If you’re gonna tell users to throw it away, at least give em a root kit, sheesh.
Haha did you mean to say root kit cuz pretty sure no one wants that 😂
I assume you want Spotify to let users root the devices.
Sony: I SAID WHAT I SAID
What a waste of resources. Millions of devices will now add to the landfill, despite nothing is wrong with them in terms of technical funtionality. Just because Spotify wants them do be discontinued.
It should be law that when a manufacturer decides on discontinuing an otherwise fully functional product in such way, they should be forced to publish the source code of the software used for the respective device as well as any other resources for free so that users of these devices at least have a chance to repurpose it.
This also stands for any “smart” / internet-of-things-devices where the main functionality is reliing on the operation of a server. When the servers discontinue their services your device is basically a brick with no other functionality.
The longer things go, the more I like GPLv3’s anti-tivoization clause.
What does that mean?
Short answer is GPL3 doesn’t just require source disclosure for the software delivered but also software or firmware that it requires to function.
So say a network video player under GPL2 would require release of the player source code to whoever you give a copy of the player software to you wouldn’t have to give the source code to the video server that it needs to work with because you didn’t give them a copy of the server.
GLP3 would require you to also give the server code. So if the car thing was under GLP3 they would have to give the server code and people could run their own server for it.
That’s a simple explanation. In reality it’s more complicated but that’s the gist.
Definitely bring it to an electronics recycling center, rather than sending it to a landfill. Shame on them for recommending that.
It’s bad wording from the article. The actual Spotify support page says this:
We recommend resetting your Car Thing to factory settings and safely disposing of your device following local electronic 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.
I love how they’re making it our problem.
That’s reassuring. Thank you.
Mail it to Spotify. Let them handle the ewaste they cause.
this is my plan when it stops working, and I think everyone should do the same once they brick them. throw it into a box, hand write a note that says “stopped working. repair/return or refund please. account #1234567” and mail it to the office in your country. New York, for me. when they won’t do either, start making noise about Spotify stealing your device and demand its return or sufficient compensation by any channel available.
Hmm, might be fun to try and install custom firmware on these. I saw an article that showed a way to root them. Could be a nice mini display to link to home assistant!
The problem currently seems to be that no one sells it for less than 100$ around me right now 😅
i have a feeling they will be veeery cheap very soon
Spotify was selling them for $30 shipped a while back
Buy them back you fucking pricks
We really need a law for that. They should have to either
- buy them back
- make sure they work for a sufficiently long time after the last unit was sold (e.g. 5 years)
- make the software open source so the community can maintain the software (if even possible, cause the community won’t be able to work on the server side)
- release an offline patch that makes the device work even after servers have been shut down if that makes sense for the device in question (applies mostly to always-online single player games)
What is a car thing?
Some device Spotify sells for their Premium users to install in their cars to play music
My phone plays music in my car just fine…
Humane AI pin, Rabbit, Car Thing.
Why any of these companies think another piece of hardware doing nothing my phone can’t do will succeed is beyond me.
Some people prefer to use their car speakers over their phone speakers.
The device is designed to provide a nice and easy to use (when driving) touch interface for Spotify on old cars with only an aux port. Remember that few modern phones have 3,5 mm ports.
Have you seen those Bluetooth things that plug into the cigarette lighter? You can hook your phone up to older stereos with them. Pretty awesome and made my old truck better.
A thing that goes in your car.
They need to give it a software update that essentially turns it into your average car entertainment system, with support for local files, AirPlay (and whatever the Android equivalent is… casting?), and other streaming services including Spotify (even the garbage free version), oh, and CDs too, with metadata. I mean, this thing is pretty good at modernizing older cars to an extent, why did they suddenly choose to get rid of it completely?
Well I would like the option to use it as a simple media control. It only has 500 mb RAM so it’s not going to do well with a lot of local media playback
That’s cool too
I don’t own one of those, but do they have any input whatsoever for any of the things you mentioned?
I’m pretty sure all it has is a USB-C port for power. But I think they can implement dongle support for things such as USB flash drives and CD drives. AirPlay (and its Android equivalent) can also be implemented since the device does indeed have Bluetooth.
Never buy into new technology platforms unless you first accept you’ll only get about 5 years, at best.
