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We're hearing about troubles at Nest

businessinsider.com

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Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#241

Post by iofj »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #66
lmm wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did Socrates actually say that or was it just something Plato had him say in his book?

We can't tell for sure, but it teaches us something, and that's the best we can hope for.

Socrates also taught that we should fight to kill democracy because it effectively means that the state is not run according to what is "morally right", but instead is run by idiots who don't think they're idiots.

Socrates also claims the fact that his students overthrew the government and implemented this idea of governing by "moral right" and proceeded to kill thousands of people. He claims that the fact that they did so had nothing to do with him.

Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#242

Post by driverdan »

a3n wrote: post #235
driverdan wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did a similar thing with our office elevators. They replaced the physical call buttons with a touchscreen. It doesn't do anything other than call the elevator. It's far less usable because someone who's blind can't use it.

> It's far less usable because someone who's blind can't use it. I would have thought an elevator not usable by blind people would be illegal.

They have a separate physical button for people who can't use the touchscreen. I assume it calls the security desk and requires them to intervene.

Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#243

Post by sliverstorm »

Rapidwire wrote: post #196
sliverstorm wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could ask the same questions about abusive intimate relationships. Cribbing from that "book"- Destroy their sense of self-confidence & self-worth. Pick 'em young- they are easier to fool. Give them brief moments of sunshine to make them hope it'll get better. Promises. Threats. General megalomania.

What book?

Like, playbook of running an abusive relationship. Figure of speech

Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#244

Post by soylentcola »

gherkin0 wrote: post #92
city41 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The apartment we are renting has a Nest. And it just reeks of solution looking for a problem to me. I've never felt like the Nest is an improvement over what it's replacing. It hit me when I was in bed and wanted to turn the heat up, so I grabbed my phone and launched the Nest app. Not sure what segment of the network was having issues, but it wouldn't connect to the thermostat. After about 3 minutes of fiddling, I g…

Yeah, I really don't get value of the Nest either. I'd rather just program my schedule myself and have some certainty about it, rather than let some algorithm try to guess. The only smart thermostat feature that's at all tempting to me is the Ecobee's remote sensors (which the Nest doesn't have). I've lived in places where uneven heating is a legitimate problem.

I've had a Nest for a few years now and it's been pretty good for my uses so far. I can manually set a schedule but I also have the option of just adjusting it as I see fit and letting the Nest "learn" my schedule if I choose.

Additionally, it's pretty good at handling things when I'm not around to manually tweak things or something changes. If I'm off one day during the week it detects that I'm at home and doesn't fall back to the "away" schedule/settings and on the flip side, if I'm away at work or somewhere else, when I start my drive home, it can start heating or cooling early so the temp is where I want it when I arrive.

It's definitely a bit "gee whiz" but so far I've had no glaring issues with it but I've had several positive ones. My main feature request is the one you mentioned with the remote sensors. I'd love to see them come up with little night-light-sized "Nest Eggs" that you can plug into outlets in different rooms, maybe act as "smart" outlets for whatever you plug into the Nest Egg (my imaginary term, not a real product) in order to manage non-smart lighting or other minor appliances, and help build a more accurate heating/cooling model of the house.

If I was working at Nest that would definitely be the new product I'd be pushing for.

Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#245

Post by soylentcola »

atonse wrote: post #103
rblatz wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar issue, but it's because I had setup the nest incorrectly. It asked about my equipment and about my setup, and I got it wrong. So when it would try to turn on the heat it would not turn the blower on. Once I fixed the configuration error it works instantly.

Thanks, I'll check this out. I had mine professionally installed, so I generally trust the company that did it, but always good to double check.

I set mine up myself (easy setup was a perk I noticed when buying it a few years ago) and in the application, there are several details you want to fill out on initial setup. A big one is the type of heating/cooling you have in your house because it adjusts behavior in response. Over time it "learns" the quirks of your setup such as how responsive it is and adjusts to compensate. At least that's how it's supposed to work and how mine works. The "90 minutes" or "2 hours" or whatever it shows is supposed to be based on its estimate based on how it's modeled your house's hvac setup.

Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#246

Post by mojito »

Terrible place. Did some work for them a few years ago. They hired a lot of assholes that mirrored Tony's personality. Working with those people was the worst. And Tony is a control freak which led to an insular group of yes men. And they often ended up making costly or wasteful mistakes because good, calm, knowledgeable people were not able to make effective decisions in the defective culture around Tony.

They also treated vendors like crap which is like kicking a dog.

I hope they make some big changes.

Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#247

Post by mojito »

Terrible place. Did some work for them a few years ago. They hired a lot of assholes that mirrored Tony's personality. Working with those people was the worst. And Tony is a control freak which led to an insular group of yes men. And they often ended up making costly or wasteful mistakes because good, calm, knowledgeable people were not able to make effective decisions in the defective culture around Tony.

They also treated vendors like crap which is like kicking a dog.

I hope they make some big changes.

Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#248

Post by st3v3r »

bobby_9x wrote: post #182
st3v3r wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not usually. People who do that think they're saying something that someone needs to hear, but they're usually either wrong, or saying it in a manner that does make them an asshole.

I disagree. Most people don’t want to hear the truth and will take anything they don’t want to hear as a personal attack against them. I’ve seen it time and time again.. and then pushed out on social media to make the person that said it look like the bad guy...and since it’s usually one person against another, it’s impossible to defend. This is why when the technology gets cheap enough, I will have a secret body cam…

"This is why when the technology gets cheap enough, I will have a secret body cam on me at all times."

So rather than develop the interpersonal skills that would allow you to say those kinds of things without sounding like an asshole, you're just going to secretly record everyone you run into (which is something that will solidify you as an asshole), and have this video record of you being an asshole to people.

Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#249

Post by st3v3r »

bobby_9x wrote: post #182
st3v3r wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not usually. People who do that think they're saying something that someone needs to hear, but they're usually either wrong, or saying it in a manner that does make them an asshole.

I disagree. Most people don’t want to hear the truth and will take anything they don’t want to hear as a personal attack against them. I’ve seen it time and time again.. and then pushed out on social media to make the person that said it look like the bad guy...and since it’s usually one person against another, it’s impossible to defend. This is why when the technology gets cheap enough, I will have a secret body cam…

"This is why when the technology gets cheap enough, I will have a secret body cam on me at all times."

So rather than develop the interpersonal skills that would allow you to say those kinds of things without sounding like an asshole, you're just going to secretly record everyone you run into (which is something that will solidify you as an asshole), and have this video record of you being an asshole to people.

Re: We're hearing about troubles at Nest

#250

Post by brianwawok »

discodave wrote: post #208
brianwawok wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So there are some gains. For example if it knows it is an extra sunny day and its 11am, it could heat a little bit less and let sunlight so more. On the other hand, more fancy is more to break.

No, a thermostat already solves that problem because it measures the temperature of the house and adjusts the heat accordingly.

Example for the predict temperature component.

For example with honeywell: My house warms up to 70 degrees by 8 am, holds it there for 2 hours, by 10am it shuts off as the sun takes over warming. By noon it is 76 in my house and I am having to open windows to stay cool.

With nest: My house warms up to 70 by 8, but is allowed to drift down to 67 by 10am because it knows the sun is coming. Sure enough it does, and warms up to 73 naturally and for free by noon.

I not only saved 2 hours of running my furnace (8-10 am), I changed my max delta from my desired temperature from 6 degrees to 3 degrees.

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