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iPod Father Tony Fadell 'Would Have Loved' to Show Nest to Steve Jobs
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What kind of information is being sent to Google isn't the point. (Though you should use your imagination about the kind of information that can be extrapolated from a motion sensor in your home. Google has.)
The Point is: Had the Nest thermostat been Google-owned at the time, would I and many others have purchased it? No.
I am not sure if Google is too happy about the acquisition. In the few months with the company, they have gone through both software glitches (their ratings have tanked on Amazon) and a product recall. Right now, the units are being heavily discounted, possibly hoping to re-energize the stagnant inventory.
Lots of potential with Nest, for sure, but we are seeing competitors ramp up. In particular, the HomeKit-enabled Honeywell Lyric that was just announced seems to signal that a battle is in the air.
Not sure if Google made the best choice to buy the product, nor Fadell with the choice to sell.
Lots of potential with Nest, for sure, but we are seeing competitors ramp up. In particular, the HomeKit-enabled Honeywell Lyric that was just announced seems to signal that a battle is in the air.
Not sure if Google made the best choice to buy the product, nor Fadell with the choice to sell.
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Seriously?
Given the size of Apple and their bank account, why are they still operating like a start-up? If you keep making people switch projects all the time, they usually lose focus, lose sight of the big picture.
Maybe that's why Apple are slow to update some of their products and why we keep seeing weird bugs appear out of nowhere, things that once worked stop to work, features that once were available disappear, etc.
Given the size of Apple and their bank account, why are they still operating like a start-up? If you keep making people switch projects all the time, they usually lose focus, lose sight of the big picture.
Maybe that's why Apple are slow to update some of their products and why we keep seeing weird bugs appear out of nowhere, things that once worked stop to work, features that once were available disappear, etc.
Shoulda Bought Nest...
...instead of those tired jazzed earphones.
...relevant is staying ahead...not buying leftover dated ideas.
...instead of those tired jazzed earphones.
...relevant is staying ahead...not buying leftover dated ideas.
Because a startup is small and nimble, able to change course in an instant if need be.
Apple only produce a few products, relative to to their revenue. You don't need thousands of people to design hardware or write code. True there are thousands of people needed to build the semiconductors, but the vast majority of these people are contractors/suppliers.
The business organization structure you are thinking of can be found at Microsoft, Sony and HP just to name a few.
I prefer my nest and name it as one of the few trouble-free pieces of technology in my life. Thusly, I recommend it to everyone. (something I no longer do with apple products. Podcast syncing and "Home Sharing" issues with the Apple TV are souring me).
Google owns it, I dig that. Today Google noticed that I drove to my mother in law's house, and when I got home, Chrome had a icon in the menubar documenting my route. Creepy? Yep. Google surely knows I shoot for 77º. Creepy? Yep. I have a @gmail account, to which Amazon informs me that they send me stuff. That also, magically, has appeared in whatever Google Now thing I got going on via chrome. Creepy? Yep.
But I hooked all that stuff up, and am just seeing it used in unexpected ways.
So:
#1 accept it. If i put the information on the internet, there it is. If google decides to monetize me, good luck. Adblockers exist, and at the router-level. My thermostat won't be able to sell me crap.
#2 deny it. This requires going back to essentially "dialup". I'm opting out of that luddite future. I'm moving forward with the acceptance that I give my mundane info to the internet, then the internet has it. All I have to do is leave out the fact that I murder homeless people, and I'm good to go.
Ideal? No. The future is never ideal. "Distopia" is a word.
Google owns it, I dig that. Today Google noticed that I drove to my mother in law's house, and when I got home, Chrome had a icon in the menubar documenting my route. Creepy? Yep. Google surely knows I shoot for 77º. Creepy? Yep. I have a @gmail account, to which Amazon informs me that they send me stuff. That also, magically, has appeared in whatever Google Now thing I got going on via chrome. Creepy? Yep.
But I hooked all that stuff up, and am just seeing it used in unexpected ways.
So:
#1 accept it. If i put the information on the internet, there it is. If google decides to monetize me, good luck. Adblockers exist, and at the router-level. My thermostat won't be able to sell me crap.
#2 deny it. This requires going back to essentially "dialup". I'm opting out of that luddite future. I'm moving forward with the acceptance that I give my mundane info to the internet, then the internet has it. All I have to do is leave out the fact that I murder homeless people, and I'm good to go.
Ideal? No. The future is never ideal. "Distopia" is a word.
The article states that while Nest's financials are not public, it's thought that they've sold around a million thermostats since they were introduced in 2011. At $249 retail, this does not represent a huge amount of revenue and less earnings. While this might be good for a startup, is it worth what Google paid? Not hardly. To justify their investment, Google will have to figure out how to turn Nest into something more than a boutique product company.
Frankly, you just come off as paranoid and silly here. You walk around with a device in your pocket that allows Apple and your phone company access to your exact location at every minute of the day, your house location is a matter of public record and can easily be accessed.
This is why I recently purchased a Honeywell thermostat. Yeah it doesn't do all of what the Nest does, but it's enough. And Google won't know when I'm home or not.
Google can tell when you're home based on where your searches and adwords are being delivered. Think for 10 seconds before you post.
Pretty sure subscriptions to media (songs, movies) isn't a leftover dated idea -- that is why they bought Beats for the Gillionth time... not for the jazzed 'phones. That's just a bonus. And also confident Apple will make $ on the smart home w/ home kit. Why buy the cow when you can milk it for free?
Users can control which apps and system services access Location Services data, including iBeacon
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6048
LOL yeah true...
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No they can't... I use https for everything, have adblock installed, have donttrackme installed and use a paid ad/tracker blocking DNS.
Everybody on here called me an idiot last time I mentioned it and I got a temporary ban so I'm not keen to explain my setup any further.
Yep. Nothing to lose sleep over. The only thing to worry about is Gmail because, as I have discovered from a bad personal experience, they give out your Google search history and your contacts' email address to spammers.
Nothing makes me laugh harder than Google blowing money. Hopefully it dies out and they waste another $3,200,000,000.
The main thing is that you shouldn't log into a Google account if you're worried about that. They can guess that the IP address you usually use is your home. HTTPS, special DNSs, and Don'tTrackMe won't do anything about them checking your IP address. You'd need a randomized proxy.
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You mean Firefox, which is soon going to have ads in it?
And Honeywell establishes itself as the Samsung of thermostats.
Cheap yet blatant ripoff of the Nest.
Let's remember that the guy left Apple in 2008...
In that year:
In that year:
- MacBook Air
- iPhone 3G
- MobileMe
- Snow Leopard (everyone's favorite)
- Time Capsule
- iTunes becomes the top music retailer in the US
- iTunes Movie Rentals
- iTunes Digital Copy
Fortunately, Apple occupies the vast chasm between Google's dystopia and "dialup".
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