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The vehicle in a question is a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with the 8" Nav.
I think I'm getting old since I can still remember 8 tracks being optional. I don't have any of those but I do have piles of tapes and stacks of CD's. I think MP3's are a pain but then again I listen to Talk and Sports radio for the most part but it would be nice to have the CD option.
Read your owners manual. You likely have either a USB port or SD card reader (or both). You can load music on a thumb drive or SD card and control it using Uconnect.
I have also been hearing this from other new car owners. Yet my 2016 Nissan came with one. I guess it's only a matter of time, there won't be any new cars with a CD.
If it OK to ask this question, how do most people these days play music on the road with MP3s in terms of picking the song? Do they generate playlists ahead of time and use those? I can't imagine they select a particular artist/album while driving, that's the one thing that's made worse (arguably) with the transition to MP3 files--in the past, you'd rummage for a given cassette/CD and insert it, scrolling through a long MP3 library for a given album/artist is nigh impossible while driving. I'm wondering how they make music selecting "road friendly" these days.
Me myself I currently am driving a 2002 GMC Envoy and it has the volume up/down and the preset "scroll" button on the steering wheel, I simply play the FM radio and use the preset button for scrolling through presets 1-6 and that's it, I can't imagine how I'd pick a specific song on an MP3 player while driving.
Me myself I currently am driving a 2002 GMC Envoy and it has the volume up/down and the preset "scroll" button on the steering wheel, I simply play the FM radio and use the preset button for scrolling through presets 1-6 and that's it, I can't imagine how I'd pick a specific song on an MP3 player while driving.
I have music loaded on a usb thumb drive and an SD card in my 2011 Charger and can cycle through it the same way you cycle through presets, using the steering wheel buttons. The song info is displayed on the 8.4" screen in the dash. I can view and cycle by artist, album, etc.
If it OK to ask this question, how do most people these days play music on the road with MP3s in terms of picking the song? Do they generate playlists ahead of time and use those? I can't imagine they select a particular artist/album while driving, that's the one thing that's made worse (arguably) with the transition to MP3 files--in the past, you'd rummage for a given cassette/CD and insert it, scrolling through a long MP3 library for a given album/artist is nigh impossible while driving. I'm wondering how they make music selecting "road friendly" these days.
Me myself I currently am driving a 2002 GMC Envoy and it has the volume up/down and the preset "scroll" button on the steering wheel, I simply play the FM radio and use the preset button for scrolling through presets 1-6 and that's it, I can't imagine how I'd pick a specific song on an MP3 player while driving.
Sure, NP. Here's how I handle that while driving:
1) BT on my Google Nexus 6P (smartphone) connects automatically to my Kenwood in-dash (aftermarket, new in 2010) installed to my Tacoma, on startup. Takes maybe ten seconds. My Porsche stereo connects much faster, five years newer tech.
2) Off I go.
3) Phone unlock via fingerprint. All voice from there:
4) "OK Google, play Limelight by Rush. == song
"....Moving Pictures by Rush" == album
"....Sheryl Crow" == shuffles and plays everything by artist available in Google Play and/or from my own Music Library, which Google uploaded for me way back when.
...and so on. Eyes don't leave the road.
Obviously, that's Android and Google Play. Of which I avail myself fully. I'm sure Siri and similar can do the same via voice. Avoiding iPods, scrolling songs, or similar while driving where-feasible.
Google seems hip to Tunein Radio app and likewise Pandora, though I don't use those much anymore. One of these days I'll see if it's clever enough to stream podcasts.
None of this is rocket science, but it isn't always seamless, only "usually." Still, a great reason to toss physical media into the ___can. I typically don't screw around with "USB drives" or other garbage either, on the same principle: one more item to manage and sort, and that's too much work. That's all been mostly swept away by easily-accessible tech.
Exception was downloading my entire music library to the Porsche's onboard hard drive via USB, once and only once. USB was then tossed back into a drawer at home. Sometimes that is equally convenient to Bluetooth on the phone, I must admit, since those songs are FLACs (lossless) and sound noticeably better on the Bose system.
Yes, the above presupposes the following: 1) Smartphone 2) Data plan 3) At-worst, that your music library is on your phone 4) Car stereo supports Bluetooth. 5) Cellular coverage. Absent cell service, and ability to use voice commands like Google Voice, old fashioned way of starting Google Play, playing from local library does the trick.
Reminds me of my old man, wanted to have all his photos "on CD" as late as 2009 or so. Cloud storage was too abstract a concept. That's only started to become less expensive last five years or so, I suppose, but he just couldn't connect the dots.
For better or worse, "compact discs" are at the tail end of the use-curve that every single technology goes through over the arc of human history. Nothing made knights in armor obsolete faster than the use of firearms in combat, for example. The English Longbow did a number on those bastards too, see "Agincourt, Battle of". Never mind.
In a less extreme example, USB and "MP3 ports" are also questionable in terms of obsolescence, if most smartphones can connect via Bluetooth to most car audio systems. Those are two ever-more reasonable assumptions, over time. Given that, if your music is a) on your phone as MP3 and/or b) available for Cloud streaming over WiFi or cellular network, problem solved. Kiss physical media goodbye.
I believe I pay Google about five bucks a month to store my music collection, and stream theirs too. From, uh, anywhere on Earth they have WiFi. Was listening to some of my tunes in Swakopmund, Namibia last fall from my collection, streamed via WiFi from Google Play, on this premise. Ain't technology grand.
There is a reason 8 track tapes, cassettes, floppy discs, and other obsolete trash went into the dustbin of history. CDs are a micrometer away from same. DVDs aren't far behind. And so it goes.
Cloud storage is just someone else storing your media on a physical drive. I rather be in complete control of my media/data and store it myself.
In a less extreme example, USB and "MP3 ports" are also questionable in terms of obsolescence, if most smartphones can connect via Bluetooth to most car audio systems. Those are two ever-more reasonable assumptions, over time. Given that, if your music is a) on your phone as MP3 and/or b) available for Cloud streaming over WiFi or cellular network, problem solved. Kiss physical media goodbye.
Didn't realize that USB ports are becoming obsolete. Yes, my car does have Bluetooth. But when using Bluetooth, I cannot give voice commands to choose a song, nor can I select a song through the car's touch screen. Bluetooth will only play whatever I manually select on my phone, which cannot be done safely while driving. Is my car unusual?
Also, it seems that I'm the only person still using iTunes. I hear that everybody else uses Spotify. But how do you use t hat while driving? As far as I can tell, that can only be controlled directly through the phone, which, again, cannot be done safely while driving. Unless I am missing something.
My 2014 BMW i3 doesn't have a CD player or AM stereo tuner.
I know the new 2016 Honda Civics don't offer a CD player even as an option
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