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Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

arstechnica.com

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Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#11

Post by nerdawson »

dylan604 wrote: post #6
nickthegreek wrote: post #4

I used the support link provided. They tried to give me 3 months of premium instead of a refund. I declined. They replied: >Thank you for waiting! As I can only suggest you for free Premium in your account. The actual Car Thing refund is done by the specialty advisors, so I'll create a case related to your issue and transfer it and the right team will get back to you through email. Sounds good? So I am now waiting fo…

This sounds like you're using a support chatbot. Of course they're not going to allow the chatbot to authorize refunds.

The slightly clumsy wording would indicate to me that it's a real person rather than a chatbot.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#12

Post by murillians »

dylan604 wrote: post #10

"Some remain frustrated by the scheduled obsolescence of hardware that was only released to the general public in February 2022. Car Thing first released to a limited number of subscribers in October 2021." What is the purpose of this device in the first place? In 2021/2022, smart phones with bluetooth or usb/audio cables were in full effect which is how I'm assuming >99.999% of users use Spotify. Were there Spotify…

Car Thing was only a remote for your phone's Spotify app. It was targeted towards people that had bluetooth or aux inputs to their car's stereo, but not Apple CarPlay or Android Auto that allowed you to control Spotify directly through the radio.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#13

Post by thecrumb »

murillians wrote: post #12
dylan604 wrote: post #10

"Some remain frustrated by the scheduled obsolescence of hardware that was only released to the general public in February 2022. Car Thing first released to a limited number of subscribers in October 2021." What is the purpose of this device in the first place? In 2021/2022, smart phones with bluetooth or usb/audio cables were in full effect which is how I'm assuming >99.999% of users use Spotify. Were there Spotify…

Car Thing was only a remote for your phone's Spotify app. It was targeted towards people that had bluetooth or aux inputs to their car's stereo, but not Apple CarPlay or Android Auto that allowed you to control Spotify directly through the radio.

I'd have to say they did a crappy job of marketing this because I'd love one of these in my old truck.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#14

Post by m-p-3 »

murillians wrote: post #12
dylan604 wrote: post #10

"Some remain frustrated by the scheduled obsolescence of hardware that was only released to the general public in February 2022. Car Thing first released to a limited number of subscribers in October 2021." What is the purpose of this device in the first place? In 2021/2022, smart phones with bluetooth or usb/audio cables were in full effect which is how I'm assuming >99.999% of users use Spotify. Were there Spotify…

Car Thing was only a remote for your phone's Spotify app. It was targeted towards people that had bluetooth or aux inputs to their car's stereo, but not Apple CarPlay or Android Auto that allowed you to control Spotify directly through the radio.

I don't have Android Auto but I can at least control my phone media playback through the head unit and the steering wheel controls over bluetooth.

I suspect this was mainly for people who only have the ability to send audio to their head unit without actual controls in some older cars.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#15

Post by complaintdept »

Philip-J-Fry wrote: post #9

Are they just banking on people not caring enough or knowing about the refund process? Clearly it can't be better off for them to refund hundreds of thousands maybe even 1m+ people. We need laws that step in to make this impossible. Hardware should be designed so that it can be reused. Make it so that people can just reflash the memory at a minimum. There's no reason for something like this to become e-waste. And the…

Write your elected representatives, preferably by snail mail (they take it more seriously that way). With Right to Repair being talked about so much right now, the time could be right to get this into the public mind. Car Thing could be what nucleates anti bricking legislation.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#16

Post by ihuman »

dylan604 wrote: post #7
giancarlostoro wrote: post #5

I wonder if there's licensing issues with them doing so? Like I assume they didn't make all the hardware and firmware involved. Kind of a shame when companies do this. I also wonder how long till the hacker community starts hacking these things any way? Seems like a worthy device to hack, though I can't imagine there's millions of these out there. I'd love to buy a 2nd hand one and install custom software on it if so…

The count down to an HN post of Car Thing runs Doom has now started

Someone already did that https://x.com/justmaku/status/1584442208203087872

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#17

Post by dylan604 »

ihuman wrote: post #16
dylan604 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The count down to an HN post of Car Thing runs Doom has now started

Someone already did that https://x.com/justmaku/status/1584442208203087872

...and of course they did! I didn't actually expect it to be playable with the knob control like that, so I'm actually even more impressed. I was just expecting it to compile and run, but not necessarily play.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#18

Post by dylan604 »

nerdawson wrote: post #11
dylan604 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like you're using a support chatbot. Of course they're not going to allow the chatbot to authorize refunds.

The slightly clumsy wording would indicate to me that it's a real person rather than a chatbot.

That slightly clumsy wording is what made me think it was a chatbot

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#19

Post by zztop44 »

ihuman wrote: post #16
dylan604 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The count down to an HN post of Car Thing runs Doom has now started

Someone already did that https://x.com/justmaku/status/1584442208203087872

There must be a rule of that. If you think someone will probably make it run DOOM someday, someone already has.

Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process

#20

Post by m-p-3 »

thecrumb wrote: post #13
murillians wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Car Thing was only a remote for your phone's Spotify app. It was targeted towards people that had bluetooth or aux inputs to their car's stereo, but not Apple CarPlay or Android Auto that allowed you to control Spotify directly through the radio.

I'd have to say they did a crappy job of marketing this because I'd love one of these in my old truck.

You'll be better off getting something like a bluetooth to FM/aux transmitter and pair your phone to it.

    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004704739971.html
And to avoid touching your phone while driving, you can also pair a small bluetooth remote that you can attach to the steering wheel

    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006422066598.html
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