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Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

geekwire.com

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Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#61

Post by jonknee »

rblatz wrote: post #17
gnicholas wrote: post #11

What does this mean for existing Ring customers? Considering the privacy implications and the fact that Amazon can/will do a lot more with this data than Ring did, is there a way for Ring customers to opt-out of future integration into the Amazon ecosystem? I imagine there are a decent chunk of Ring customers who would have not purchased the device had it been sold by Amazon in the first place.

I'm sure it's hundreds of people. But the majority of smart home fans have shown that they are more than comfortable with an amazon device in their homes.

And on a similar note, there are surely many people who will now buy Ring because it's owned by Amazon. A small startup can go away and leave me with an insecure piece of junk, but I have some faith that Amazon will keep things up to date.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#62

Post by blang »

While I do think I understand why Amazon would want to purchase Ring (the company), I don't fully understand why consumers would want to buy Ring (the product).

The number one use I seem to see from it is people taking video and posting it on nextdoor (package thief alert, car prowler alert, etc.) followed by other people talking about how the neighborhood is going downhill and lamenting about how the police don't do anything with their Ring video.

I guess this is my attitude on most of the home security field. It always seems like the devices have a ton of false positives that just give the owners something else to worry about, and the companies that sell these things continue to do so because it gives owners the illusion that buying these devices give them some sort of control.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#63

Post by alasdair_ »

bproven wrote: post #55
escapecharacter wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Apple the only big company in the “we respect your privacy” game? I honestly would love to know another.

might be...for now. And possibly (gasp) Microsoft!?

Any hope had of Microsoft being a serious option for people who care about privacy went away when Windows 10 turned itself into glorified spyware.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#64

Post by devscreen »

jbob2000 wrote: post #26
marlonbarz wrote: post #10

Ring was on the TV Show Shark Tank, and all the sharks passed on the deal. It was $700K for 10% of the company. And now it sold for more than 1 billion $.

You have the wrong idea about the show. It exists to promote the shark's own businesses and products under the guise of a contest reality show. To keep up the facade, they allow other companies to put their products up for a price, and intersperse a couple of silly products to keep people watching. It's just dressed up advertising, it's not about investing or business by any flip of the coin.

This isn't true, the only thing that is "fake" is how much time they spend asking questions. From speaking to a "dragon", they spend about 45-60 minutes assessing the product/idea. After that, if they choose to invest, they invest.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#66

Post by ehsankia »

blang wrote: post #62

While I do think I understand why Amazon would want to purchase Ring (the company), I don't fully understand why consumers would want to buy Ring (the product). The number one use I seem to see from it is people taking video and posting it on nextdoor (package thief alert, car prowler alert, etc.) followed by other people talking about how the neighborhood is going downhill and lamenting about how the police don't do…

Do you really not see the value of a live feed of who's at your door and a clear 2 way audio feed?

The current existing solution either have really poor quality, are complicated to install (require technician), and don't integrate with your smartphone.

I'm not talking about the Ring specifically, there are other competitors too such as Nest Hello, but the idea seems pretty straight-forward and valuable to anyone with a door.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#68

Post by drawkbox »

Slansitartop wrote: post #21

Crap. I guess I won't be buying one then. Amazon also just gobbled up the maker of my home security cameras (Blink). I really would prefer my home monitoring devices to be separate from the giant tech companies that I'm trusting less and less.

Amazon is typically a good steward in their acquisitions though. Twitch.tv, Zappos, imdb, audible as some examples of how they really do keep these purchases as pretty close to the original/successful idea of the company and sometimes even better. I'd say Amazon are maybe the best at not destroying what they buy. Amazon usually buys because the company is a success and not just for tech or to shut down / acquihire etc.

Re: Amazon to acquire video doorbell maker Ring

#70

Post by Slansitartop »

drawkbox wrote: post #68
Slansitartop wrote: post #21

Crap. I guess I won't be buying one then. Amazon also just gobbled up the maker of my home security cameras (Blink). I really would prefer my home monitoring devices to be separate from the giant tech companies that I'm trusting less and less.

Amazon is typically a good steward in their acquisitions though. Twitch.tv, Zappos, imdb, audible as some examples of how they really do keep these purchases as pretty close to the original/successful idea of the company and sometimes even better. I'd say Amazon are maybe the best at not destroying what they buy. Amazon usually buys because the company is a success and not just for tech or to shut down / acquihire et…

That's comforting from one angle, but I'm still concerned about the privacy implications. I feel like a giant megacorp like Amazon is in a much better position to both mine the data and also be more resistant to criticism.
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