Except Nest was not using that information to make money on advertising. Big difference between "knowing" and "exploiting".
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Google Acquiring Tony Fadell-Founded Nest for $3.2 Billion
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Except Nest was not using that information to make money on advertising. Big difference between "knowing" and "exploiting".
Google's public image is not bad. Otherwise, they wouldn't be marketing their products so well. I think the worst spying they do is with their ads, Google+, and maybe Android. Now, if they took it a step further and had smoke detectors that send data about where you are, when you're home, and what you're doing, imagine how many people would trust them. Zero. The government would go after them, or if the government was in on it, there would be mass rioting. Maybe even Alex Jones's followers would set off some bombs at Google HQ. Remember the horrible publicity failure Apple suffered when it was revealed that iPhones track your location and save it to a file locally on the device (not even sending it)?
Or they could just not collect that data since it's not very useful anyway. At worst, I'd think they'd collect data about the weather using the thermometers.
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Nest wasn't sending the data, or so we think.
I would say, based on the settings you do on Nest, Google would know exactly when you will be home, for how long, and when you leave home.
Well I wouldn't say Google exploits, people rather volunteer for it.
Oh no, I didn't volunteer for my YouTube channel to get ruined by Google+. It's just plain ugly. But they also didn't volunteer to have a picture of human feces taken straight from their image search and posted on a Google+ page as a cover photo. Chew on that.
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This is such a waste of money by Google, but they're great at wasting money.
The problem with Nest is that it's far too geeky. It only appeals to geeks.
It's such a male nerd thing.
I don't see any woman getting this.
It just shows that Google lives in its own echo chamber of male nerds.
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No. Not $3 billion worth.
The problem with Nest is that it's far too geeky. It only appeals to geeks.
It's such a male nerd thing.
I don't see any woman getting this.
It just shows that Google lives in its own echo chamber of male nerds.
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No. Not $3 billion worth.
Not true. At least not with Nest's current privacy policy. Unless they change their privacy policy, they can't share that data with Google (even after the purchase is finalized).
Why?
Why should Apple buy a company for $3.2 billion that has two products, not exactly selling like hotcakes and something that they could easily create for a lot less? Why buy companies you have no use for and that are not in your strategic plans? I can't help but feel this is another huge acquisition that will be a huge loss for Google.
Why should Apple buy a company for $3.2 billion that has two products, not exactly selling like hotcakes and something that they could easily create for a lot less? Why buy companies you have no use for and that are not in your strategic plans? I can't help but feel this is another huge acquisition that will be a huge loss for Google.
This isn't the place to post that. Post it on an article where Apple misses out on buying a USEFUL company. Really, for $3.2G, it's not worth it. They just make geek products.
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I'm with you on this. In fact, Apple should buy out pretty much all the accessory companies except this one if they want to spend their money on something.
I think they don't want the technology. Apple isn't a thermostat/smoke detector company. Neither is Google, but crazy Larry just likes gadgets.
the trouble with Google the THINK they own YOUR data - Glad I did not buy in the NEst I felt it way over priced - now this seals the deal - I will NVER buy a Nest product this seals the deal. Even since google locked my Gmail account until I gave up my mobile number to unlock it. Now I get a bunch of google robo calls I totally hate Greedle and what they stand for.
I distrust the way I am profiled constantly by Big Data. It annoys me, because I occasionally look at videos of attractive models cavorting in a particular brand of underwear. Now every time I go on the internet, ads for this particular brand of underwear appear at the top, bottom, and sides of my browser window. The Internet isn't smart enough to know that I will never buy this brand of underwear, and that I was only interested in the models.
Recently, I bought some supplies at a store that sells RV equipment. I work for the company that runs that store, so I got a nice employee discount. Now my browser has replaced some of the underwear ads with ads for RVs. I'm not in the market for an RV, nor do I already own one.
I bought a DropCam. It's a nice little internet camera, and I recommend it, but why do I need to see all these ads for the webcam that I already own?
Why is the Internet so stupid and inept about knowing what I want? Maybe I am an atypical consumer. I don't want the thermostat to learn my habits. I don't trust it to do a good job with my inconsistent schedule.
