How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
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Re: How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
#2tldr Home automation products tend to offer a lot of features to woo early-adopter technical investors likely to be on Kickstarter whereas simpler products would gain more traction long term
Re: How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
#3Not sure I'd agree with "the general public does not see these products as easy to use or convenient as they’d hope"
Redo the analogy and instead of a Nest promotional article comparing the Nest to other thermostats, compare to a nearly identical home improvement product like fiberglass insulation. After all, you're competing with every product on every shelf at Home Depot, not just smart thermostats, so this appears superficially fair. In more detailed analysis, its an even more fair apples to apples comparison.
The financials are similar although insulation pays off sooner and the capital expense is almost infinitely more flexible. The ease of use for insulation is off the charts compared to a Nest, you simply install it and keep it dry and watch the energy bill drop. The convenience factor for insulation compared to a Nest is also off the charts, insulation never requires firmware upgrades or wifi access and has a much longer useful lifetime than "typical electronic gadget" or even modern dumb thermostats.
Overall a batt of fiberglass insulation beats the nest on all specified marketing criteria. Yet, most homes could use more / better insulation despite insulation having been marketed for decades and the nest being a newcomer to the space. If you can't sell insulation to these people, you're never going to sell them a Nest using the same marketing message.
Marketing messages usually have little to do with the actual product, so a message that is unusually close to the facts of the product is statistically likely to be wrong.
Re: How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
#4Not sure I'd agree with "the general public does not see these products as easy to use or convenient as they’d hope" Redo the analogy and instead of a Nest promotional article comparing the Nest to other thermostats, compare to a nearly identical home improvement product like fiberglass insulation. After all, you're competing with every product on every shelf at Home Depot, not just smart thermostats, so this appears…
Most homes already have a thermostat installed, making a Nest install pretty easy.
Insulation generally requires open walls and/or roof to install, upping the difficulty a great deal.
Re: How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
#5Not sure I'd agree with "the general public does not see these products as easy to use or convenient as they’d hope" Redo the analogy and instead of a Nest promotional article comparing the Nest to other thermostats, compare to a nearly identical home improvement product like fiberglass insulation. After all, you're competing with every product on every shelf at Home Depot, not just smart thermostats, so this appears…
I fail to see how insulation is easier to install than a nest, but other than that, it's a really interesting point of view. The nest really is the last item on the list when optimizing your heating bill.
Re: How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
#6This isn't much of an article. The only point of any substance in it is that Nest devices are difficult to install. This is true, but that's because HVAC systems don't have wireless functionality with a nice clean API. The only way to control them is through hooking up wires.
The article ending with a local evening news type of "Coming up next" is just insulting. Make your point in this article or don't waste my time.
Re: How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
#7For many people, including me, the value proposition of Nest isn't worth the cost.
There needs to be a modular middle ground between Apple level in-home automation software and unassembled kits. I don't see myself spending over $100 for a thermostat. Ever.
Re: How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
#8[deleted]
Re: How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
#9This isn't much of an article. The only point of any substance in it is that Nest devices are difficult to install. This is true, but that's because HVAC systems don't have wireless functionality with a nice clean API. The only way to control them is through hooking up wires. The article ending with a local evening news type of "Coming up next" is just insulting. Make your point in this article or don't waste my time…
According to their blog, these are a group of ex-Crestron guys that got into an accelerator a month ago with a "3+ month" plan to "refine our product, team, and strategy". So there's nothing to look at or even discuss.
The nice thing about hardware is that you can say "put up or shut up" and it doesn't come off as snarky. Get back to us when you have something better than Nest, because that's what you have to beat right now.
Re: How I Learned the Smart Home Industry Needs to Change, part 2
#10Not sure I'd agree with "the general public does not see these products as easy to use or convenient as they’d hope" Redo the analogy and instead of a Nest promotional article comparing the Nest to other thermostats, compare to a nearly identical home improvement product like fiberglass insulation. After all, you're competing with every product on every shelf at Home Depot, not just smart thermostats, so this appears…
I fail to see how insulation is easier to install than a nest, but other than that, it's a really interesting point of view. The nest really is the last item on the list when optimizing your heating bill.
Really? Automating turning off AC/Heat when you're not there saves a ton of money and is very low effort. Especially if you don't have a programmable thermostat at all.
I cut my bill enough to cover the Nest in less than 3 months and I purchased it shortly after launch. For me it was the 80% and now I continue to work on fixing the rest of the problems with my AC/heat related costs.