What was that thing for anyway?
The streaming behemoth made hints that its hardware venture was a data harvesting exercise. Some want the ability to continue using the device, which they paid $90 for.
On Thursday, Spotify said that it will be discontinuing Car Thing, a $90 gadget that lets customers operate Spotify over their vehicle speakers. Car Thing will stop working on December 9, 2024, and Spotify advises users to dispose of it properly (according to regulations on electronic waste, of course).
Discontinuing a device is one thing; rendering it completely useless is quite another, even though Spotify’s offering appeared to be a data collection experiment.
A Spotify representative tells Fast Company, “We wanted to find out more about how people listen in cars, so we set out to explore Car Things in the U.S.” The business has a comprehensive privacy policy that explains the collection, usage, and sharing of consumer data with marketing and advertising partners.
SOME OWNERS STILL WANT TO USE IT
One of the users who received an email from Spotify informing them of the termination was Nick Espinoza, a University of Florida student who describes himself as a future digital pioneer. The main source of his annoyance is Spotify’s reluctance to give up support to the tech community.
Espinoza says Fast Company, “Even if Spotify intended to use Car Thing only to gain insight into their user base, they sold a product that people use and, more importantly, paid for.” “Car Thing should be made available as open source by Spotify.”
One of the grievances that users have voiced on social networking platforms such as Reddit and X (previously Twitter) is the recommendation to permit open-sourcing, which would effectively allow users to continue using and maintaining the device’s software. Although some users claimed they were able to receive a free month of streaming service, others have voiced their dissatisfaction with Spotify’s inability to issue refunds.
While Car Thing appeared to be well-liked by consumers, particularly those who drove older vehicles, Spotify approached their hardware venture with a strong emphasis on “exploration.” The Stockholm-based corporation first revealed in April 2021 that it was exploring a smart player. In October 2021, it was made accessible to Spotify Premium members in a limited release, and it became generally available in February 2022.
In a few of months, the business changed its direction.
A Spotify representative tells Fast Company, “We announced in July 2022 that we would be stopping further production, and now it’s time to say goodbye to the devices entirely.”
Car Things are still on sale on eBay, where some sellers are charging up to $200 for brand-new models.
In response to user complaints and a Fast Company inquiry over the possibility of making the device open-source, Spotify has not made any public comments. As of 2023, Statista estimates that the corporation would own more over 31% of the global music-streaming industry. As of the first quarter, it claimed to have 615 million monthly active users, up 19% over the same period previous year.
As of now, Spotify’s stock has increased by almost 63%.
However, in the same lighthearted manner as Spotify hinted that it is “switching gears” with Car Thing, some users have threatened to migrate from Spotify to Apple Music or other obscure streaming services like Qobuz or Deezer.
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