Typically, when you buy a product, you expect that you will be able to continue using it even after the company stops selling it. Your car won’t break down immediately after production, Despite everything. And yet for the people who bought it Spotify Car Thing, that’s exactly what’s happening. The streaming giant recently announced that after December 2024 remotely breaks every thing related to the car ever sold. If you have it, you’ll just have to throw it away.
If you’re not familiar with Car Thing yet, it is a device that was designed to solve a very specific problem. For $90 (or $0 if you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber who joined earlier in the invite-only phase), you get a petite screen that plugs into the air conditioning vents and connects to your car via Bluetooth or an auxiliary jack, where you can plug it in to play music via via Spotify. This wasn’t a particularly revolutionary solution, since you could just buy a phone holder and a Bluetooth AUX adapter if your phone didn’t have an Aux jack and your car didn’t have Bluetooth, but at least we can see the theoretical appeal.
However, less than six months after Spotify began selling Car Thing to the general public, pulled the plug. Citing “product demand and supply chain issues,” Spotify has discontinued the device. People who already owned Car Things could continue to utilize them, and unsold units were discounted to $50. Spotify just wasn’t making any up-to-date ones. But now it has been decided that it is time to kill Car Thing once and for all.
In its announcement, Spotify stated:
Car Thing is our first hardware product that allows users to control Spotify through car speakers connected to their phone, using both voice recognition and preset buttons.
We have decided to discontinue Car Thing. This means that Car Thing will no longer work. This decision was not made lightly and we want to assure you that our commitment to providing a great listening experience remains unchanged.
We appreciate and deeply appreciate the support and enthusiasm you have shown for Car Thing. It was an amazing journey and we are grateful for all the kilometers traveled.
Additionally, if you think we went overboard when we said you should throw it away, Spotify also added: “We recommend that you reset your Car Thing device to factory settings and safely dispose of your device in accordance with your local e-waste guidelines. Contact your state or local waste disposal department to determine how to dispose of or recycle Car Thing in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. So while you shouldn’t just throw it in the kitchen trash can, Spotify is literally telling customers to throw it away. What a time to be alive.
