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Google Acquiring Tony Fadell-Founded Nest for $3.2 Billion
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Of course if Apple would of purchased Nest then it would of been the best thing since sliced bread. Cant believe how shallow people are on this web site.
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Yeah like MS and Google both have close to 100 billion in the bank. Also Google is bigger company if you take in consideration how many stock shares Apple has sold vs Google.
To be fair to apple we are customer, and to google we are the product.. I think a lot of complaints and concerns arise because of this distinction.
Google is there to make money. Lots of money.
You pay a price. Maybe the services don't cost you money, but you pay Google indirectly.
I would not like my thermostat linked to Google. Plain and simple.
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I think the difference is that Google's business model is reliant on information about you.
Apple's business model is getting the most cash out of you for buying the products.
There's a big difference in reselling some third-party products and accessories (like Apple does in its retail stores and online) and actually buying out a company.
In addition, Apple could do nicer home products with internal R&D for way less than $3.2billion if it really wanted to in my opinion. But Apple doesn't do this often, it stays very focused on a few great products and associated software/services.
Google on the other hand stretches itself very thin lately, it's like a shotgun approach:
- Networked Home products
- Robots (8 companies bought !)
- Alternative Energy
- Robot cars
....
Yes, Google has the money, but at a certain point there's the question if this is not a waste of R&D.
3.2 billion in cash isn't chump change even for a company like Google, especially when they kill off useful products like Google Reader...
If Apple paid $3B for Nest people here would be questioning Cook's sanity. What does Nest have that Apple needs? I'm sure Jony Ive & team could design a nice looking thermostat or smoke detector. Is there some amazing technology Nest has that Apple needs that they couldn't do on their own if they wanted to? I'd rather have Apple spend money on areas where they have deficiencies.
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But this is what props up Google's stock price, this idea that they have a million irons in the fire. Plus Wall Street seems to be more forgiving with Google. I mean Google paid $12B for Motorola yet Wall Street doesn't seem to care that it's barely profitable (if at all).
Well, Wall Street doesn't care as long as Google's core business (ad words etc.) is printing money - same for Microsoft, they (still) make all their money from Windows, Exchange and Office licensing, all other (newer) business units lose money.
I doubt Wall Street will like this long-term, especially if there's a downturn coming and/or Google continues to buy companies outside their core areas with no clear focus.
For example, I doubt Robotics (outside of established industrial robotics) will be a big money maker for Google before 2020 or even later. Google will even throw more R&D money at most of their ventures on top of the purchasing price.
A few billions here and there add up if there is no visible ROI (Return on Investment).
$3.2 BILLION for a company that makes "smart thermostats"? I can only infer that google thinks there will ultimately be a MUCH larger market for these things than currently exists because that kind of money for what is right now a niche market seems crazy.
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I'm not sure what version of MR you read, but I see people on this site blasting apple for literally every decision they make. The critics would have been at the virtual gate with virtual pitchforks if apple had done this.
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I'm not sure what version of MR you read, but I see people on this site blasting apple for literally every decision they make. The critics would have been at the virtual gate with virtual pitchforks if apple had done this.
Even if there's a much larger market one day, I think a large company could come up with similar networked home products for much less with internal R&D in a reasonable time frame...
I have to admit I don't have all the details, but I really doubt Nest has some insurmountable patent protection on their two products that would block other companies offering similar hardware in the future (?).
I bet that those posts are just parodies, no sane person can write such things
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Of course they wouldn't. Apple is not an advertising company. People aren't annoyed that much by the data google collects. They are annoyed more by how that data is used.
Mad
I really do think Google have gone mad. Where is there $3.2 billon of value in Nest? The answer - there isn't.
I really do think Google have gone mad. Where is there $3.2 billon of value in Nest? The answer - there isn't.
The point is Honeywell has hundreds more thermostat patents... so what can they actually do with monitoring a room and turning the boiler on!
As for the Smoke / co2 alarm. Again lovely implementation but $200 per one!!! Or you can buy 5 and have multiple redundancy.
It's insane I think. But they did by motorola.
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how that data is sold in fact.
If your router is on fire or otherwise offline, does that impact on what the Nest alarm can do?
Initial thought on the Nest thermostat was that it was childishly naff in its design and likely to look dated before too long.
