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Google to Acquire Nest

investor.google.com

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Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#41

Post by lowlevel »

Karunamon wrote: post #28
jmduke wrote: post #12

The cynic in me shudders at the possibility of Google adding even more real-world data like temperature preference and lifestyle factors to their massive data portfolio. The idealist in me is incredibly excited at the possibility of Nest's fundamental strengths being bolstered by Google's coffers.

Am I the only one that doesn't get chills up their spine whenever Google breaks into some new market? I see very little possible misuse of temperature preference (of all things...) and very great possible gains. The more intimately a service knows you, the more personalized and relevant data it can bring. And another thing, I am really sick and tired of tempering or being told to temper my enthusiasm for some new tec…

So.. if you tend to keep your house on the cool side, expect to see more banner ads for slippers, sweaters and housecoats.

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#42

Post by tsenkov »

Was there anything similar (as an amount of cash in the deal) in the last 10 years? Probably Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's phone division? Is there a list somewhere, that would be interesting to see.

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#43

Post by pgrote »

angersock wrote: post #30
nodata wrote: post #27

Oh come on this has to stop. How much would it have cost Google to build Nest from scratch? Not 3.2 billion dollars.

It's not the tech, it's the install/customer base.

How large is the installed base? It appears to be small for smart thermostats and even smaller for Nest.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/11/02/2877211/smart-th...

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#45

Post by Karunamon »

chrisrhoden wrote: post #34
Karunamon wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one that doesn't get chills up their spine whenever Google breaks into some new market? I see very little possible misuse of temperature preference (of all things...) and very great possible gains. The more intimately a service knows you, the more personalized and relevant data it can bring. And another thing, I am really sick and tired of tempering or being told to temper my enthusiasm for some new tec…

What about the ability to know when someone is in your home and when someone is not? If Google records that data (say, to be able to provide you with a handy chart of your energy use and some ways to improve it), the potential I am more worried about is the fact that the data exists makes it possible to subpoena.

The "bad guys" (I assume we're talking about government types) can park outside your house or just lean on the electric/gas company for that info already. Or considering how some people broadcast their location with Twitter/Foursquare/Facebook/Etc, just watch that.

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#47

Post by rtkwe »

VLM wrote: post #14
tghw wrote: post #3

Given Google's history with acquisitions, as a Nest owner, I'm not thrilled to hear this. Hopefully they let it run as independently as possible.

Google always shuts stuff down. Which is just a big laugh when its an internet application, but not so funny when its your thermostat. Anyone know what happens when GOOG shuts off the Nest system? Hopefully the thermostat reverts to at least a simple dumb mode rather than shutting everything off?

Should be pretty easy to keep a large amount of the functionality online, the one thing that definitely wouldn't work is remote access through nest.com. Just controlling the HVAC system doesn't _require_ any web access, easy test to see what the impact of a hard shutdown by Google is to just disconnect your wireless router from the Internet.

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#48

Post by k-mcgrady »

Very surprised Apple didn't purchase this. Headed by Tony Fadell, brilliant design, I thought it would fit and be a nice diversification for them. However it will be very interesting to see what Google does with this. If I put away the cynic in me for a moment: the more data Google has on me the better their services are for me. I could imagine the Nest thermostat integrating with Google Now and the location data Google has on me for example to better now my comings and going.

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#50

Post by dangrossman »

ActVen wrote: post #39
minimax wrote: post #7

"Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Nest Labs, Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash." Can that be right? $3.2 billion? That's a crazy huge sum.

They have paying customers. It matters.

Nest has customers who have paid it, it does not have paying customers. There is no ongoing fee despite every device Nest sells being connected to its servers 24/7/365. It takes no more than ~3 seconds for any changes you make on their web/mobile apps to reach the thermostat, so it has to be at least checking in with a server constantly.
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