• anarchrist@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    Idk who needs to hear it, but stop buying this shit. If it has a computer inside, but you can’t flash your own software onto it, just pass. If you’re unsure, look around, find the nearest Linux user and ask for help.

    • Jesus@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      To be fair, next to no one bought this. And the people that payed $90 for this are probably not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

      This is basically a dumb android device with one app - an auto friendly version of Spotify. To use it, you need to pair it to your phone via Bluetooth. So, yeah, it assumes you have a phone in your car with Spotify on it.

      Also it costs about as much as a cheap externally mounted CarPlay or Android auto screen. So, yeah. Not great.

      If you want to put auto friendly app UIs in an older car, go get a cheap CarPlay or AA display. Those are platforms that have been around for a decade, and Apple & Google have long partnership agreements with automakers that are likely to ensure those platforms will be supported for years to come. Hell, Apple is still supporting ancient iPod connection protocols 20+ years later.

      This thing was the Rabbit R1, but for a music streaming app.

      • mPony@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        the people that payed $90 for this are probably not the sharpest knives in the drawer

        maybe, but even stupid people should be protected from being taken advantage of.
        They should at least get a refund of 50% of the purchase price.

      • Hexarei@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        Honestly this thing solved a very specific problem for me: My car has no good way to mount a phone for car usage so I’ve always kept it in the center console. Car Thing just put a remote on my dash for that with buttons for presets and easy song skipping.

        I only got it for $10 though, and that was two years ago. It has convinced me to get a new head unit with Android Auto support on it for sure

    • friend_of_satan@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A few months ago my wife wanted to buy an electronic picture frame and I had a hard time explaining this to her.

      Edit: an internet connected picture frame.

      • MonkderDritte@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        Well ok, an electronic picture frame is not much of an investition and works without internet. Well, most of them. Ok, you have to research it before buying.

  • Bazz@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    These fuckers disabled car mode in the android app to make you buy one of those and now they’re killing it. I used car mode in my car and the moment it stopped working was when I cancelled my subscription.

    • el_abuelo@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      What did car mode do? Was it when it switched to big old buttons? Mine used to do that until I got Android Auto in my new car…so up until about a year ago

      • aquafunkalisticbootywhap@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        downvotes are not to express disagreement!

        so many comments here about adding regulations and “this should be illegal” and, yes, those may be a valid way to curb this behavior

        but customers willing to leave a company for bad behavior, customers wary of new products without asdurances they wont just become useless, non-reusable e-waste could also effectively curb this behavior

        just because you want to outsource all of your product and company research to a law or regulation, and want to be able to blindly buy products and just hope the company doesn’t make bad choices in every regard but quartly profits doesn’t mean it is the only effective check & balance

        • MagicPterodactyl@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          I downvoted the comment above because in the original comment they already mentioned that they are no longer subscribed to Spotify, which makes the “stop being a customer” comment exceedingly stupid and pointless.

  • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
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    1 year ago

    They should at least release data sheets and any bootloader signing keys, allowing people to reuse the devices for other purposes. If you could replace the firmware, I’m sure you could use it for controlling your home automation setup or displaying the weather/news/train times/other info (or possibly other tasks depending on what’s in the SoC). Now, alas, it’s just e-waste.

    • Ajen@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Datasheets are copyrighted by the silicon manufacturer, not the product manufacturer, and usually covered by an NDA. Spotify probably couldn’t release them even if they wanted to.

  • Nate@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    Even Google products have a longer lifespan 😖

    I’ve since moved on to Tidal. Bought it at $30 when root mods started to be developed, but never really went anywhere.

    Image alt:

    • 2021-04-13: Interested in car thing
    • 2022-10-18: order placed after discounted to $30
    • 2022-10-21: shipped
    • 2024-05-23: Discontinue notice
    • 2024-12-09: Service discontinued
  • VerseAndVermin@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The bastards barely started selling it a few years ago. I feel like some responsibility should exist. It isn’t a company that is going under, so it shouldn’t be able to just casually kill the devices tied-service it only recently sold.

    • Nommer@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Agreed. Anything sold with the intention of being used with a subscription service should have 10 years of support.

      • Rinox@feddit.it
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        1 year ago

        Anything discontinued should stop being protected by copyright law, and the manufacturer should be forced to give every piece of information they have on that product.

  • Aggravationstation@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    Holy shit: “The company is recommending that customers do a factory reset on the product and find some way of responsibly recycling the hardware.”

    So they’re not offering to dispose of it, or even giving any advice on how to dispose of it responsibly. Just suggesting people should probably do that.

    If companies are allowed to behave this way we’re all screwed. Any efforts by the average person to avert the environmental damage caused by the waste they produce is completely futile and any politician who claims that they’re doing their best to try to hold companies accountable is a liar.

  • monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    We need new laws y’all. All these companies should be forced to collect all their e-waste as part of their products lifecycle.

    If a company produces any product and the company has a market cap over $1billion, then they should be responsible for collecting and recycling all their trash.

    • Laurel Raven@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      I don’t know how accurate this is or if it’s still true but I remember hearing like twenty years ago that Germany has laws like that, including dealing with waste packaging, with the result that companies suddenly found ways to use more sustainable packaging

  • JIMMERZ@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Spotify is an evil company. Bad for artists, bad for consumers. I’m glad to have quit using their service.

      • JIMMERZ@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Currently using a combination of Plexamp, WinAmp, Bandcamp and Apple Music.

      • Nakura@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I use a combo of streaming stuff I bought on Bandcamp with their app and playing local files. In addition to albums and EPs, I have bought a lot of singles on Bandcamp. I put all the singles in a giant constantly growing playlist on the Bandcamp app and then set it to random shuffle. It takes more effort than using something like Spotify, but I personally like it a lot more because it’s only full of music I know I like and I feel satisfied because I supported the artists I like.

  • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This was predictable. Everyone has a phone. Phones have CarPlay and Android Auto.

    The fact that they named it “Car Thing” made it clear that it didn’t have much of a valid use and that they didn’t really have a lot of confidence in it.

    It’s annoying that they even created it in the first place. It’s more annoying that they now predictably are not supporting it anymore. It should be illegal.

  • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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    1 year ago

    Remember kids, never place buttons for a service on a remote if you don’t know if the remote will last longer than said service :)

  • Bizzle@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I bought this for my old Cadillac that only had a tape deck and it was amazing (with a Bluetooth cassette). I haven’t used it since I got rid of that old Cadillac about two years ago now. Pretty limited use case but it still sucks to kill shit for no reason.

    • Drusenija@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I didn’t know Bluetooth cassettes were a thing, although if I think about it then of course they are. What’s the sound quality like?

      • Bizzle@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The sound is honestly not bad, better and less hassle than an FM transmitter. There are 3.5 mm ones too that work pretty well but I had a few of them and they fail where the cable meets the cassette. I passed it on to a friend with a whole house cassette system when I got my new Cadillac

  • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    imo they should refund everyone who bought one and collect all the devices to recycle.