Spotify’s brief attempt to become a hardware company wasn’t very successful: The company stopped producing its Car Thing dashboard accessory less than a year after it went on sale to the public. And now, two years later, the device is on the verge of becoming completely unusable. Customers who purchased the Car Thing are receiving emails warning them that it will stop working completely starting December 9th.
Unfortunately for these owners, Spotify doesn’t offer any type of subscription credit or automatic refund for the device – nor does the company open source it. This is simply canning the project and telling people to (responsibly) get rid of Car Thing.
“We are discontinuing Car Thing as part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings,” Spotify wrote in an FAQ on its website. “We understand this 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 factory reset the product and find a way to recycle the material responsibly. Spotify is also blunt and confirms that there is little reason to expect a sequel. “At this time, there are no plans to release a replacement or new version of Car Thing,” the FAQ states.
The Car Thing hardware was pretty cool considering it was Spotify’s first try, but the product was more of a remote control for Spotify on your mobile phone than any type of standalone player. This limited its appeal, although the device still found a niche community.
News Source : www.theverge.com
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