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

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

#241

Post by brandonwamboldt »

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…

Ignoring your insults, I think there are many valid use cases for smart home devices.

For example, automatically turning lights on and off on a schedule, changing light color to red at night, being able to casually set reminders without bothering with a phone, controlling your TV without needing your phone (e.g. for netflix), being able to change temperature on a schedule, all kinds of things.

Just because they occasionally have bugs for some people doesn't mean they are entirely useless. Many people (myself included) have few to no problems with their smart home devices.

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

#242

Post by scarface74 »

dusing wrote: post #231
scarface74 wrote: post #29

In what world could Nest have been a profitable ongoing concern without being acquired by someone? It’s hard enough going from startup to either IPO or a self sustainable “lifestyle business” for a software company. It’s almost impossible for a hardware company - see Eero.

They would have been Ecobee with arguably a better design sense. So yeah I think it was possible.

Are they profitable?

They’ve also had rounds of VC funding. So basically, by definition they are looking for an exit strategy. Statistically, that’s not likely to be an IPO.

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ecobee

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

#243

Post by craigsmansion »

HeWhoLurksLate wrote: post #198
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…

Honestly, I think that smart home stuff is really cool, and also that I don't want anything (okay, much) from the current spread of commercial offerings. What I do want to do is put a ESP board with an IR receiver and a servo on a lightswitch in my basement so that I can turn on and off the lights without moving from the couch.

Smart home stuff is really cool, if you build it yourself. Other than that it just feels like keeping up with the Joneses, with the notable exception of the disabled, for whom mass-produced smart home stuff must be a Godsend. So I guess all the geek/tech-posturing does have an upside.

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

#244

Post by dusing »

bpyne wrote: post #236
dusing wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My system is 100% local, I use zwave, zigbee, and Home assistant. If the internet goes down nothing changes. If the Pi dies, the light switches work like one would always expect. My favorite use case is simple, I walk into a room the lights turn on, I leave the lights turn off. I open the pantry door, light on, close it light off. I also enjoy getting in bed and the house shutting down, lights, security, temperature…

I can see some energy efficiency in the auto turn on/off. Maybe we're using different terminology, but what do you use in lieu of light bulbs? (I call any of those tubular things, e.g. fluorescent lighting, light bulbs.)

You keep the lights you have now, but you put in a smart switch. I prefer wave, like this https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-DZ6HD-1BZ-Decora-Dimmer-Techn...

Then you can program anything to turn the light on/off. Like for example I also turn off lights even if there is motion if the luminance sensors say it is plenty bright inside from the sun.

Or leave the shower light on when the humidity is really high and there is no detectable motion. I might not be moving enough in the shower but if the humidity is 90% you can assume the shower is on and I don't want to be left in the dark.

Another one of my favorites is in our kids play room. On a school night, if the xbox is on, and there is motion, Alexa will announce a warning about bed time, wrap up the game play. Then in a couple minutes the xbox turns off, and then Alexas tell them to brush their teeth, and eventually turns off the lights in the play room (they would never turn them off on their own). If the xbox turns back on, my wife and I get an alert on our phones so we can manage screen time.

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

#245

Post by tzs »

stickfigure wrote: post #196
dustinmoris wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would hate to make that trip downstairs, annoyed and grumpy. My grandma always said "What you don't have in your head you must have in your legs". My calculation is simple: Where do I expect to waste more time in my life? Periodically configuring/updating smart home devices, getting to the bottom of issues if something doesn't work as expected, or once in a while walk the stairs an extra time because I left the T…

I have spent a non-negligible amount of my life looking for remotes. But the really big waste is the amount of time fiddling with 5 remotes trying to figure out how to get the f-ing AV system working. I have a magnificent non-smart home theatre on my property, set up by one of the other co-owners. He's pretty much the only person that knows how to use it; the last time I tried, I had to call him. This stuff is a disa…

Combine the AV system with the variety of places on might have audio or video, and it is even more confusing.

I'd like to see a web site or an app that lets you input what you've got and how it is connected, and then answers questions about that setup for you.

For example, I'd be able to tell it that I have:

  Denon AVR-1913 receiver
  Comcast X1 cable box
  Sony BDP-S390 Blu-Ray player
  Nintendo Switch
  Samsung 55U7000 TV
I'd be able to tell it that the receiver is connected to all the rest by HDMI, and that the TV also has an optical audio connection back to the receiver.

