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Nest, to me, was never about a computing revolution. It was that someone was finally taking Apple-level industrial design and applying it to common household g

Nest, to me, was never about a computing revolution. It was that someone was finally taking Apple-level industrial design and applying it to common household goods. That made me very excited, and happy to pay more for it. Finally, a common product was getting better aesthetically, rather than worse. All the rest was noise, mainly for investors. Unfortunately, it appears that the noise may destroy what matters.

sp332 11y ago
This would have happened a long time ago if Honeywell didn't have all the patents on good thermostat design. They have three lawsuits currently going on and have settled with Intellectual Ventures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest_Labs#Litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest_Labs#Litigation That's crazy expensive and it would put almost any other company out of business very quickly.
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  Wow - what Honeywell sells is "good thermostat design"? All those horrible buttons and opaque modes? There's lots of room for improvement.
  - sp332 11y ago
    No, my point is that with all the patents they hold, no one can enter the market to compete with them.
  - CapitalistCartr 11y ago
    That's the problem with modern patents. What you're seeing is their implementation of their patents. Another company might make a massively better design, but tread on their overly broad patent that is vaguely written for just that reason.
  - protomyth 11y ago
    Well, to be fair, Honeywell at least has the virtue of working and being solid about it[1]. They do seemed to have learned something with the Lyric. 1) I guess the possibility of being sued by a large number of contractors and building owners tends to focus the mind.
  - zardo 11y ago
    Yeah, but if they've got a patent on using a knob on a thermostat, and changing it remotely, and getting power from the wall. It's pretty hard to produce a competing product that doesn't infringe.
fezz 11y ago
The noise that pulls the worst out of talented and capable people. (aka, ego amplifier)

sp332 11y ago

This would have happened a long time ago if Honeywell didn't have all the patents on good thermostat design. They have three lawsuits currently going on and have settled with Intellectual Ventures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest_Labs#Litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nest_Labs#Litigation That's crazy expensive and it would put almost any other company out of business very quickly.

JoeAltmaier 11y ago
Wow - what Honeywell sells is "good thermostat design"? All those horrible buttons and opaque modes? There's lots of room for improvement.
- sp332 11y ago
  No, my point is that with all the patents they hold, no one can enter the market to compete with them.
- CapitalistCartr 11y ago
  That's the problem with modern patents. What you're seeing is their implementation of their patents. Another company might make a massively better design, but tread on their overly broad patent that is vaguely written for just that reason.
- protomyth 11y ago
  Well, to be fair, Honeywell at least has the virtue of working and being solid about it[1]. They do seemed to have learned something with the Lyric. 1) I guess the possibility of being sued by a large number of contractors and building owners tends to focus the mind.
- zardo 11y ago
  Yeah, but if they've got a patent on using a knob on a thermostat, and changing it remotely, and getting power from the wall. It's pretty hard to produce a competing product that doesn't infringe.

fezz 11y ago

The noise that pulls the worst out of talented and capable people. (aka, ego amplifier)