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Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

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Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#11
What does this mean for existing Ring customers? Considering the privacy implications and the fact that Amazon can/will do a lot more with this data than Ring did, is there a way for Ring customers to opt-out of future integration into the Amazon ecosystem?

I imagine there are a decent chunk of Ring customers who would have not purchased the device had it been sold by Amazon in the first place.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#14

Makes sense, as Amazon gets further into delivery this provides a complimentary service to help keep packages secure and let customers see who shows up at the door. It would be interesting if someday you could also let a courier in remotely.

Someday is long past, they've been offering to unlock your door if you've got their lock and cam for some time now. https://www.amazon.com/b?&node=17285120011

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#15

I'm surprised this isn't at the top of the frontpage. This is big vindication of all hardware startups. Will VCs go big in this category after this series of exits?

How so?

Hardware startups have been bought before. This isn't a unique event.

I worked for a hardware startup for a couple of years and VCs being cautious about the category is very well deserved.

It is easily an order of magnitude harder to develop a successful hardware product than a success software product. And even after you've sold a million of them a design defect could show itself that makes all million of them break and destroys your entire company overnight.

It's doable but very hard.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#16

What does this mean for existing Ring customers? Considering the privacy implications and the fact that Amazon can/will do a lot more with this data than Ring did, is there a way for Ring customers to opt-out of future integration into the Amazon ecosystem? I imagine there are a decent chunk of Ring customers who would have not purchased the device had it been sold by Amazon in the first place.

GDPR, I guess?

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#17

What does this mean for existing Ring customers? Considering the privacy implications and the fact that Amazon can/will do a lot more with this data than Ring did, is there a way for Ring customers to opt-out of future integration into the Amazon ecosystem? I imagine there are a decent chunk of Ring customers who would have not purchased the device had it been sold by Amazon in the first place.

I'm sure it's hundreds of people. But the majority of smart home fans have shown that they are more than comfortable with an amazon device in their homes.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#18

Ring was on the TV Show Shark Tank, and all the sharks passed on the deal. It was $700K for 10% of the company. And now it sold for more than 1 billion $.

There was just another example of this - A company called Plated, Cuban agreed to invest during the show then backed out during due diligence.

I guess Mr. Wonderful found out and called them up to invest later. Plated just got sold to Albertsons for 300m, and O’Leary claims to have made 1300%+ return on his investment.

Poor Mark.

I love the show, I don’t think any of the sharks are “dumb money,” but I don’t think it’s an accurate representation of what a good investment for most businesses should look like.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#19

Makes sense, as Amazon gets further into delivery this provides a complimentary service to help keep packages secure and let customers see who shows up at the door. It would be interesting if someday you could also let a courier in remotely.

Ah, that explains it. They want to use it for their delivery men to get access to peoples homes by image recognition tech.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#20

What does this mean for existing Ring customers? Considering the privacy implications and the fact that Amazon can/will do a lot more with this data than Ring did, is there a way for Ring customers to opt-out of future integration into the Amazon ecosystem? I imagine there are a decent chunk of Ring customers who would have not purchased the device had it been sold by Amazon in the first place.

I have a Ring. I like it because its outside my home. If it were inside, I wouldn't want it.
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