Aside from its equally unpleasant design, I think the Nest alarm provides solutions to problems that don't exist. Being told by your alarm that there is smoke in a particular room is next to meaningless, unless you live in a house with 100s of rooms.
Having the battery level monitored via your phone is also next to meaningless: especially when most modern alarms are wired to the power supply.
I'm surprised by the claim that Nest sells 40,000 thermostat units a month...that many people are bothered to change their existing thermostat for an ugly circular dial?
But I do think that Nest has achieved brilliance in one regard: they have made fools out of Google...unless they have a phalanx of as-yet-unreleased products waiting in the wings.
Initial thought on the Nest thermostat was that it was childishly naff in its design and likely to look dated before too long.
Aside from its equally unpleasant design, I think the Nest alarm provides solutions to problems that don't exist. Being told by your alarm that there is smoke in a particular room is next to meaningless, unless you live in a house with 100s of rooms.
Having the battery level monitored via your phone is also next to meaningless: especially when most modern alarms are wired to the power supply.
I'm surprised by the claim that Nest sells 40,000 thermostat units a month...that many people are bothered to change their existing thermostat for an ugly circular dial?
But I do think that Nest has achieved brilliance in one regard: they have made fools out of Google...unless they have a phalanx of as-yet-unreleased products waiting in the wings.
I'm not so sure about this. I don't think I want Google involved in the security of my house. Nest stating they will be operating independantly says volumes about the concern. No thank you! I'd much rather trust a company who's operating system has a record of protection.
and apple is obviously not, they want to make the world a better place, do they?
no, not at all. the circlejerk would become bigger than it already is. cook would be the visionary messiah that made a smart choice. it would be magical.
I think the investment is more about building an ecosystem than it is building any one product. Googles already shown a lot of interest in getting into the living room through Chromecast and previous to that their music streaming device and other Android TV ventures.i don't understand how these companies, worth billions at purchase, would ever profitable by creating very expensive gadgets supposed to replace cheap products
one can find a thermostat for less than $50 and a smoke detector for $10
the potential value of geek customers would never match this amount
My assumption would be that Google plans to extend on that by having the Nest devices integrate with those some how as well as adding other home automation devices to the fray. With that they can have streaming audio that follows you around the house as the Nest Protect tracks your motion or any other number of potentially interesting scenarios.
It's not just the home too, google Glass and any efforts to integrate with the car along with Android all have a very similar push to get Android and its ecosystem around you 24/7. Sure, they may not necessarily make a lot of cash on the nest products alone (but then again they could be gold mines if marketed correctly), but they certainly boost Androids footprint and may allow revenue to be raised elsewhere. I imagine the smart watch concept still has a lot of potential too.
I can't imagine this isn't driving income somewhere, even if its not directly product sales. People said the Chrome browser was a money sink as well but its been pretty valuable at getting people to use Google services. I can only imagine someone in upper management at Google has an idea of how to leverage these home automation tools.
and apple is obviously not, they want to make the world a better place, do they?
You should have quoted the rest too....
Of course Apple is there to make a lot of money, but their business model is to sell products, not gather information.
It will still act as a smoke alarm carbon monoxide alarm independently. This is a good thing
Although the design is not groundbreaking it's still just as good as anything out there.
There are other solutions that do exist for example my daughter gets home from school she's the first one home and usually takes a nap having that added protection can be useful.
Being in the electrical industry for the past 25 years it's probably a good thing you have both wired and battery, as far as I know this system allows you to have both
I can definitely see 40,000 units a month they do Sell them in Home Depot. Go into any Home Depot the first thing you see is two huge nest displays.
Why is Google a fool? They Just acquired two great products and over 500 patents.
I agree. I was going to try and talk my wife into getting a smoke alarm but not now.
What a bunch of sell outs.
I think one would argue that the data is more important to google than the aspects you mention so well.
I would say this isn't about a niche product or even a thermostat. This is a very telling acquisition because it tells us 2 things:
1) Google wants to enter the home automation industry, and
2) Apple apparently does not, or at least they aren't serious about it.
Apple could have taken a huge leap forward in developing their home automation market here, but instead they want to focus on acquiring small GIS & social media companies. Hey Apple, it's 2014, not 2008.