Brick or Break: Did Google Sunset The Chromecast And The Chromecast Audio?

The Google Chromecast Gen 2: Is it just an ancient piece of obsolete tech?

For a long time, the Gen 2 Google Chromecast had been my go-to device for turning my desk setup into an all-around entertainment hub. I just plug it in my gaming monitor, and there’s no need to power on my PC to stream content. Two days ago, I encountered an error while trying to set up my usual morning playlist. Now it seems that smooth and efficient era of content consumption is done and dusted, or is it a temporary issue?

While there is yet to be a fix, it seems that Google has given minimal response to the loud uproar on the internet. The concern is legitimate - did the devices just get bricked purposefully to drive new sales up? Are these dongles and wires all going to add to the pile of e-waste that does the planet so much harm? Why break (or brick) something that works?

Tech nerds on the internet agree on one thing: the cause is the Google-owned intermediate certificate authority that was set up to expire on March 9, 2025. This just means that right off the bat, or out the box, the Chromecast 2 had a 10-year shelf life. A decade to depreciate doesn’t sound that bad, especially for an appliance smaller than a palm, but this was not clearly expressed to consumers.

It’s been a few days since the firmware fiasco, and the great minds of Google are still “working on a fix”. For the meantime, the Reddit community have coughed up a fix here. I have not personally tested it out, but several users have confirmed that it works.

We’ve all had to accept software updates and upgrades because all we have to do is delete and update, but that is not the case for hardware. We can’t delete the obsolete. It’s about time we rethink how much e-waste we generate just to generate sales.