Over at Inc.com, Jason Aten tells the sorry tale of the Nest thermostat and its history. When it launched, it was a glorious, must-have product. Then Google bought Nest in 2014 and things went south, according to author Aten. Fascinating reading .
3 thoughts on “A Sorry Tale of the Nest Thermostat Gone Wrong”
So, for those who bought Nests, is there a suitable alternative? Nest: Google. Ecobee: Alexa. Emerson? Honeywell? Lux?? With the continuing reach of these things, I’m about ready to re-install my old bi-metallic mercury switch model from 1960.
It’s a shame these companies don’t build a poison pill into their user agreements to keep big tech companies from buying, then ruining them. But the real problem is that people are buying something with an in-home function that requires an out-of-home connection to work. That should be unacceptable to most people right from the beginning. Like accessibility, core functionality for a thermostat should NEVER be forced to rely on a server maintained by someone else. for all the bells and whistles, sure. But therwise, when set at 72 degrees, should turn on the A/C when it registers 73 degrees whether it’s connected to the internet or not.
I had plans to install the Nest system just before Google purchased the company. After that, Nest became a hard no to me for the privacy standpoint. It’s a shame Apple didn’t pick up Nest before Google did.
So, for those who bought Nests, is there a suitable alternative? Nest: Google. Ecobee: Alexa. Emerson? Honeywell? Lux?? With the continuing reach of these things, I’m about ready to re-install my old bi-metallic mercury switch model from 1960.
It’s a shame these companies don’t build a poison pill into their user agreements to keep big tech companies from buying, then ruining them. But the real problem is that people are buying something with an in-home function that requires an out-of-home connection to work. That should be unacceptable to most people right from the beginning. Like accessibility, core functionality for a thermostat should NEVER be forced to rely on a server maintained by someone else. for all the bells and whistles, sure. But therwise, when set at 72 degrees, should turn on the A/C when it registers 73 degrees whether it’s connected to the internet or not.
I had plans to install the Nest system just before Google purchased the company. After that, Nest became a hard no to me for the privacy standpoint. It’s a shame Apple didn’t pick up Nest before Google did.