Picked up a "Grace" digital internet radio yesterday, when it powered up and I connected to my router, I expected it to "just work" like the Logitech radios I've found. Come to find it's truly trash, by design. Apparently this radio is wholly dependent upon the existence of some "3rd party service provider" and during some corporate shuffle, that went away. So all the radios built in this way are hence, trash.
It's hard for me to imagine building something in this way... Planned - or unplanned - obsolescence. Whomever took the money and ran, should be obligated to "clean up the mess" as a cost of doing business in such a way - hard coded. Apparently, adding the functionality to allow entering an ip address, assigning a button to that and connecting to the "stream" of that ip was too difficult to have as a self contained function. No, it has to connect to the server somewhere to handle that.
Personally, I put that well into the category of "dirty pool". Maybe next is your car, when America cuts the internet to, say, outside countries, it just stops working. Too bad - you get the service from it you got.
I paid <$5 for it at the Thrift store. It's certainly not the money spent for the privilege of disposal; it's what the construction represents that I find abhorrent. The endpoint, still electrically working, but useless. I was mostly hoping to use it for an assumed internet connected nightstand clock, but it wouldnt even provide that for me. I had no idea of the situation when I picked it, mostly because it's simply beyond my imagination someone would build such a thing that way.
I read where people have made tremendous effort to get such radios working again, I assume driven by the energy of being so pissed off about it. One involves reconstruction of the server locally, but I believe you'd have to have done it before the online service shuts completely, to get the station buttons defined.
C'mon... Could they have deigned it any worse? No "healthy" shame, apparently.
It's hard for me to imagine building something in this way... Planned - or unplanned - obsolescence. Whomever took the money and ran, should be obligated to "clean up the mess" as a cost of doing business in such a way - hard coded. Apparently, adding the functionality to allow entering an ip address, assigning a button to that and connecting to the "stream" of that ip was too difficult to have as a self contained function. No, it has to connect to the server somewhere to handle that.
Personally, I put that well into the category of "dirty pool". Maybe next is your car, when America cuts the internet to, say, outside countries, it just stops working. Too bad - you get the service from it you got.
I paid <$5 for it at the Thrift store. It's certainly not the money spent for the privilege of disposal; it's what the construction represents that I find abhorrent. The endpoint, still electrically working, but useless. I was mostly hoping to use it for an assumed internet connected nightstand clock, but it wouldnt even provide that for me. I had no idea of the situation when I picked it, mostly because it's simply beyond my imagination someone would build such a thing that way.
I read where people have made tremendous effort to get such radios working again, I assume driven by the energy of being so pissed off about it. One involves reconstruction of the server locally, but I believe you'd have to have done it before the online service shuts completely, to get the station buttons defined.
C'mon... Could they have deigned it any worse? No "healthy" shame, apparently.
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I would just use an old laptop with a broken screen and set up the URLs for the listen now buttons in the bookmark folder of the browser. Add a backlight kill switch to save energy.
My personal philosophy when I donate something to such stores is that it's actually something they can sell, that someone can use.
Those who donate literal garbage are doing the store a disservice. I'm sure there's interesting percentages around that practice and those move over the years. Move too far and we dont get to have Thrift stores anymore, which I'd be surprised wont be "illegal" sometime soon.
But my post was more about the design of something, such that when you pull the plug over there, that stops it from working over here. Kind of like the dark side of heated seats that are already in the car you purchased, but have to pay a subscription to "enable". Yum...
I could start a project with the rPi 3b I have; could have put the $4 toward a touch screen for it... I have the amplifier hat. Small FR Drivers.
I keep an old A20s phone that has a 3.5mm jack for use as a media player, including radio garden etc. I have a 128G card in it that holds my music library and more. Recently, it needed a new battery which cost me about $27 on amazon. Replacing the battery on such phones is not easy but it turned out well.
Yes, a similar experience from a recycle store. Item provided (mono) audio over wifi for halls. meetings, etc for hearing assist to listeners phone.
The corresponding app would not connect to the device.
Contacted manufacturer (USA) who were very helpful ! 😎... BUT despite the device having advertised OTA firmware upgrade to allow for new app I was informed the device couldn't be updated OTA and would have to be returned to base for @$500.00 new chip that would allow firmware to be upgraded OTA.
You can guess my reply.
I found an Open Source Wifi audio sending software and now use the original device for its Hearing Assist DSP settings and feed the output to a Linux laptop using Sonobus to send via wifi. 🙂
(for reference the wonderous open source audio over wifi is here. Multi-platform...install sender on one device and the receiver app on another -used an android phone- and can configure for stereo or multichannel and set latency and quality (using 44.1/16 currently.)
https://sonobus.net/
The corresponding app would not connect to the device.
Contacted manufacturer (USA) who were very helpful ! 😎... BUT despite the device having advertised OTA firmware upgrade to allow for new app I was informed the device couldn't be updated OTA and would have to be returned to base for @$500.00 new chip that would allow firmware to be upgraded OTA.
You can guess my reply.
I found an Open Source Wifi audio sending software and now use the original device for its Hearing Assist DSP settings and feed the output to a Linux laptop using Sonobus to send via wifi. 🙂
(for reference the wonderous open source audio over wifi is here. Multi-platform...install sender on one device and the receiver app on another -used an android phone- and can configure for stereo or multichannel and set latency and quality (using 44.1/16 currently.)
https://sonobus.net/
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It is clear the business model of many companies is to create dependency on their product or service. Streaming companies are similar. The consumers that are fond of convenience let such companies create even more dependence. At the same time time such companies also create other paths to gather money like introducing advertising, change of their software so older hardware does not work anymore etc.
In the end one owns nothing and is happy 🙂
In the end one owns nothing and is happy 🙂
Yes, this was to be able to collect and sell user information to a 3rd party. A robber. More income.
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You could hack an RPi or similar in there to make it work again. Thats what I did to an old tube radio that did not pickup stations anymore. Its now my main radio in the workshop and it runs off the intrnet.