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Google Testing Smart Appliance, Would Compete With Nest Thermostat
cagraham writes "Google is currently testing a web-connected thermostat, similar to the popular Nest Thermostat, according to The Information. The device would display energy usage details, and allow user's to control it from a web app. This actually marks the second time Google has ventured into home energy, after their PowerMeter web app that was shut down in 2011. Web connected devices could allow Google access to a treasure trove of data on people's daily habits and routines."
It doesn't say Cloud-connected, but then this is Google, a cloudy company. If I can't say no to the Cloud connection, I don't want it. But I do want to connect to it using an open protocol.
Thanks but we all know you'll get bored and drop support for it in 6 months, bricking your (because it's licensed not purchased) thermostat in the process. If you have a problem with a Nest thermostat, you can call them up and talk to a person. If you have a problem with a google anything, you can, well, fuck off, because supportis the one thing Google can't find.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
I am a fan of the KISS principle.
I like my refrigerator to keep things cold, perhaps make ice. Not act as a TV or entertainment center, nor share data with the world about the expiration date on the cottage cheese stashed in the crisper drawer [1]. Just run the refrigerant around in the tubes to move heat from the inside to the outside until it hits the right temperature, then stop doing so until the temperature warms up enough to restart the cycle.
Same with my A/C or heater. Heat/cool until it hits the right temperature, stop, then resume working when the temperature rises or falls enough.
I don't care to have to worry about additional Wi-Fi connections, security ramifications if the bad guys get on the internal Wi-Fi segment, mass data gathering. I want appliances to do their basic function, and that's that.
The only connected exception would be smoke, water, and burglar alarms, and even then, it should only connect to a dedicated monitoring center and nowhere else.
[1]: One rule -- if it gets on the Internet, it will eventually be public.
Now they'll know everything from when you wake up to when you take a bath. If you turn the heater up, they'll probably start sending you more banner ads for cold medicines; and if you do it too often, they'll probably sell that data to your health & life insurance companies to raise your rates. No thanks Google. Stop spying on us.
It's too cold? Override. Too hot? Override. In the end, the programmable thermostat reverts to a plain old one because no one can be bothered to reprogram the damn thing..
Damn straight! That's why I did this with my Honeywell! ;-)
http://www.bradgoodman.com/thermostat/
Quite right.
I spent a few evenings recently learning about the Nest products. But the more I looked, the more I found stories of devices that failed to boot after software updates, or had other flakiness issues.
I live in a part of the world where a thermostat failure would be a problem. The ambient temps were -20F last week. If the thermostat updated while we were out of the house and failed to boot properly, the entire house would freeze in short order. The pipes would burst and I'd be out many tens of thousands of dollars trying to repair the place.
I can't risk that.
The Nest clearly seems to be targeted at silicon valley types who want a gadget and are used to the gadget early-adopter flakiness. If your thermostat flakes out in SVC its no big deal. Very different context than rural North Dakota.
It would be a simple matter to integrate a _backup_ mechanical failsafe that activated the heating circuits if the temperature fell below say, 50F.
The Nest apparently does not have this feature.
I've had programmable thermostats in the past, but programming them (not to mention setting the clocks to track DST changes) has always been enough of a hassle that I've always reverted to "one temperature, all the time". So the Nest is interesting in terms of the problem it tries to solve. The data collection, and correlating furnace activity with outside temperature -- is all interesting. As I was researching the Nest, I realized that they were attempting to create a new product category -- home hvac efficiency enthusiast.
I might be willing to pay $250 to solve a problem I don't actually have. But not if it greatly increases the likelihood of causing a $30,000 problem because it was designed by people who apparently have no experience with controls.
My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
I'm marked Troll for some reason. Apparently an informed decision of making a trade of privacy for convenience and liking what I get from Google in exchange for that isn't a valid opinion here.
You know what? I like my phone buzzing about 10 minutes before I normally leave from work to alert me about traffic, and I'm willing to let Google know where I am and where I live (something they knew what I ordered a GPE One from them anyway) in exchange.
By the same token, I'm willing to allow them to sniff my mail (or read it wholesale, I suppose) in exchange for providing me contextually aware ads. What's that? A link to something my brother wants for Christmas? Maybe I'll shop there. Everyone wins, including my brother.
I'm willing to make a number of other trade-offs, even knowing that this data becomes more powerful in aggregate. If my phone beeps on Wednesday, noticing I didn't go home, but out to dinner instead, and asks me if I want to delay turning on the air conditioning, I'll accept that too in exchange for the return I get in terms of convenience.
I've weighed the value of my privacy against the services they return. I'm not a private person, and I know how to compartmentalize what they do and don't get from me. I like my end of the deal, and if I ever don't, I'll discontinue using their services.