Spotify’s brief attempt to become a hardware company wasn’t entirely successful: the company stopped producing the Car Thing dashboard accessory less than a year after going on sale to the public. Now, two years later, the device is on the verge of becoming completely inoperable. Customers who purchased Car Thing are receiving emails warning them that it will stop working completely as of December 9.
Unfortunately for these owners, Spotify doesn’t offer any kind of subscription credit or automatic refund for the device — nor is the company open source. Rather, it’s just canning the project and telling people to (responsibly) get rid of the Car Thing.
“We are discontinuing Car Thing as part of our ongoing efforts to simplify our product offerings,” Spotify wrote. Frequently asked questions on its website. “We understand it may be disappointing, but this decision allows us to focus on developing new features and improvements that will ultimately provide a better experience for all Spotify users.”
The company recommends that customers perform a factory reset of the product and find a way to responsibly recycle the devices. Spotify is also going live and confirming that there’s little reason to expect a sequel at all. “As of now, there are no plans to release a replacement or new version of Car Thing,” the FAQ says.
The Car Thing was pretty cool considering it was my first use of Spotify, but the product was more of a remote control for Spotify on your mobile phone than any kind of standalone player. This limits its appeal, despite the device It still finds a niche community.
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