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You think there’s nothing fundamentally new about the Nest, but it arguably changed the home smart thermostat industry and people love it. People loved it even

You think there’s nothing fundamentally new about the Nest, but it arguably changed the home smart thermostat industry and people love it. People loved it even before Google acquired them so you can’t even argue it’s because of cost or marketing. They define do have something fundamentally new. I think it was exactly what was described in the video - easy installation, intuitive design, and right timing.

AlbertCory 4y ago
I think you are looking at only what's available in the Home Depot. Connecting to your HVAC system is "fundamentally" simple and lots of companies have done it. "Home automation" is also not a new concept. X10 came out in 1975: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_automation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_automation What Nest had is consumer-friendliness, which I give them full credit for. Not surprising for Tony Fadell, who came out of Apple. Oh look, now he's into crypto: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/man-behind-the-ipod-launches-new-cryptocurrency-wallet/ar-AA14YWVa https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/man-behind-the-ipo... Maybe he'll bring his magic to that, too.
- dctoedt 4y ago
  In the 1980s I spent several years defending Honeywell against some programmable thermostat patents filed in the late 1970s by one Burness C. Hall, who had aspirations to start a company. There was a ton of prior art out there. (The parties eventually settled.) https://patents.google.com/patent/US4200910A/ https://patents.google.com/patent/US4200910A/
scarface74 4y ago
I think you’re overestimating the popularity. Only 11 million were sold by 2011. https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/nest-says-it-has-sold-over-11-million-devices-since-2011/ https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/nest-says-it-has-sold-o...
- emodendroket 4y ago
  How often do you change your thermostat? On its own that statistic means about 3% of Americans have bought one, which, when you consider that it's more expensive than the traditional kind, you only really need one thermostat per household (maybe two or three if your house is extra fancy and has multiple zones), only a homeowner would consider the purchase, and thermostats are exceptionally long-lived devices that rarely actually need to be replaced, that's pretty good.
  - ejstronge 4y ago
    Property managers likely buy many more than one per property - it’s not likely that 3% of Americans decided to buy a Nest if you consider that apartment buildings would buy these in bulk
    - emodendroket 4y ago
      I would consider property managers pretty unlikely to buy anything but the least expensive thermostat available.
waynesonfire 4y ago
just look at the alternatives, they're horrible. The Google Nest thermostat has revolutionized the thermostat ecosystem in the same way that the iPhone revolutionized the cellphone industry. I was getting quotes for some heating/cooling projects at home and, while discussing the control panels, I expected that Nest would be an option. I was surprised and found it comical when the salesperson claimed that the Nest control panel was not supported. This is an instant non-starter for me.

AlbertCory 4y ago

I think you are looking at only what's available in the Home Depot. Connecting to your HVAC system is "fundamentally" simple and lots of companies have done it. "Home automation" is also not a new concept. X10 came out in 1975: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_automation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_automation What Nest had is consumer-friendliness, which I give them full credit for. Not surprising for Tony Fadell, who came out of Apple. Oh look, now he's into crypto: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/man-behind-the-ipod-launches-new-cryptocurrency-wallet/ar-AA14YWVa https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/man-behind-the-ipo... Maybe he'll bring his magic to that, too.

dctoedt 4y ago
In the 1980s I spent several years defending Honeywell against some programmable thermostat patents filed in the late 1970s by one Burness C. Hall, who had aspirations to start a company. There was a ton of prior art out there. (The parties eventually settled.) https://patents.google.com/patent/US4200910A/ https://patents.google.com/patent/US4200910A/

scarface74 4y ago

I think you’re overestimating the popularity. Only 11 million were sold by 2011. https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/nest-says-it-has-sold-over-11-million-devices-since-2011/ https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/nest-says-it-has-sold-o...

emodendroket 4y ago
How often do you change your thermostat? On its own that statistic means about 3% of Americans have bought one, which, when you consider that it's more expensive than the traditional kind, you only really need one thermostat per household (maybe two or three if your house is extra fancy and has multiple zones), only a homeowner would consider the purchase, and thermostats are exceptionally long-lived devices that rarely actually need to be replaced, that's pretty good.
- ejstronge 4y ago
  Property managers likely buy many more than one per property - it’s not likely that 3% of Americans decided to buy a Nest if you consider that apartment buildings would buy these in bulk
  - emodendroket 4y ago
    I would consider property managers pretty unlikely to buy anything but the least expensive thermostat available.

waynesonfire 4y ago

just look at the alternatives, they're horrible. The Google Nest thermostat has revolutionized the thermostat ecosystem in the same way that the iPhone revolutionized the cellphone industry. I was getting quotes for some heating/cooling projects at home and, while discussing the control panels, I expected that Nest would be an option. I was surprised and found it comical when the salesperson claimed that the Nest control panel was not supported. This is an instant non-starter for me.