This was a PAIN to set up.\u00c2\u00a0 But BOY is it FANTASTIC!<\/p>\n
I realize it’s an iPod world.\u00c2\u00a0 But there’s nothing like hearing music through
SPEAKERS!\u00c2\u00a0 STEREO speakers, not those little ones by your computer, ones that
fill up your entire HOUSE with sound.<\/p>\n
I’ve had this shit in my house since March.\u00c2\u00a0 Not having the time to dedicate
to setting it up.\u00c2\u00a0 You see nothing’s easy with computers.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, it’s SUPPOSED
to be easy, but then you hit a wall…and the frustration drives you WILD!\u00c2\u00a0
You’re doing what the instructions tell you to, but the damn shit won’t work.\u00c2\u00a0
And you can’t go to sleep, do anything else, until it does.\u00c2\u00a0 You burn HOURS.<\/p>\n
Or maybe only minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s the conundrum.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean are you feeling LUCKY?<\/p>\n
Then they wanted the stuff back.\u00c2\u00a0 Which I gladly agreed to do.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean I
don’t live in that big a house, if I just turn it up in the living room I can hear
it in the bedroom.\u00c2\u00a0 Wireless music throughout the house?\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not the right
customer.<\/p>\n
Then they blinked.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, if I WOULD set it up…<\/p>\n
So I tore apart the giant box that’s been sitting in the living room and
found out it contained no speakers.\u00c2\u00a0 It was BIG enough to contain speakers, it
just didn’t.\u00c2\u00a0 That was part of the deal, I needed EVERYTHING, I mean I don’t have
an extra set of B&W’s sitting around.<\/p>\n
So they FedExed me speakers.\u00c2\u00a0 Called my bluff.<\/p>\n
So I tried to set the stuff up.<\/p>\n
And I got one of those error messages that drive you wild.\u00c2\u00a0 That tell you to
do something not in the manual, not on the Website…they expect you to be
CLAIRVOYANT!\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, I was just supposed to update the box via the controller.\u00c2\u00a0 You
know how to do that, DON’T YOU?<\/p>\n
Well, finally a Sonos support person e-mailed me the technique, and I got
over that hurdle, but then I had a tech conundrum.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you enable sharing and
punch a hole in your firewall?<\/p>\n
With "Newsweek" and the rest of the media warning that our identities are
going to be stolen, do you really want to make it EASY FOR THEM?\u00c2\u00a0 I got halfway
through on my Mac and I blinked.\u00c2\u00a0 Would my MP3s suddenly be visible to the
entire world, the RIAA?<\/p>\n
So I started over on my PC.\u00c2\u00a0 And got another error message that made no sense.<\/p>\n
And now I was pissed.\u00c2\u00a0 I was chewing up my time.\u00c2\u00a0 How great was this shit
anyway?<\/p>\n
Oh, they said they’d send somebody to my house.\u00c2\u00a0 But I like to figure this
stuff out myself.\u00c2\u00a0 The average person wouldn’t have somebody coming to his
house.\u00c2\u00a0 What if you lived in Pocatello?<\/p>\n
So I fired off an angry e-mail message…you know the kind you compose when
you’ve had just about as much tech frustration as you can endure…and they had
a tech rep call me.<\/p>\n
He assured me that nobody else could see my Mac.\u00c2\u00a0 That the hardware firewall
in my router would prevent this.\u00c2\u00a0 But then why is Walt Mossberg railing on and
on about the necessity of firewalls?<\/p>\n
That’s what this guy thought the problem was on my PC.\u00c2\u00a0 Zone Alarm was
preventing the unit from seeing the Sonos unit.<\/p>\n
But I’d followed the Zone Alarm instructions on the Sonos site.\u00c2\u00a0 Which, of
course, did not comport with the reality on my computer desktop, and I hadn’t
been able to solve the problem.<\/p>\n
So there was only one option left.\u00c2\u00a0 He was going to have to go in.\u00c2\u00a0 To my
