Hm. This is why we need a non-cloud based alternative to existing smart home hubs. Check our approach: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/protonet-zoe-start-your-s...
Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
251–260 of 325 posts
Re: Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
#252This is a relevant thread on reddit: https://np.reddit.com/r/Nest/comments/4dbbgh/is_anyone_conce...
That top comment - oh dear. Of course, it is an anonymous Reddit comment, so approach with skepticism, but FWIW, it does match up with what I have been hearing through other channels like Glassdoor and old-fashioned gossip.
Re: Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hardware has that upfront cost which consumers take as this should work for x amount of time. In the case of electronics I would hope they last a significant amount of time. If my hardware can work still at least give me a way to write my own code for it or use it as is with the "cloud" portions disabled/removed. If I get a new cell phone my old one doesn't need to become a paperweight because the carrier isn't pushi…
Not sure the analogy works. You would still need to pay some carrier an ongoing service fee to use your cell phone. Here we are talking about a connected device where the software service is offered for free.
Only if you want to use the carrier.
I have old phones that can't make telephone calls, but they still work fine as connected devices via wifi. They still work as cameras, mp3 players, gaming machines etc.
Re: Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
#254Wow, this is certainly something to think about in the age of the IoT's. I guess the question should be asked as to where the line is between when a user should and shouldn't expect a device to work. Especially in the coming age of drivers less cars. I can easily see a case where each driver-less car will need to talk to a mother-ship if for no other reason than syncing with other cars around it, getting new GPS maps…
The correct answer is that the car must have a documented API that can be served by anybody the owner choose to hire.
That is not the answer most countries are implanting.
Re: Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know almost nothing about the inner workings of Google or the Nest team, and yet I regularly hear about Tony and what a piece of work he is. If someone like myself, only casually acquainted with the organization, hears so many bad things about Tony, how does he still have a job? Forget his apparent management incompetence, at this point it's just bad PR for Google.
Sundar Pichai still has a job.
I'm curious about what you might have heard too. I have only met Sundar briefly, but I've seen him speak a lot. He honestly seems like one of the nicest guys I've met - and from what I've heard, most people seem to agree.
Re: Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
Curious about this too... most "tech industry" news I've read of him is full of fawning admiration.
Google is incredibly good at their "PR releases disguised as interviews". Google senior employee puff pieces are pretty amazing. While such interviews aren't "paid" persay, you only get such interviews (and the clicks/ad-views they bring) if you portray those people in a positive light. Though if you scrape them for minor bits, you find some minor hints. For example, one of those fawning admiration posts about him, t…
This hardly seems like a huge stumble.
Re: Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
#257Re: Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
#258I bought a Dropcam when they were a new thing. When I realized they did literally everything via a cloud service and would be a brick without that service, I was furious. The incredible arrogance of a company making a webcam that sends your video to their servers, and provides no means to use the camera in a secure/local fashion, was astonishing to me. I still can't believe something like Dropcam is such a huge succe…
> I still can't believe something like Dropcam is such a huge success. The level of security awareness the general public has is terrifyingly small, and companies are taking advantage of it to produce brickable devices. It is the legal variant of ransomware...They can hold your data hostage for any reason and at any time. You're completely at their mercy, with regard to pricing and availability, and you have to trust…
> We care, others don't.
That's not a justification to add data stealing features and obfuscated dependencies to a remote, probably short lived server.
We understand the nature of those features, others don't.
Re: Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
It needs to be understood that home automation appliances are going to be assumed to be long-life products. Nobody thinks about their light switch being an old version and needing to be replaced. I'd say any home automation installer should be very wary of Silicon Valley-based automation "services", and focus on robust products which have been available for a long time.
I've done such installations. The simple solution is to use Honeywell products. It's good stuff that works as intended. The downside is its not even in the same ballpark as modern google/amazon/startup type devices. The customer gets what the customer wants so if someone wants ultra modern then conservatively designed products don't fly. Best advice is to vote with your wallet and stop trusting google products.
Good point.
My Hue lights work without an internet connection, and can be controlled from a device on my local network. And they are also made by an old-school company, Phillips.
Re: Google's Nest is disabling some of its customers' old smart-home devices
#260This is neither the first time Google's done something like this to customers, nor the first time Tony Fadell has been directly involved. When they pulled Google Glass from the market, it was concurrent with moving the Glass team to Fadell's leadership. They didn't go quite so far as to push an update to brick devices, but they left the software in a broken state, and refused to open source their fork of Android so u…
I know almost nothing about the inner workings of Google or the Nest team, and yet I regularly hear about Tony and what a piece of work he is. If someone like myself, only casually acquainted with the organization, hears so many bad things about Tony, how does he still have a job? Forget his apparent management incompetence, at this point it's just bad PR for Google.
>how does he still have a job
Certain people are gifted with the ability to "kiss up and kick down" their team, i.e., kiss up to those they need to impress, and for anyone else that is less valuable, "kick them" or treat them with less regard.
Here is a good Wikipedia article, with several case studies: John Bolton, Robert McNamara. Maybe someone can add his name to this list: