Crap. I guess I won't be buying one then. Amazon also just gobbled up the maker of my home security cameras (Blink). I really would prefer my home monitoring devices to be separate from the giant tech companies that I'm trusting less and less.
Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
21–30 of 135 posts
Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
#22Amazon and Google -- and Facebook and a handful of others -- seem to be in a never-ending race to learn everything about everyone everywhere: who you are, where you are, what you do, when you do it, and why do do it. Having cameras and microphones in your house and your neighborhood is a small part of that.
Don't forget they're also monitoring people who interact with you (a.k.a. the user of services).
When I walk into a friends home who has an Alexa, or a Ring system, it is now tracking me too.
The purchaser consented, but I never consented to being monitored in a residence/dwelling where I would otherwise have the reasonable expectation of privacy!
There was a good Gizmodo article about this called The House That Spied on Me [1].
[1] https://gizmodo.com/the-house-that-spied-on-me-1822429852
Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
#23Ring 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 $.
fun fact: that 100M is worth more than some of the investors on shark tank
Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
#24I'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?
I don't think this validates this space at all. If your only exit strategy is to get acquired by a big 5 you're already in trouble.
Hardware is pretty freaking hard. Just look at recent examples of public hardware companies: FitBit / GoPro. Both doing like crap, struggling to maintain their grab on the market and looking for acquirers.
Honestly, I think this is a very unattractive sector, at least in this side of the world. Most serious hardware contenders are and will keep coming from China (DJI, Xiaomi, Yi, etc).
Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
#25What 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.
I agree that inside/outside feels different, especially if there's audio in the mix.
Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
#26Ring 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 $.
You have the wrong idea about the show. It exists to promote the shark's own businesses and products under the guise of a contest reality show. To keep up the facade, they allow other companies to put their products up for a price, and intersperse a couple of silly products to keep people watching.
It's just dressed up advertising, it's not about investing or business by any flip of the coin.
Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
#27Amazon and Google -- and Facebook and a handful of others -- seem to be in a never-ending race to learn everything about everyone everywhere: who you are, where you are, what you do, when you do it, and why do do it. Having cameras and microphones in your house and your neighborhood is a small part of that.
Is Apple the only big company in the “we respect your privacy” game? I honestly would love to know another.
Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
#28There goes any hope of the HomeKit support promise coming through in the Ring Pro.
Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
#29Perhaps a stupid question, but where does the $1bn. valuation come from? Amazon already make hardware, including cloud cameras, would it have been so hard for them to make a doorbell in-house?
Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring
#30safe to assume homekit compatibility is not going to be released?