machine.<\/p>\n
It was like "Fantastic Voyage".\u00c2\u00a0 I launched Firefox.\u00c2\u00a0 Entered a code.\u00c2\u00a0
Downloaded this little software program.\u00c2\u00a0 And suddenly, this guy in Santa Barbara
had taken over my computer.\u00c2\u00a0 I was just sitting at my desk, hands by my side,
and the mouse was moving!<\/p>\n
I guess there are geeks, then there are GEEKS!<\/p>\n
And I needed a geek of this caliber to solve my problem.\u00c2\u00a0 Even though my PC
was working fine, he said that it didn’t trust my wireless network.\u00c2\u00a0 He altered
a configuration so they’d play together.<\/p>\n
And there were other firewall changes to be made.\u00c2\u00a0 For a moment there, even
the GUY was frustrated.<\/p>\n
But, finally, having proven that I’m not a complete idiot, that there WAS a
problem, even though Hans didn’t think the installation would work, it DID!<\/p>\n
I told him not to go.\u00c2\u00a0 While he was still on he could help me configure the
Sonos box in the bedroom, the one attached to the speakers.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, it seemed
simple enough to me, but NOTHING had been simple to this point (although, if I had
been willing to risk it, I would have had none of these firewall problems on
my Mac, where the firewall is built into the operating system and there isn’t
a war behind the desktop, different software manufacturers fighting to control
your machine).<\/p>\n
And then, VOILA!\u00c2\u00a0 The whole fucking thing worked.\u00c2\u00a0 Just like that.\u00c2\u00a0 Pink
Floyd’s "See Emily Play" was pouring out of the speakers in my bedroom.<\/p>\n
That’s all I could play.\u00c2\u00a0 You see Sonos would stream all the MP3s on my
computer, it’s just that all my music files are on my Mac.\u00c2\u00a0 And I was on my PC.<\/p>\n
But my PC has Rhapsody.<\/p>\n
Apple will continue to win the war.\u00c2\u00a0 Asshole idiots like Howard Stringer, who
label the iPod "Dopi spelled backward", just don’t get it.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s very simple.
\u00c2\u00a0It’s about ease of use.\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t need any support to install Apple
software.\u00c2\u00a0 And you don’t need instructions on how to use it.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s INTUITIVE!\u00c2\u00a0 I’d
say a child can figure it out, but children are tech experts, I’d say in this
case a BABY BOOMER can figure it out.<\/p>\n
Whomever designed Rhapsody should be shot.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s COUNTERINTUITIVE!\u00c2\u00a0 Logic
doesn’t enter the picture.\u00c2\u00a0 There are dual sets of controls, multiple
libraries\/places where your music resides…it’s a TURN-OFF!<\/p>\n
But it turns out that Sonos only uses one facet of Rhapsody.\u00c2\u00a0 All the other
confusing junk is irrelevant.\u00c2\u00a0 To use Sonos, you just add a track or an album
to your library.\u00c2\u00a0 And this Hans taught me, and this was easy.\u00c2\u00a0 Not as easy as
iTunes, but understandable.\u00c2\u00a0 You search, you find, you click and then you add,
you hit the +.\u00c2\u00a0 And this would be a pain in the ass if you had to add tracks
individually, but you can just click once to add whole ALBUMS!\u00c2\u00a0 Of course you
have to keep searching, keep going back and forth to FIND those albums, but
once they’re in your library…<\/p>\n
You can find them on the Sonos controller.<\/p>\n
Turns out Sonos is Apple-like.\u00c2\u00a0 MOST of the commands, most of the features on
the controller, you can figure out almost immediately.<\/p>\n
So, after hearing "See Emily Play", which we added as a demo, after I let
Hans go, I went back into the other room and started adding tracks…\u00c2\u00a0 But this
was so SLOW!\u00c2\u00a0 Then, I figured out how to add all the tracks I’d played recently
on Rhapsody to my library.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, you click on the first, hold down the shift
