Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019 • Hacker News Board

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#261

Post by tvanantwerp » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:05 PM UTC

I've never felt terribly inconvenienced by manually flipping light switches, pushing buttons on the remote, or fiddling with the thermostat. Voice control of these things introduces many new points of failure and aggravations without delivering an order-of-magnitude improvement to my daily life. I just don't find it worthwhile.

The day I can say "Google, fold the laundry" or "Alexa, make me a sandwich" and it actually does it, then I'll happily buy in to a smart home ecosystem. That's an order-of-magnitude improvement! Until then, I'm OK with the analog stuff that lasts for ages and breaks in fairly easy-to-understand-and-fix ways.

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#262

Post by holy_city » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:05 PM UTC

Kique wrote: post #28

I kind of like how Google is moving all the home related products to the Nest brand. We always talk about Google branding being the worst but I think this is actually a logical move to one brand for everything Home. I also like that I'll be able to use my google login for my Nest products in the future, and the author even agrees that the Nest app is not great and the Google Home app is what I currently use anyway fo…

I think the more significant integration is on the development side. The cloud services will be integrated with Google's AI platform (and people), while the hardware will benefit from the Google Home team.

More people, know-how, and money are always good things for a product.

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#263

Post by chaostheory » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:05 PM UTC

heavymark wrote: post #11

This is why we invested in Apple Home, since that is the least likely to go away completely off all the options. Any Google service other than Gmail and Google Maps may come and go so while they offer amazing features at the cost of invading your privacy, there is no guarantee they will there in the long term.

I always wished that Apple bought Nest instead of Google. It just made more sense. Of course this would never happen because of Apple politics, which was the reason Tony Faddell was forced out in the first place.

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#264

Post by Severian » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:05 PM UTC

smbullet wrote: post #199

AlexandrB wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In 5 years when all the crap is worked out and you eventually buy a system with extra security at your door or backyard, or a something to that effect I'd like you to come back and admit it. I heard this same song and dance 5 years ago. The problems with the "IoT" market are foundational. Most IoT devices are not designed to be used for extended periods without internet access and a continuous stream of updates. Th…

Not all of us live in safe neighborhoods like yourself.

Consumer locks only keep the honest out.

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#265

Post by iscrewyou » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:06 PM UTC

rubicon33 wrote: post #256

iscrewyou wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have a smart home device and I won't buy it in a few years. And the simple reason is that there is no regulation for bad behavior. These companies keep getting away with massive privacy violations. We can dig into the big companies but at this time, that point has been beaten to death. When there is better regulation and the software engineers are being jailed for violations of privacy, I will trust the syste…

> When there is better regulation and the software engineers are being jailed for violations of privacy, Just like all those bankers who were jailed after the 2008 financial crisis that wrecked the lives of millions? Gimme a break.

And you’ve proven my point about not trusting the companies running these devices and devices.

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#266

Post by jasonvorhe » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:06 PM UTC

PeterStuer wrote: post #221

1989: About one out of every 63 East Germans collaborated with the Stasi. 2018: About one out every 2 Americans now own a 'smart speaker' Both Orwell AND Huxley lacked imagination

This is intellectually dishonest and dismissive to people who actually had to live in a totalitarian surveillance state for decades.

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#267

Post by iscrewyou » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:07 PM UTC

mixmastamyk wrote: post #240

iscrewyou wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have a smart home device and I won't buy it in a few years. And the simple reason is that there is no regulation for bad behavior. These companies keep getting away with massive privacy violations. We can dig into the big companies but at this time, that point has been beaten to death. When there is better regulation and the software engineers are being jailed for violations of privacy, I will trust the syste…

s/software engineers/management team/

Anybody. Who ever makes those negligent decisions that compromise systems.

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#268

Post by nominated1 » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:07 PM UTC

spilk wrote: post #255

dustinmoris wrote: post #97

Smart people don't buy smart home devices. My relatively poor grandparents and my slightly less poor parents had a hard working life, but none of them had to sleep in a dark cold room because the switch to turn the lights on or the heating stopped working. Ever. This problem has been solved by other people many many years ago. Last month I watched a documentary where a billionaire was showing of his multi million man…

It's like you're purposely describing the least useful application of smarthome devices. Setting up geofence triggers, time/event-based triggers, etc. is the real power of smart devices. I have automations set up so if I arrive home when it's dark, lights in my house turn on automatically so I don't have to fumble for light switches. I have motion sensors so if I walk into rooms, the lights turn on automatically and…

I use astronomical timers for outdoor lighting and indoor night lights. The rest of your uses look more like “because I can” and are not filling an actual need. Besides, my pets jumping on and off furniture would trigger those senors more than I care to admit.

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#269

Post by tonyb » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:07 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #190

rhacker wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the exact kind of comment that would make it to the top because it just empowered everyone that DOESN'T have one such system. It's filled with finger pointing. Most of the replies basically point out yeah, I hate IoT lights, but this use case is good... It's not genuine to dismiss the entire enchilada because YOU don't have it. In 5 years when all the crap is worked out and you eventually buy a system with ex…

People aren't dismissing it because they don't have it, they're dismissing it because the UX is terrible, it's too high maintenance, and the future of any individual solution uncertain. In some ways it's like pre-iPhone mobile apps. They absolutely did exist, but were mostly too much hassle until they could be seamlessly downloaded from the App Store, sandboxed, and held to quality standards. We're still in the Symbi…

As a counterpoint, yet completely anecdotal, point of view, I've had none of the issues you describe.

Once I install a Z-wave light switch and add it to my hub (a very simple process) there is virtually no maintenance. I rarely use the phone app to control things but I reliably get push notifications for things I want to know about (forgot to lock the front door, garage door being opened unexpected, door unlocked by specific people, etc.).

Most of my interaction happens via Alex and it basically just works.

Re: Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019

#270

Post by stephenr » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:08 PM UTC

rhacker wrote: post #174

dustinmoris wrote: post #97

Smart people don't buy smart home devices. My relatively poor grandparents and my slightly less poor parents had a hard working life, but none of them had to sleep in a dark cold room because the switch to turn the lights on or the heating stopped working. Ever. This problem has been solved by other people many many years ago. Last month I watched a documentary where a billionaire was showing of his multi million man…

This is the exact kind of comment that would make it to the top because it just empowered everyone that DOESN'T have one such system. It's filled with finger pointing. Most of the replies basically point out yeah, I hate IoT lights, but this use case is good... It's not genuine to dismiss the entire enchilada because YOU don't have it. In 5 years when all the crap is worked out and you eventually buy a system with ex…

A light switch is not fundamentally broken, it doesn't need any improvement, besides maybe including a little LED in the switch itself so it's easier to find when the room is dark. But no internet connection is required.

10 years won't change that.

And a lock, that depends in some way on internet access? You can FUCK RIGHT OFF.