Photo: Spotify
Man, this feels good! If you bought Spotify's oddly named Car Thing, you literally threw $90 out of the window.
The company announced the end of the device two years ago, promising to let Car Thing run for customers who paid nearly 100 bucks for an easier way to control music playback behind the wheel.
Spotify has apparently changed its mind, just like it did with Car Thing in the first place. The device will soon be turned into a rock, as the company will brick all units still left out there. It won't offer a refund either, so you're left with a device that Spotify says you should dispose of according to the local regulations.
What's changing now?
Spotify originally claimed it was pulling Car Thing because of common issues hit by companies without the hardware know-how and now trying to expand in this space: slow demand and supply chain challenges.
Spotify knew it was ridiculous to kill off a product that it proudly announced only a year earlier, encouraging users to pay $90 mostly for a car-optimized interface, so it decided to stop selling Car Thing but allow the units that customers purchase to operate normally.
The company says that's changing, as on December 9, 2024, Car Thing will be bricked once and for all. This means that the Car Thing units that are still in use will no longer be operational, and Spotify instructs customers to "contact your state or local waste disposal department to determine how to dispose of or recycle Car Thing."
In plain English, your Car Thing will soon be as useful as a rock, so beginning in December, you can throw it away and forget it existed.
Spotify explains that it has no plans to launch a second-generation Car Thing (what a shock) and emphasizes that users can continue running the app and listen to their favorite tunes behind the wheel using the mobile app. Spotify offers a car-optimized UI, so you don't need Car Thing to play music in the vehicle. You can also connect the mobile device to the vehicle's speakers via Bluetooth.
Spotify's experiment was mainly dead on arrival, as the company believed a $90 device could compete against Android Auto and CarPlay at a time when most new vehicles on the road shipped with such functionality pre-loaded. Running Spotify on the dashboard screen with Android Auto and CarPlay feels more natural, not to mention that drivers wouldn't have to spend extra on a device that only serves as a UI for the music interface.
I'll add Car Thing to the list of the biggest tech flops, alongside Windows Vista, the Microsoft Band, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (albeit I liked this one), and the Apple Car.
Spotify has apparently changed its mind, just like it did with Car Thing in the first place. The device will soon be turned into a rock, as the company will brick all units still left out there. It won't offer a refund either, so you're left with a device that Spotify says you should dispose of according to the local regulations.
What's changing now?
Spotify originally claimed it was pulling Car Thing because of common issues hit by companies without the hardware know-how and now trying to expand in this space: slow demand and supply chain challenges.
Spotify knew it was ridiculous to kill off a product that it proudly announced only a year earlier, encouraging users to pay $90 mostly for a car-optimized interface, so it decided to stop selling Car Thing but allow the units that customers purchase to operate normally.
The company says that's changing, as on December 9, 2024, Car Thing will be bricked once and for all. This means that the Car Thing units that are still in use will no longer be operational, and Spotify instructs customers to "contact your state or local waste disposal department to determine how to dispose of or recycle Car Thing."
In plain English, your Car Thing will soon be as useful as a rock, so beginning in December, you can throw it away and forget it existed.
Spotify explains that it has no plans to launch a second-generation Car Thing (what a shock) and emphasizes that users can continue running the app and listen to their favorite tunes behind the wheel using the mobile app. Spotify offers a car-optimized UI, so you don't need Car Thing to play music in the vehicle. You can also connect the mobile device to the vehicle's speakers via Bluetooth.
Spotify's experiment was mainly dead on arrival, as the company believed a $90 device could compete against Android Auto and CarPlay at a time when most new vehicles on the road shipped with such functionality pre-loaded. Running Spotify on the dashboard screen with Android Auto and CarPlay feels more natural, not to mention that drivers wouldn't have to spend extra on a device that only serves as a UI for the music interface.
I'll add Car Thing to the list of the biggest tech flops, alongside Windows Vista, the Microsoft Band, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (albeit I liked this one), and the Apple Car.
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