key, and then click on the last.\u00c2\u00a0 Then drag them to the library.\u00c2\u00a0 Computer 101
if you’re a geek, a technique unknown by just about anybody else.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, I
searched for an easier way, but couldn’t find one.<\/p>\n
And then, with about fifty tunes in my Rhapsody library, I rushed into the
bedroom.<\/p>\n
You see, the stuff in your Rhapsody library is INSTANTLY seen by Sonos.<\/p>\n
And once in the bedroom, I could scroll through my entire library on the
controller, and dial up anything, INSTANTLY!<\/p>\n
Let me explain.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what Sonos is.\u00c2\u00a0 A way to stream the music on your
computer to speakers elsewhere wirelessly.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course you can do this with an
Apple AirPort Express.\u00c2\u00a0 Just one problem.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no remote for the AirPort
Express.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to be in front of your computer, or you’ve got to drag your
laptop with you, not the biggest pain in the ass, but do you want your
PowerBook on the patio table along with your gin and tonics?<\/p>\n
You plug a Sonos box into your network.\u00c2\u00a0 Into a router.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is NECESSARY.\u00c2\u00a0
You need one with a built-in hardware firewall, which I only found out from
Hans, on the phone.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve got two.\u00c2\u00a0 One DOESN’T have this firewall.\u00c2\u00a0 Although
most you can buy today do.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, you load the software on your computer,
authorize the box and you’re up and running.\u00c2\u00a0 (Assuming you have none of the
problems detailed above.)\u00c2\u00a0 THEN, you can stream music to the speakers attached to
the Sonos box.\u00c2\u00a0 You need a box for each set of speakers.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, this is
expensive, but everything cool IS in the beginning.<\/p>\n
Then, Sonos will stream all your music to wherever you have a box and
speakers.\u00c2\u00a0 WIRELESSLY!\u00c2\u00a0 Even different music to different boxes.<\/p>\n
Now just yesterday, Sonos introduced streaming of Internet radio stations.\u00c2\u00a0
It’s cool.<\/p>\n
But what makes Sonos so great, what puts a shiteating grin on your face, is
the interface with Rhapsody.\u00c2\u00a0 SUDDENLY, you can have just about the entire
library of popular music AT YOUR FINGERTIPS!\u00c2\u00a0 AND, you’re not limited to this, you
can ALSO play the music you’ve ripped (or stolen!)\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t play the tracks
you purchased at the iTunes Music Store, but did you expect otherwise?<\/p>\n
So imagine you were at Tower Records.\u00c2\u00a0 Or the Virgin Megastore.\u00c2\u00a0 Or some
other music retailer that still has an inventory.\u00c2\u00a0 Imagine being able to buy an
album JUST BY TOUCHING IT!<\/p>\n
That’s what it’s like with Sonos and Rhapsody.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re not married to your
computer, it’s just like in the old days, your music is coming out of your
regular stereo speakers, it’s just like you own it.<\/p>\n
Oh, yes, you’re renting.\u00c2\u00a0 But, as stated above, Sonos will play everything
you own too.<\/p>\n
But I know.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just like everything else tech.\u00c2\u00a0 You just don’t get it
until you USE IT!<\/p>\n
So I’m in my bedroom, lying on the bed, with the controller in my hand.\u00c2\u00a0 Very
easily I scroll and find all fifty tracks I transferred from my recently
played list in Rhapsody.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re easily findable.\u00c2\u00a0 Broken down by artist, album
and title.\u00c2\u00a0 I just navigate the menus, with an iPod like wheel with a center
