I don’t know. It feels/looks to me as if Roon took what was working as the basic library, cataloging, and discovery functions in 1.7 (which perhaps had a slightly outdated graphical interface) and tried to turn them into a ‘bag of features’ and ‘modern’ all over the map graphic design without dealing with the overall structure/big picture.
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“ We’ve always designed the product we want, not the product we are asked for.”
I don’t know…sort of feels like I’m funding a bunch of post-graduate students to play in their sandbox with no rules except their own.
They sold me on a piece of software and now are changing it as they deem appropriate without asking the users what they want. Says so right in the quoted statement from Danny.
It’s their right to do that, I’m sure, per the terms and conditions, but it sure feels like taxation without representation to me.
Unfortunately, I paid for a lifetime subscription, so I’m just along for the ride at this point. A ride I paid for in advance and now I’m in their car, on their highway, going whatever direction they feel like at any given time with no way to get out of the car without throwing away my investment.
Swell.
And before anyone jumps down my throat, this is MY opinion and it’s how I feel. You don’t have to like it, but you also might want to think twice before slamming me for my opinion. Yours will likely be different. Viva la difference.
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Yeah, most of the people I’ve been on vacation with have been tools.
Did I mention that I’m loving lockdown? 
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Ultimately, we can make our wishes known as feature requests, etc. but it’s up to Roon management to decide where they want to take their product and business. We can continue to agree and purchase the product, or disagree and look elsewhere. So far, I am pleased with the Roon product.
In the end, most customers probably are annual subscribers at $119 per year. If you just renewed and decide to bail, that’s not enough money to worry about. Even if you paid $499 or $699 for lifetime, it’s not worth losing sleep over.
I suggest people continue to use Roon 1.8 and give it a fair trial. Give Roon time to fix any bugs and respond to some of the major feature request. When the dust clears, if you’re still not satisfied, decide if Roon is maybe not the product for you.
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It’s interesting that if you do some research on this Ford quote and it’s implications, most commentators now argue that it’s a flawed way to approach business.
Where did @danny say Roon don’t listen to their customers? There’s a huge difference between ignoring customers that can’t verbalise what they want — I hate it! — and listening to what people need.
But I think the main point about that quote is innovation. And as long as Roon continue to innovate they’re doing the right thing.
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I think they work together. You have to have a clear vision to develop a successful product (“the camel is a horse designed by a committee”) but once that is done then you give the greatest possible priority to those who have bought it. But you have to remain true to the product vision or you lose everything.
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“Most” is not an interesting concept. What do the good ones say?
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You already threw away the investment. Google “sunk cost”. I’ve never understood the craze for paying for a lifetime subscription, myself.
What? Is there a scholarly citation to a review paper for this? It’s certainly provably high(er) risk than a modern incrementalism / product driven approach. But I don’t know anything about “most” commentators passing judgment on it as a strategy overall. It’s certainly Elon Musk, and arguably Jeff Bezos, and absolutely Steve Jobs. Are they wrong? No, they’re rare — lots of people go down this route and lose a lot of capital. But they’re definitely not “wrong” as a group, at least not in a methodologically sound sense that I can fathom.
I prefer lifetime subscriptions where you pay at the end, not the beginning. 
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If interested, why not research and find out? I considered posting citations, but figured I’d be accused of being selective… It’s increasingly difficult to have a good faith conversation these days.
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Why not assume good faith and do some reading? The articles are at your fingertips…
Totally agree. I buy and subscribe for items and services I want and NOT because the creator/designer had fun designing them for themselves.
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I do assume good faith. I also have some amount of background. But I have never read a paper (EDIT: on this topic); perhaps you are using a different scholarly database or search term that I don’t have. It may be that you’re construing terms differently than I am. I’d love to have the citation, as the article is not at my fingertips. That’s why I (in good faith) asked for it, and cited a few perceived (albeit highly anecdotal) examples. That’s how I roll.
They do, but most of those people are not successful product creators. Those who can’t build, teach.
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wow… I think I‘m out of here.
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There are a lot of folks on this forum vying for the title of Captain Obvious. If you want the title, you’re going to have to do way better than that. 
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