They weren't defending, they were attacking.

Sonos didn't develop anything new or novel in this case - they patented something which arguably should not be patentable, which is the ability to adjust the volumes on all speakers at once.

It's rational for companies to patent everything under the sun as a defensive moat, so they don't get themselves trolled, but this is trolling on their part.

If Sonos sat on this patent, that would be fine, but they're trying to troll other companies, it doesn't matter that it's Google and we hate them, it's dumb.

If Google had copied some core special tech that was the result of Sonos R&D that would be a different story.

Just a heads up, Sonos was going to brick working devices to convince people to upgrade but public uproar convinced them not to.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/5/21166777/sonos-ending-recy...

Yep! I'm aware. Conversely, the AI that runs Google has never halted the shutdown of a product due to public uproar (to my knowledge). It’s nice to know which orgs will flex under public pressure towards consumer utility.

Sonos was going to brick working devices for people who were in the recycling program not quite the same as brick to convince people to upgrade. Not say its much better but not quite as ugly as your suggestion.

Fair enough - I don't really offer a great solution here.

I don't believe there is one. Optimize for yourself.