44 5y ago
        It's not a problem. Not all things should have every feature. You're not the customer Sonos wants. Buy something else.

xg15 5y ago

> Never again Sonos. I know how you feel, but I don't see how Sonos in particular is to blame. This kind of bullshit has become so widespread you could already call it an "industry best practice". Sonos is just doing what everyone else is doing.

secabeen 5y ago
Sonos is also not really a bluetooth speaker. If you want that, you should spend much less on a UE Boom. Sonos has also starting putting Bluetooth LE into all their new hardware, so that they don't have to do a Wifi scan to find new devices. WiFi scan requires location permission on mobile (because you can ID your location if you know the BSSID of nearby APs), and it was confusing. If should be better soonish.
- ThePowerOfFuet 5y ago
  Bluetooth access requires location access as well, as it can be abused to the same end.
xenonite 5y ago
"Bandwagon effect".

tragictrash 5y ago

FYI there's this package called Snapcast which will do something very similar to Sonos. Runs great on a pi. I love the idea of Sonos but after the stunts they pulled sunsetting their expensive hardware plus the data collection, I will never purchase. This way, you own the hardware, freely pick your own DAC of any calibur, repairability is great, and you can hook it up to any audio source you want. No data collection.

alar44 5y ago

Yeah, that's not the use case for Sonos. It's not a Bluetooth speaker. They are designed to have a dozen of them and you can combine into different zones and have different music playing in different zones. It's supposed to be complicated, it's a far more advanced system than just a Bluetooth speaker. You wanted a spoon and bought a steamshovel. There's nothing wrong with the steamshovel, you just bought the wrong thing.

sdoering 5y ago
I love people victim blaming. I wouldn't have bought this crap if it were advertised as such. I bought an advertised small portable Bluetooth speaker. It didn't tell otherwise on the packaging. Nor at the store. You might blame the store for not informing me correctly. But blaming me for doing the wrong thing is quite an interesting move. Btw. not advertising the necessity of transmitting all your data from usage is probably not covered by the GDPR.
- alar44 5y ago
  Victim blaming? Who is a victim? You? Because you expect the world to spoon-feed you everything you need to know? Return the fuckin thing and get something else. Maybe you could write the better business bureau a letter about how your speaker isn't perfect for you.
dTal 5y ago
That use case does not require sending info back to the vendor either.

urbandw311er 5y ago

It’s a shame you picked Sonos as your example because they’re one of the few use cases where such a setup procedure has some justification. They also have a really top quality product that’s sadly now under attack from jealous larger companies who are trying to erode their market share / FMA by limiting compatibility and features (see, for example, the degradation of Sonos app on iOS over last few OS releases)

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
sdoering 5y ago
Well. I bought the comparable Bose speaker. It can be used as dumb but-speaker as well as integrated into a system (if I remember correctly - not a feature my mom was looking for). Easy setup. Great sound. Just works and I could walk her through setup from 600km distance.