Spotify Car Thing has been Axed by the Company - it has no Place in a World in Which CarPlay and Android Auto Exists
Before I rip Car Thing a new one, let me quickly explain what it did, if you’re not aware of it - it’s basically a tiny a screen on which you control Spotify and see what’s currently playing. That’s it. It does nothing more. And, everything it did, it did it in dropped frame-rates, too. According to Spotify in their latest earnings release, Car Thing cost the company 32 million dollars to make and it was a poor move because demand turned out to be low and supply chain constraints was an icing on the cake to take it off shelves. In short, you won’t be see Car Thing from now on and it has been officially discontinued. There are a ton of factors due to which Car Thing failed, according to Spotify. But, in a world of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, is there even a place for Car Thing? Nope. Not even close. You’re better off investing in a cheap Apple CarPlay or Android Auto system for your car since you get more than Spotify on a big screen - such as maps, Siri, Google Assistant, etc. In fact, adding CarPlay or Android Auto to your any car is super easy, thanks to a number of dongles available, too. Surprisingly, if you recently bought your car, chances of it having at least Apple CarPlay are super duper high. And, to make matters worse, Car Thing was announced at a time when both Apple and Google managed to turn themselves into go-to solutions for in-car entertainment. Justifying Car Thing by using phrases like ‘it was way ahead of its time’ does not help either. Because it simply isn’t. The Spotify app for CarPlay alone is so good that you don’t need anything else to compliment it. Interestingly, you can still buy Car Thing from Spotify - until inventory lasts - for a price of $49.99. It sold for $89.99 on any other regular day.
