
Sonos, Squeezed by the Tech Giants, Sues Google - coloneltcb
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/technology/sonos-sues-google.html
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sk5t
I almost want to root for Sonos here, but just can't, after their acts to
force account creation / login, hamstring the desktop setup application to
force setup via mobile app, etc. They've transitioned to the "good riddance"
category and any new speaker-type things in the house will be the old kind
attached to something that may or may not support AirPlay 2--or else dumb
bluetooth speakers.

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samfriedman
Not to mention their acquisition of possibly the only mature local-network
voice assistant (Snips) followed by immediately removing the local-only
option.

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trakout
Came here to mention this! Recently I spent some time evaluating snips, doing
some research and looking at documentation without actually starting anything.

Decided to dive in, only to realize they blocked new console sign-ups, having
been acquired by Sonos. Waste of time, I blame Sonos.

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tadeegan
That’s what you get for creating a closed system for connected speakers. You
get trounced by bigger fish who can do it just as well and have wider
integration.

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NoPicklez
Sonos speakers for a home theatre and multi-room sound system, still shits all
over Google and Amazon. By Far.

So in my opinion, Google may be able to do better but they haven't

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dsalzman
Sonos needs a pivot quickly. The high end residential control space is still
up for grabs. Control 4 and Crestron with their dealer/programmer networks are
the ultimate rent seekers. These homes have tons of legacy equipment that
wouldn't work with newer systems from AMZ/Apple/Samsung etc.

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gorkish
Agree in principal but I fear it is too little too late at this point; Sonos
has been leaning hard into thier "IP Portfolio" for a while now. To me their
core technology was basically to patenting clock sync over wifi for the
purpose of playing audio. Anyone developing a similar product who might even
consider that Sonos holds a patent should have a trivial time of producing a
non-infringing implementation. Nevertheless Sonos have somehow been able to
win some cases against some decent enough names like Denon, and now it looks
like they are going for real meat. I suspect Google to steamroll them in the
courts, but it may be lengthy and expensive to undo some of the legal
precedent they have established. Or Google could have signed a bad contract
with them in the past, which could further empower Sonos (bad for everyone.)

Despite its proprietary nature, when Sonos first came out I heavily
recommended it to many people because it solved a lot of problems and "just
worked" at a price point that was high but fair, especially given the apparent
quality and polish of the product. When it became apparent they were instead
committed to bleeding their own customers dry I completely gave up on them.
Was there ever any discussion on HN about how Sonos encourages their customers
to brick their current players when upgrading by offering deep discounts? This
practice is despicable.

I hate to say it but now I have come to judge people who buy Sonos negatively
as I feel they are uninformed consumers contributing to a malicious company.
This is a pretty dangerous place to be for a company reliant on their brand
and reputation.

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TheOperator
Google and Amazon could have stole nothing and Sonos would still be doomed by
their walled garden strategy in the long run.

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alex_young
Why not name Amazon at the same time? Seems like it's mostly the same legal
work to me...

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adamos486
They are attempting to set precedence with Google before going after Amazon
and others. Going against them all at once would likely bankrupt them.