I wouldn't mind being able to control my thermostat remotely with my iPhone, but I suspect most thermostats will have that capability in a few years, and it will be a feature that doesn't add much to the price (the way many decent TVs today come with "Smart" features or 3D capability that mostly go unused).
Soon I suspect you will have to go out of your way to buy a thermostat or washing machine or microwave that doesn't have an IP address, the way you have to search to find a phone or laptop computer without a camera. No need to spend hundreds of dollars today for the privilege of having it now (unless you really, really, want it now).
Recently, I bought some supplies at a store that sells RV equipment. I work for the company that runs that store, so I got a nice employee discount. Now my browser has replaced some of the underwear ads with ads for RVs. I'm not in the market for an RV, nor do I already own one.
I bought a DropCam. It's a nice little internet camera, and I recommend it, but why do I need to see all these ads for the webcam that I already own?
Why is the Internet so stupid and inept about knowing what I want? Maybe I am an atypical consumer. I don't want the thermostat to learn my habits. I don't trust it to do a good job with my inconsistent schedule.
I wouldn't mind being able to control my thermostat remotely with my iPhone, but I suspect most thermostats will have that capability in a few years, and it will be a feature that doesn't add much to the price (the way many decent TVs today come with "Smart" features or 3D capability that mostly go unused).
Soon I suspect you will have to go out of your way to buy a thermostat or washing machine or microwave that doesn't have an IP address, the way you have to search to find a phone or laptop computer without a camera. No need to spend hundreds of dollars today for the privilege of having it now (unless you really, really, want it now).
...their customer is the fire insurance company, they will gladly sell the data about the number of false alarms from your smoke detector.
And you wonder why your policy is revoked and you fail to find a new insurer...
This is what a lot of people fail to realize.
Google is not a search company, or an email company, or a phone manufacturer etc.
Google is an Advertising Company.
Everything they do, is to further their data collection and make more advertising money.
Buying Nest for $3.2B sounds ridiculous if you think of them as a thermostat company. Buying Nest for $3.2B as a way to get even more personalized data from inside people's homes (what times people are in etc.) makes sense from Google's point of view as an advertising company.
Literally. They bought Boston Dynamics recently, and that comes after another long list of robotics companies.
I find that really hard to believe... 1 in a 100 people are already willing to spend $250 to replace their thermostat?
Wonder how long before you're required to have a G+ account to set your thermostat? To get alerts from your smoke/CO alarm?
"We're sorry, we can't alert you about possible fires in the future as you don't have a valid G+ account linked to your smoke detector!"
"We're sorry, we can't alert you about possible fires in the future as you don't have a valid G+ account linked to your smoke detector!"
No, I think it goes deeper than this. This is only what you can observe from the outside. Google is becoming a Profiling Company.
Selling ads based on profiling is only one side of the business. Selling and using profiling data for other purposes will become (is?) the far bigger business...
Now imagine this thread if Apple had bought Nest.....
"Great job, Apple! Apple knows a great product when it sees it."
"I'm going to buy a Nest tomorrow!"
"The Nest is way too sleek for Google/Android users."
"I can't wait until it's built into iOS!"
"Imagine if I could control it through Apple TV...."
This thread would have a completely different tone.
"Great job, Apple! Apple knows a great product when it sees it."
"I'm going to buy a Nest tomorrow!"
"The Nest is way too sleek for Google/Android users."
"I can't wait until it's built into iOS!"
"Imagine if I could control it through Apple TV...."
This thread would have a completely different tone.
That's probably exactly how it would have gone. Many probably would have no problem if Apple collected information about them.
Where is everyone getting this $100 billion in cash statement? As of the latest quarterly report AAPL had $105B in retained earnings, not cash. Retained earnings is basically the accumulated profits that haven't been returned to shareholders.
These retained earnings have already been invested in many different projects and AAPL "only" has 11B in cash and 31B in short term investments.
Completely agree with you. The same can be said for Motorola Mobile - Google spent $12 billion if I recall correctly yet Samsung is still running circles around them in Android phones.
I doubt Google will ever see a decent return on the Nest and Motorola buyouts.
I like that Apple has more focus and doesn't waste money.
Nest has two nice products, but spending 3.2 billion, that 1.6 billion per product ?