What´d be left of a Wiim (mini/Pro/Pro+) once the software will not be updated anymore? A DAC? Bluetooth? Trying to decide what Wiim to buy...

[phofman]

IIUC according to https://dockets.justia.com/docket/delaware/dedce/1:2024cv00131/84844 these patent infringements are claimed:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US10541883B2/en

https://patents.google.com/patent/US9213357B2/en

https://patents.google.com/patent/US7571014B1/en

https://patents.google.com/patent/US9164532B2/en

US10853023B2 - Networked playback device - Google Patents

An example playback device includes a first interface for receiving a first audio signal from a first audio source; a second interface for receiving a second audio signal from a second audio source; and a processor configured to: cause the playback device to playback the second audio signal...

patents.google.com

Some of them seem quite generic... yet were granted and apply...

 

[gwing]

So bad. Sonos join Apple on my list of things never to buy.

 

[Haskil]

The day the sky will collapse...

The sky is quickly falling in our domains... very quickly...
- Panasonic no longer supplies original lamps for projectors whose marketing ceased 5 years ago. And which were very expensive new when they were released.

- Quantity of CD, SACD, DVD, BD decks of all brands and at all prices are silent, because the laser deck is dead and is no longer available in spare parts... Some are not even automatically repairable : they are just exchanged for a new one during the warranty period and then disposable. I have one who after 2 years and around 150 comics read starts to no longer read them... trash then.

- a European audiophile said that his Dynaudio amplified hifi speaker was no longer repaired by its manufacturer who also did not have electronic boards for pure and simple change... If you looked carefully, an after-sales service station of this brand in Asia had some again and agreed to send it... The brand lost a customer... and quite a few others who read this testimonial...

So what will happen when Android reaches version XX?
My Sony ST tuner from 1974 still works... The FM will be removed and it will still work... It is already 50 years old... But perhaps we are wrong to think that a device must last a long time... Seriously: a 250 euro thing must live at least 10 years without problems related to its updates... See Netflix which writes to all its customers with an old ATV: it will not be supported from the end of July... What will I do? I fuck mine?

 

[Verig]

IIUC according to https://dockets.justia.com/docket/delaware/dedce/1:2024cv00131/84844 these patent infringements are claimed:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US10541883B2/en

https://patents.google.com/patent/US9213357B2/en

https://patents.google.com/patent/US7571014B1/en

https://patents.google.com/patent/US9164532B2/en

US10853023B2 - Networked playback device - Google Patents

An example playback device includes a first interface for receiving a first audio signal from a first audio source; a second interface for receiving a second audio signal from a second audio source; and a processor configured to: cause the playback device to playback the second audio signal...

patents.google.com

Some of them seem quite generic... yet were granted and apply...

Patent for a networked playback device? Ok, didn't see that coming.

 

[Phorize]

Once updates stop it will be useable until the proprietary protocols it mostky relies on evolve and are no longer backwards compatible. No one knows how long that will be, but it will surely happen before the hardware breaks down, at which point you will indeed have something close to a brick. It difficult for the manufacturer, everyone has been socialised to think that software isn't worth anything, and that hardware ought to be borderline free too. Frankly given the very low cost of the wiim the purchasers have very little right to complain if it's abandonware 3 years from now. Doesn't have to be that way though, Parks Audio have opened up the new phono stage API so the community could maintain it if they stop.

 

[jcarys]

Back to the original post, considering the cost differential, I would skip the Mini entirely. I can't find detailed S/N specs for your Arcam, but I suspect that the Pro is all you need. There's no need for an external DAC, take it's RCA output direct to your amp. I personally would go for the Pro Plus considering it's not that much more expensive, but it's higher specs are most likely going to be masked by your amp and speakers.

 

[ddaudio]

Once updates stop it will be useable until the proprietary protocols it mostky relies on evolve and are no longer backwards compatible. No one knows how long that will be, but it will surely happen before the hardware breaks down, at which point you will indeed have something close to a brick. It difficult for the manufacturer, everyone has been socialised to think that software isn't worth anything, and that hardware ought to be borderline free too. Frankly given the very low cost of the wiim the purchasers have very little right to complain if it's abandonware 3 years from now. Doesn't have to be that way though, Parks Audio have opened up the new phono stage API so the community could maintain it if they stop.

Same with Logitech Squeezebox: they shut down mysqueezebox.com earlier this year, which was needed for the Tidal and Pandora services, but because the server software is open source, it took the community only a few weeks to restore the services with plugins you can run on your local server. (Can't criticise Logitech in this instance, they kept mysqueezebox.com going for a decade after sales of Squeezebox hardware ceased.)

 

[mikemcsw]

The day the sky will collapse...

that could be any day...

 

[gwing]

that could be any day...

Nah, collapsing the sky isn't something that could plausibly happen let alone be likely to happen soon. Unless your physics is better than mine and you can suggest a plausible mechanism?

 

[Petrushka]

If subscription services stop working, revenue stops. Not likely.

I’d point out that despite the Sonos fiasco, gen 1 stuff still works. Sort of. Actually, some people are preferring gen 1.

 

[Petrushka]

The sky is quickly falling in our domains... very quickly...
- Panasonic no longer supplies original lamps for projectors whose marketing ceased 5 years ago. And which were very expensive new when they were released.

- Quantity of CD, SACD, DVD, BD decks of all brands and at all prices are silent, because the laser deck is dead and is no longer available in spare parts... Some are not even automatically repairable : they are just exchanged for a new one during the warranty period and then disposable. I have one who after 2 years and around 150 comics read starts to no longer read them... trash then.

- a European audiophile said that his Dynaudio amplified hifi speaker was no longer repaired by its manufacturer who also did not have electronic boards for pure and simple change... If you looked carefully, an after-sales service station of this brand in Asia had some again and agreed to send it... The brand lost a customer... and quite a few others who read this testimonial...

So what will happen when Android reaches version XX?
My Sony ST tuner from 1974 still works... The FM will be removed and it will still work... It is already 50 years old... But perhaps we are wrong to think that a device must last a long time... Seriously: a 250 euro thing must live at least 10 years without problems related to its updates... See Netflix which writes to all its customers with an old ATV: it will not be supported from the end of July... What will I do? I fuck mine?

Life goes on. I have FM tuners in storage, and a SiriusXM radar receiver, not used because of streaming.

Yesterday I stumbled across a Roy Orbison 45 of Running Scared. 66 cents. I bought it for nostalgia

My wife asked how I intended to play it. Simple. Technics 1200.

Sounded horrible, and not because of noise.