74 22 Jan - 4 Feb 2020 Do you agree? Let us know at [email protected]
recyclingcentrethanshipit backto
SonosHQ,whichis undoubtedlytrue.
Butif youwerethinkingofrecyclingin
themostenvironmentallyfriendlyway
possible– bydonatingthespeakerto
friends,familyorcharityforsomeone
elsetoenjoy
yourunwanted
devicewithout
inflicting
anyfurther
environmental
damage,Sonos
is havingnoneofit.Infact,toqualifyfor
thediscount,youliterallyhavetopress
a self-destructbutton.
BeforeSonosdeliversyourtrade-in
discount,youmustusetheSonosapp
toputyourspeakerin whatthe
companyironicallycallsRecycleMode.
Thisstartsanirreversible21-day
counter,attheendofwhichallyour
personaldatawillbewipedandthe
devicepermanentlydisabled.“During
thecountdownandoncetheproduct
hasbeendeactivated,theproduct
Forcing customers to brick trade-in speakers
could destroy Sonos, argues Barry Collins
Page 404
cannotbere-addedtoanysystemor
usedtosetupa newSonossystem,
evenif theproducthasbeenresetto
itsfactorysettings,”accordingto
theSonossupportpage.Your
perfectlyfunctionalSonosspeaker
willbeturned
intotheplanet’s
mosthigh-tech
doorstop– or,
morelikely,be
hurledatopthe
giantpileof
electronicswasteatyourlocaldump.
Whyis Sonosforcingcustomersto
decommissionperfectlyfunctionalkit?
A CommunityManagerontheSonos
supportforumsexplainsthat“while
we’reproudofhowlongourproducts
last,wedon’treallywanttheseold,
second-handproductstobethefirst
experiencea newcustomerhaswith
Sonos.Wehopethatin upgradingto
thelatestandgreatest,peoplewill
recycleresponsibly,andwefeelit’sthe
rightdecisiontomakerecyclinga
conditionofthisoffer.”
Youdon’tneedanMAin Cynicismto
arguethatartificiallybrickingthoseold
speakersalsoreducesthesecond-hand
Sonosmarket,whichmeansthe
companycansellmorenewdevicesto
keepitsshareholdershappy.Whocares
if theplanet’scookingaslongasthe
profitskeeprolling,eh?
Still,oneotherthingoccurstome
aboutSonos’sspeakers.If pressinga
buttonin anappis enoughtorendera
speakerimpotent,it’sprobablynot
beyondthecapabilitiesofhackersto
brickcustomers’devicesremotely.If an
attackonSonos’sself-destructing
speakersendsupdestroyingnotonly
millionsofdevicesbutthecompany
itself,youcan’tsaySonosdidn’thave
it coming.
Who caresif theplanet’s
cookingaslong asthe profits
keeprolling?
t the time of writing, an area the
size of Belgium is burning in
Australia and half a billion
animals are estimated to have
perished in the blaze. At the same time,
the leaders of two UK environment
agencies have warned that this year is
our final chance to save the planet from
an irreversible rush toward oblivion. You
don’t need to be Greta Thunberg to
realise that the Earth is in dire trouble
- and yet still some tech companies
haven’t got the memo.
Take Sonos, for example. The
company – like many others – is offering
a trade-in programme for its range of
smart speakers. Hand over one of your
old models and you can get up to 30%
off the cost of a new one.
However, it seems Sonos isn’t
particularly bothered about getting
customers’ old speakers back. In fact,
it positively encourages users to recycle
their speakers locally, arguing that it’s
more environmentally friendly to
dispose of your old speaker at a nearby
Illustration: Andrew Torrens
Sonos speakers are
environmentally unsound