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Nest is acquiring Dropcam

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Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#121

Post by opendais »

XorNot wrote: post #92
opendais wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like they pay Nest based on: http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/01/13/nest-gives... "Nest founder and CEO Tony Fadell told Forbes last month that his company had struck deals with close to 20 utility companies, who paid Nest $30 to $50 per thermostat annually, to manage the energy usage of Nest customers who had opted into their utility’s demand-response program. As part of the program, Nest tempor…

As opposed to the people driving by who definitely will know, and may actually rob you based on that information?

You can't actually tell if I'm home by driving by. You'd need to get out and walk.

That is, assuming you know the schedule of my automated lights and can accurately guess if I'm home or not with blackout curtains over my windows :P

Even my neighbors don't know when I'm home half the time.

I'm an odd duck.

Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#122

Post by gvb »

ap22213 wrote: post #120
shiven wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He thinks the lavish perks at many technology companies, especially the free on-campus meals, are a disguised form of mind control, designed to get employees to work 12- or 14-hour days. WTF is wrong with people!?! I'd work my butt off at a place that provides thrice-a-day healthy, delicious, diverse, vegetarian (for me) meals, on-site gym and sleeping pods!! Hell, I'd have surely done that when I was a decade younge…

Wow, at first I thought that you were being sarcastic, but then I kept reading. I don't know about you, but my salary (plus benefits) rate is about $95-100 / hr. So, let's say I 'work my butt off' for an extra 4-6 hours a day. That is an extra $3000 of unpaid work, per week, that the company gets for giving me food. Or, $200 per meal. (That's not even taking into account the considerable extra value that the company…

I doubt 4-6 hours extra per day (13-14 hour days) is typical.

Aside from that quibble, look at it from both sides:

The company spends a few hundred dollars a week on meals and gets 5-10x return on that money. Everybody agrees this is a good deal for the company.

The employee trades a few hours of his life for food. The hours he works, he would not have received any money for anyway unless he was working another paying job. The employee is trading "opportunity costs" (imaginary value) and receiving substantial value in "free" food.

If the "opportunity cost" of those extra work hours are sitting in front of Netflix watching zombie movies, he probably got a good deal trading that time for food. If the "opportunity cost" is starting the next hot startup, he got a bad deal.

Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#123

Post by shiven »

bildung wrote: post #113
girvo wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar concepts to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative There was a company, a big one, that I forget the name of that was run like that through the second half of the 20th century, but I can't remember the name :(

Perhaps it was Mondragon? Mondragon started in 1956 and is now at 80000 workers and an annual revenue of 14 billion. It's still a worker cooperative in the 21st century, though :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation

Not a US company or established in the US. So not the example I asked for. I am aware of other non-US cooperatives, eg. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amul

Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#124

Post by jvagner »

shiven wrote: post #68
insaneirish wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd work my butt off at a place that provides three-a-day healthy, delicious, diverse, vegetarian (for me) meals > Even after breaking down my yearly compensation to an hourly rate, I bet there will be a marginal difference in the money the company makes by keeping me working the extra hours and the price I'd pay for buying such food everyday Any company providing you multiple meals per day for free is getting the…

In other words, you're getting the short end of the stick. People do not value perks rationally. If they did, they would deny every last one of them. How many people value anything rationally? Ever? As humans we are programmed to be pain averse. I hate foraging for and/or cooking my food. I consider it an utter waste of my time and breath. Yes, I care about my health, but don't have the money to pay an arm and a leg…

I'm a bodybuilder, CEO and a parent. Cooking your own healthy meals is so ridiculously easy and cheap (in terms of time).

Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#125

Post by shiven »

jvagner wrote: post #124
shiven wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words, you're getting the short end of the stick. People do not value perks rationally. If they did, they would deny every last one of them. How many people value anything rationally? Ever? As humans we are programmed to be pain averse. I hate foraging for and/or cooking my food. I consider it an utter waste of my time and breath. Yes, I care about my health, but don't have the money to pay an arm and a leg…

I'm a bodybuilder, CEO and a parent. Cooking your own healthy meals is so ridiculously easy and cheap (in terms of time).