I'd also be able to tell it that I have an iMac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch 4, Surface Pro 4, and a Windows 10 desktop. I'd be able to tell it that I have WiFi that the all of those are on as is the Nintendo Switch, and an Ethernet that the iMac, Windows desktop, receiver, cable box, Blu-Ray player, and TV are on.

Finally, I'd be able to tell it that I have an iTunes library on the iMac, an iTunes account, a Netflix account, Amazon Prime, and Spotify.

The site would then answer questions based on that. Typical questions might be:

"I bought movie X from iTunes. How the heck do I watch it on my TV?"

"I don't own a copy of X. What are my rental/buying options using the services I currently have?"

"I have a photo gallery on the iMac. How can I view the photos on my TV? When doing so, how can I control the viewing while not at the iMac?"

"I want to listen to music while sitting on the couch. The music comes from a playlist on my iMac, and I want to be able to play/pause, and to skip tracks. How can I do this?"

Ideally the site should also be able to suggest improvements. For example, for the setup described above it might suggest that I connect the Comcast X1 directly to the TV, because they both support 4K. The receiver does not, and so my current setup can't do better that 1080p.

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

#246

Post by slantyyz »

matwood wrote: post #123
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…

I mostly agree. Why do I need WIFI on my lights, coffee maker, or dishwasher? A thermostat is my personal exception though. Being able to program it on my phone is a huge UI improvement over prior thermostats. Also, being able to change it without getting out of bed in the middle of the night is a bonus.

>> Why do I need WIFI on my lights, coffee maker, or dishwasher?

Well, you don't. WIFI is definitely one way to go, but Z-wave is a better way, imo.

Here's a use case for me -- I think last year DHH did a podcast where he talked about air quality and the effect of CO2 on cognitive function. After listening to it, I got a CO2 detector and wired it to a Pi. I had it set up to fire a webhook to IFTTT to turn on my HVAC fan via a NEST connector when a certain CO2 threshold was hit in my bedroom (it would get quite high overnight).

I have since found out that my ensuite bathroom fan is more effective than the furnace fan in lowering the CO2 in my bedroom, so having a smart wall switch on my ensuite fan allows me to automatically turn it on or off based on the air conditions.

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

#247

Post by wjp3 »

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 not a binary thing, though. When my IoT smart lights don't turn on from a voice command, I can always walk over to the switch and flip them on. My IoT smart home makes things more convenient, not unusable.

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

#248

Post by strange_quark »

humblebee wrote: post #163
donatj wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LIFX bulbs work without the need to connect to the internet. They have a LAN protocol that's pretty easy to use.

I believe Philips Hue also does this correctly. I don't own any of the Hue products, last I looked (a few years ago) they had an open API. Currently it looks like you have to sign up for a developer account, I don't know if this is purely for email marketing or if they have know restricted API access. The downside to Hue was always the bridge, which is what exposed the http API. LIFX looks nice though. The UDP Lan pr…

I have a Hue setup, and you only need to signup for a developer account to use their cloud API. If you're on your local network, the bridge has a REST API exposed and you can just start issuing requests to it without any signing up for anything.

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

#249

Post by mixmastamyk »

secabeen wrote: post #237
weberc2 wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was pretty skeptical before trying it. I found that you don't spend much time configuring things and it's actually quite nice to just go to bed saying "Alexa, turn off living room". Not life changing, but definitely worth the investment. If something fails, you're no worse off than you were before. Also, smart sockets and switches are great items for a Christmas/birthday/wedding/etc registry/gift-list.

The key is the voice control. Trying to do it via an app, a remote, or even remembering the switch UI isoften too heavy-weight. Being able to say just "Alexa, living room 50%" is very nice. Same thing with being able to turn off my bedroom ceiling lights without getting out of bed. Sure, is it required? No. Can I get up? Sure. Was it worth $50 for the smart switch? For me, yes.

I know not getting up sounds like a good thing, but the logical conclusion to that are the couch potatoes shown in the movie Wall-E.

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

#250

Post by veritas_veritad »

bradlys wrote: post #217
smbullet wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all of us live in safe neighborhoods like yourself.

It's not even a matter of "safe". I live in a neighborhood that is seen as very safe. Yet, we had a burglary two houses down not too long ago. And they happen frequently enough to myself. I've had plenty stolen. Without a camera, there's ~0% chance of anyone being caught. I ended up buying a camera for peace of mind and for checking in on my place to see who's entering my residence area. Sometimes it's genuinely help…

have you caught any thieves yet?
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