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Google to Acquire Nest

investor.google.com

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Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#331

Post by diydsp »

smackfu wrote: post #138
vasilipupkin wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, the last thing I need is my Nest thermostat and my Nest smoke alarm sending data about my house to Google / NSA

I don't really see what they have access to privacy-wise that is any more intrusive than a smart-phone with a microphone and a GPS chip. And if the NSA can target a huge company like Google, I bet Nest was child's play to infiltrate.

well, it's one thing to feel insecure knowing that people know where you are (cellphone/mic/GPS). But if you're attacked/ambushed/blackmailed/kidnapped, you can always fight for yourself, scream to attract attention, etc.

It's another thing to feel insecure knowing that people know when your home is unoccupied. Just wait until the next big data breach happens.

It's especially interesting b/c not only is this a "when are they not home" detector, but the "they" is an indicator for "wealthy enough to afford nice things."

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#332

Post by smackfu »

wyager wrote: post #91
chrisrhoden wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Exactly. I don't care if the government knows when I'm home (they can already figure that out), but imagine if Google's database of Nest info got leaked. Burglars could look at the database and say "Oh hey, look, no one's home right now."

>imagine if Google's database of Nest info got leaked.

Don't see how the acquisition changed the value of that data. Do you really think Nest has better data security than Google?

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#335

Post by MartinCron »

pgcosta wrote: post #304
MartinCron wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this makes me sound like a terrible luddite or hipster or both, but I've been thinking about all of these smart devices and services and how they may have a somewhat infantalizing impact on people. I recently met with some people behind a startup built entirely around generating meal plans for you. I understand that it's a useful service (for some types of people). But I worry about the implication that we are…

We can figure out what to eat. But it takes time. Imagine that you want to personalize your diet. Take certain ammounts of protein, calories, fat, etc... It would take lots of time if you would prepare a weekly plan for yourself. Thats a good Idea. But I do feel what you'r expressing, like we need an app to do everything. But I much rather live with these little apps and have lots of good information than to live com…

I don't know, it might be nudging you to being oblivious in a different direction. Encapsulation is generally about ignorance, and if you have a robot designing your macro-nutrient intake for you, then you can wind up oblivious to what is actually in your food.

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#337

Post by RALaBarge »

eridius wrote: post #296
cloudwalking wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here are just a few examples: - Keyhole (now Google Maps) - Android Inc. - Motorola Mobility - GrandCentral (now Google Voice) - NeXT - Siri In general, an acquired company initially became successful by bringing value to consumers. When that company is acquired, it gets more resources to bring more value to customers.

Google Voice is effectively a dead product, isn't it? Doesn't seem that favorable to me.

I keep my 10 year old cell phone number alive and well on voice.google.com, it works great.

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#338

Post by manmal »

napoleond wrote: post #219
MrZongle2 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm saying that if you're near the top of the food chain at Nest, 2014 is probably going to be the start of many good years financially. As for the product? Google's Reader product comes to mind.

I know everyone's still upset about Reader, but your post doesn't make any sense. Google didn't pay $3.2 billion dollars for a bunch of new employees.

They did not pay $3.2 billion for some employees, but for a company with a proven track record of creating great hardware. Why not let them develop more household hardware for the upcoming internet-of-things revolution (provided it does come), with Google on top?

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#339

Post by angryasian »

Steko wrote: post #310
arikrak wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, and like Android and Youtube. Sarcasm aside, Google has actually done pretty well with acquisitions compared to other companies. (Say ones that begin with "M" or "Y"). You can see the list in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisition...

YouTube was fine when Google wrote checks and got out of the way. Now Larry and co. have their hands all over it and YT is slowly going to shit... from the G+ spam to the annotation spam and of course you need to sign in to keep them turned off (lol maybe!), to "hey let's make you rebuffer the whole video you just watched" to just horrid performance drops in general to "hey we found a way to make YT comments even wor…

while its hard to argue with your point. YT is a huge revenue generating product. Now more than ever Google is probably being pressured by the "content owners" and trying to balance the need for creators to market their channels and helping them grow through questionable content. I think with a mature, product like YT its understandable.

Re: Google to Acquire Nest

#340

Post by Fasebook »

ssmoot wrote: post #228
Fasebook wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? $200 for a predictive thermostat, with a lame excuse to stream energy usage data and proximity data (Nest detects humans) out of your home? Id rather pay $99 to tell health insurance companies how often I exercise, live. You could get the same benefit from a device for $30 of electronics. It's an overpriced gimmick to justify another selling off of your personal data forever in exchange for nothing but some m…

I could get the same benefit from a device for $30 of electronics, and however many hours of my free-time I decide to put into such a project. Which would be a lot more than $250 lost, and not a trade I'd be willing to make considering I value my free time with the family a lot more than that. For me this whole thing misses the point though. Saving money is a sort of minimum expectation. The thing that Nest delivers…

Uh, good for you? That is not the value proposition, that is trivial information about your personal life. I don't know why you felt it necessary to try to duplicate a manufactured device by hand, but that is most certainly not the value proposition.

The value proposition is that $200 and letting Google extract value from your life by way of energy prices will somehow pay for the fractional energy saved when the device realizes that you work on weekdays.

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