So is my wife (not the CEO or bodybuilder part, but parent and cooking). More power to the likes of you!

I'm sure there are as many folks with your motivations and inclinations as there are with mine.

Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#126

Post by MadMoogle »

gvb wrote: post #122
ap22213 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, at first I thought that you were being sarcastic, but then I kept reading. I don't know about you, but my salary (plus benefits) rate is about $95-100 / hr. So, let's say I 'work my butt off' for an extra 4-6 hours a day. That is an extra $3000 of unpaid work, per week, that the company gets for giving me food. Or, $200 per meal. (That's not even taking into account the considerable extra value that the company…

I doubt 4-6 hours extra per day (13-14 hour days) is typical. Aside from that quibble, look at it from both sides: The company spends a few hundred dollars a week on meals and gets 5-10x return on that money. Everybody agrees this is a good deal for the company. The employee trades a few hours of his life for food. The hours he works, he would not have received any money for anyway unless he was working another payin…

Talk to anybody who works for a company who offers meals. 12-14 hour days are typical at most. Not officially, of course, but that's the point. Raw ROI aside, the real benefit of offering meals is to foster the type of culture where the company is "home." You eat there. You exercise there. You socialize there. There's no need to have a life outside of work, so a lot of the employees don't have one. If you're always around your work and people you work with, chances are you'll spend most of your time thinking about and doing work. It's a way of getting 14 hour days out of people without them realizing it or complaining about it. In that way, it's absolutely a form of "mind control" (operand conditioning).

Most would say the above is harmless and it benefits the company, which benefits the employee, so why is it such a bad thing? It's bad because this type of culture makes it extra easy for engineers to burn out.

Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#127

Post by sitkack »

uptown wrote: post #10

I'm surprised Nest (Google) hasn't bought Logitech's Alert division yet. Logitech has been shopping it around - looking for a buyer - for awhile.

Because the Logitech brand is fugly, that ship is sinking and can be scooped up for less if they care to. This wasn't about technology, brand and customers.

Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#128

Post by sitkack »

tlrobinson wrote: post #99
higherpurpose wrote: post #89

You mean Google is. Remember when Schneier said no too long ago that "Google is in the surveillance business"? Even I didn't take it so literally back then, but it turns out he was just slightly ahead of time with that characterization.

Misread that as "Schmidt said" and was surprised but not totally shocked (e.x. "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place")

Schmidt or Zuckerberg?

Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#129

Post by ARussell »

domlebo70 wrote: post #111

I work for a startup providing a similar product to Dropcam. The difference being we are free, and you can choose from a variety of supported cameras (we have ~ 30 supported cameras). What do you guys think? http://www.cammy.com/

How does Cammy make money? I wish that were in the FAQ, since Cammy is free.

Re: Nest is acquiring Dropcam

#130

Post by Corrado »

tsumnia wrote: post #38
marvin wrote: post #30

I don't want to spread any unwarranted negativity here, but does anyone know how this fits into Nest's business model? I get Dropcam's business model of letting people check in on their home when they are on the road, on vacation etc, but hasn't Nest's business model been data mining from the very beginning? How does placing cameras in customers' homes fit into this model? I also wonder about the privacy policy quest…

I think it falls into a sort of "home automation/monitoring" model. As we move further into the "Internet of Things" spectrum, Google and Nest are just securing their place. Think about how Microsoft and Sony's gaming platforms continue to build on the idea of being the only device you need for your TV. I wouldn't be surprised if Nest sought to acquire someone like Fitbit for the same thing, monitoring health/fitness…

I think Apple is in this battle as well. With the new iOS 8 / Yosemite releases, they are targeting the home automation & health monitoring markets. Google & Microsoft had better have something to offer because Apple is getting ready to eat their lunch.
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