What Sonos Teaches Schools

A fascinating online article in Fast Company about the wireless wifi-based speaker system Sonos may suggest something important for independent and international schools. Sonos uses wifi to acquire digital audio and then projects it using any number of speakers in the same or different rooms. But, the Sonos marketers take a very deliberate and, for the audio industry, different approach to positioning their product. By strategic partnerships with retailers like Apple and West Elm ...

"'We can sell this product in a very different way than others can,' says [West Elm President Jim] Brett. 'It’s not going to be a Sonos speaker on a shelf next to a Sony speaker. This is about the way that we see ourselves being involved in people’s lives.'"

Anyone can make and sell speakers; indeed, there are dozens of high-quality speaker vendors in the world. It takes something special to be part of people's lives, not just another source of sound. Similarly, there are many sources for education, but it takes a unique school to integrate itself deeply into how families live. One of our colleagues calls this "being an interstitial school", and we couldn't agree more. Smart schools will pursue interstitiality as a goal, by finding waves to weave themselves into the lives of students and families.