Spotify will ruin every Car Thing gadget it has ever sold

Spotify’s brief attempt at being a hardware company wasn’t very successful: the company discontinued its Car Thing dashboard accessories less than a year after they were sold to the public. And now, two years later, the device will soon be completely unusable. Customers who purchased Car Thing are receiving emails warning that it will stop working completely on December 9.

Unfortunately for these owners, Spotify doesn’t offer any subscription credit or automatic refunds for the device – nor does the company open source its software. Rather, it’s simply a matter of shutting down 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 response to frequently asked questions 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 their product and find a way to responsibly recycle their equipment. Spotify is also straight forward and confirms that there is no reason to ever expect a sequel. “There are no plans at this time to release a replacement or new version of Car Thing,” the FAQ reads.

The Car Thing hardware was quite nice considering it was Spotify’s first launch, but the product felt more like a Spotify remote on a mobile phone than any standalone player. This limited its appeal, although the device still found a niche community.