click button, and I HEAR THEM!<\/p>\n
Bryan Adams’ "Open Road".\u00c2\u00a0 For the first time ever I’m hearing the track
through BIG speakers, REAL speakers, STEREO speakers.\u00c2\u00a0 It sounds rich, the sound
is washing over me, it’s embracing me, I’m bathing in it, I’m hearing it like
I’ve never heard it before.<\/p>\n
So I pulled up "East Side Story".<\/p>\n
It was easy.\u00c2\u00a0 I just pressed the back button, the one with the circular arrow
pointing backward.<\/p>\n
And I selected it.<\/p>\n
And on the screen of the REMOTE there was a picture of the album cover and
complete track information.<\/p>\n
It was THRILLING!<\/p>\n
So I went back into the living room,\u00c2\u00a0 And started adding albums from Rhapsody
like mad.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost instantly I had "Tumbleweed Connection" and the first Elton
John album.\u00c2\u00a0 And both Dido records.\u00c2\u00a0 And a ton of Doobies.\u00c2\u00a0 And all of Bryan
Adams.\u00c2\u00a0 And Boston.\u00c2\u00a0 (It’s easier to add the old stuff, it’s embedded in your
DNA!)<\/p>\n
Then I rushed into the other room and started dialing in tracks.\u00c2\u00a0 It was easy.<\/p>\n
But it wasn’t only the track I had control of.\u00c2\u00a0 I could adjust the volume of
the speakers, which I did when my landlady started walking by my house.<\/p>\n
I’m sure you still don’t get it.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, I didn’t.\u00c2\u00a0 Like I told you, I had the
shit in my house for MONTHS!\u00c2\u00a0 Just like XM…<\/p>\n
Maybe it’s because it’s not manufactured by Microsoft.\u00c2\u00a0 Sonos just works.<\/p>\n
Oh, there was that one initial glitch.\u00c2\u00a0 Asking me to upgrade the software of
the Zone Player box from the controller, with no instructions on how to do
this, but all my trouble after this was courtesy of the boys in Redmond.\u00c2\u00a0 Who
made their operating system so porous that I’ve got to run Zone Alarm to prevent
hackers from prying into my hard drive.<\/p>\n
If you came over.\u00c2\u00a0 Added your favorite albums from Rhapsody.\u00c2\u00a0 Held the
controller in your hand.\u00c2\u00a0 Heard your choices coming out of the speakers.\u00c2\u00a0 You’d be
just like me.\u00c2\u00a0 You’d have a shiteating grin on your face, amazed how fucking
COOL this is!<\/p>\n
(Meanwhile, maybe I spoke too soon.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly, "Where The Streets Have No
Name" crapped out.\u00c2\u00a0 I had to get up and check the PC.\u00c2\u00a0 Rhapsody had lost the
connection.\u00c2\u00a0 So much for STREAMING!\u00c2\u00a0 What’s worse, the program would not
only not reconnect, it wouldn’t even RELOAD!\u00c2\u00a0 I had to reboot the whole fucking PC.
I tell you, if you haven’t switched to Mac yet you’re a loser.\u00c2\u00a0 No viruses and
everything WORKS!)<\/p>\n
P.S. Rhapsody just crapped out again.\u00c2\u00a0 Meanwhile, it’s not an Internet
problem, I can still stream Internet radio from my Sonos controller.\u00c2\u00a0 They really
expect Rhapsody\/subscription streaming services to break through and be
dominant?\u00c2\u00a0 Is it that Windows users are so used to glitches that they’ll tolerate
bullshit like this?\u00c2\u00a0 I mean I’m supposed to get up every ten minutes and reboot my
computer?\u00c2\u00a0 These guys remind me of the Administration.\u00c2\u00a0 What they tell you
doesn’t comport with reality.\u00c2\u00a0 Plays for sure?\u00c2\u00a0 FUCKED FOR SURE! <\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This was a PAIN to set up.\u00c2\u00a0 But BOY is it FANTASTIC! I realize it’s an iPod world.\u00c2\u00a0 But there’s nothing like hearing music through SPEAKERS!\u00c2\u00a0 STEREO speakers, not those little ones by your computer, ones that fill up your entire HOUSE with sound. I’ve had this shit in my house since March.\u00c2\u00a0 Not having […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-1s","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}