Before we get into Apple's distressing decisions and actions, a bit of background: it's not the first (or even the second) time in recent years I've been unnerved to learn that relatively new pieces of audio hardware are being left behind. See Exhibit A, Spotify Car Thing. Released in February 2022 (for the princely sum of $90) it is being bricked by the big green streaming machine on December 9, not three years since its launch. The news caused such a furore among buyers that Spotify reportedly did a U-turn and started offering refunds.
Next, Sonos, which came under fire for its S2 app back in 2020 when it effectively left some of its own wireless speakers for dust (the ones that couldn't make the switch from S1 to S2). And we're not done. The multi-room audio giant updated its app again in May 2024 to much dismay, because key features in systems Sonos customers use every day weren't carried over. Further app updates ensued last month, but annoyance among customers persists, because a product or ecosystem is only as good as the company's continued software support for it.
