Nest, an unlimited budget yet was an utter failure

[maflynn]

It's shocking to hear that under Fadell, Nest had a virtual unlimited budget and quadrupled its employees but produced no new products. There were some rollouts of course, but they were already in the pipeline - at least that's what this article postulates.

Nest’s time at Alphabet: A “virtually unlimited budget” with no results

Nest CEO Tony Fadell wasn't officially "fired" from Nest, but it certainly feels like it. Nest and Alphabet announced Fadell would be "transitioning" to an advisory role at Alphabet, dropping both Nest and Fadell into a sea of negative press. In just the last few months, Nest has had to deal with reports of an "employee exodus," a string of public insults from Dropcam co-founder and departing Nest employee Greg Duffy, news that even Google supposedly didn't want to work with Nest on a joint project, and fallout from the company's decision to remotely disable Nest's deprecated Revolv devices. Alphabet and Nest both seem to know the announcement about Fadell's "transition" looks bad: the news dropped on a Friday afternoon, a popular time for companies to dump bad news they hope no one will notice.

When Nest was purchased by Google and not Apple, I thought Apple missed the boat, and Google beat them to the punch. I suspect Google (and maybe even Apple) thought the same thing, but now as we've had a steady stream of bad news coming from Nest, that was on varying levels of embarrassment for Google, I can say the desire NOT to bring Fadell back into the Apple fold was a smart move.

Even google didn't want to work with Nest

According to a report from The Information, when Nest found out about Google Home, it asked to work on the project with Google. Nest's request was turned down. We can only guess why—maybe Nest's reputation inside Google had something to do with it?

Its too bad, because from the outside looking in, I thought Nest had all the Apple Mojo to make cool home products, but it seems Fadell just completely and utterly drove the division into the ground.

So where does Nest go from here? With so many projects in Google occurring that would have been done by nest, I suspect that they go no where. Perhaps dismantled and the remaining engineers reassigned.

 

[an-other]

I'd say start by being a Microsoft Office for the Mac. Remember the days when it was claimed Microsoft made money from the sale of each mac than Apple did?

AppleWatch app. Not making one for a company that makes an iPhone and iPad (plus website) is flashing the V sign to Apple/Nest owners. I'm ready to replace my Nest/ecosystem because of this, but I will candidly say I've been too lazy to do it. I certainly don't recommend Nest anymore.

Take dropcam to the next level for home security.

Become fully HomeKit compatible.

Apple users are very loyal. You have a market desperate to expand. Feed the beast. Once you service this market, you'll be ready to tackle everyone else.

 

[Arran]

One thing I learned in business is that you do your best thinking when you're hungry.

"Unlimited budgets" sounds terminally corpulent.

 

[I7guy]

Interesting ascent and descent of a brand.

 

[Zirel]

This is just a small sample of what's going on Google.

The company's golden age is over. It's not just with Nest, but also with their robotics division, where the "boss", Andy Rubin, aka the creator of Android, simply quit his job, they've missed the boat for their contract with the pentagon, and now Google sold General Dynamics, and there are reports of an uncontrolled division.

For me, it's the result of an extreme laissez faire attitude. The just don't care, they know they have the Ad money for their sustent, and investors are stupid after all, they have been promising everyone everything, profiting on the general public short attention span, except what's driving their revenue: more ads on YouTube, ugly.

Except that's children's attitude, and they can't be children forever. And where they have been failing, Microsoft is winning (like Hololens vs Google Glass), and for example in the car, other companies have been proving recently that it's not something that only Google can do.

Overtime, goodwill will fade, some new tech journos darling will appear (Tesla is it?), and their P/E lowers.

Oh, and BTW, their direction, with fragmented VR ecosystem, and voice man/machine interaction is not going anywhere. Because the vase is always farther than your phone, when you're at the couch, people normally are watching TV, the major point for Alexa is home automation, where Google is failing (with Nest and their vaporware Weave they presented back in 2015 and is still unfruitful).

 

[C DM]

This is just a small sample of what's going on Google.

The company's golden age is over. It's not just with Nest, but also with their robotics division, where the "boss", Andy Rubin, aka the creator of Android, simply quit his job, they've missed the boat for their contract with the pentagon, and now Google sold General Dynamics, and there are reports of an uncontrolled division.

For me, it's the result of an extreme laissez faire attitude. The just don't care, they know they have the Ad money for their sustent, and investors are stupid after all, they have been promising everyone everything, profiting on the general public short attention span, except what's driving their revenue: more ads on YouTube, ugly.

Except that's children's attitude, and they can't be children forever. And where they have been failing, Microsoft is winning (like Hololens vs Google Glass), and for example in the car, other companies have been proving recently that it's not something that only Google can do.

Overtime, goodwill will fade, some new tech journos darling will appear (Tesla is it?), and their P/E lowers.

Oh, and BTW, their direction, with fragmented VR ecosystem, and voice man/machine interaction is not going anywhere. Because the vase is always farther than your phone, when you're at the couch, people normally are watching TV, the major point for Alexa is home automation, where Google is failing (with Nest and their vaporware Weave they presented back in 2015 and is still unfruitful).

Boston Dynamics?

 

[maflynn]

The company's golden age is over. It's not just with Nest, but also with their robotics division,

I disagree, I don't see Google's golden age fading away, but rather, Google and nest, mismanaging the merger. Clearly Google should have stepped in sooner, but also Fadell mismanaged the opportunity in front of him.

I think Google probably has been overly aggressive in purchasing smaller companies without too much regard of how it will fit in to the corporate culture and ethos of Google. With that said, I think Google has a lot going for it, and is being more aggressive in trying to innovate.

 

[Zirel]

I disagree, I don't see Google's golden age fading away, but rather, Google and nest, mismanaging the merger. Clearly Google should have stepped in sooner, but also Fadell mismanaged the opportunity in front of him.

I think Google probably has been overly aggressive in purchasing smaller companies without too much regard of how it will fit in to the corporate culture and ethos of Google. With that said, I think Google has a lot going for it, and is being more aggressive in trying to innovate.

How many failures do we need more?

Nest, Google +, YouTube Red/GPM, Boston Dynamics, Android One, etc.

And their "cool" projects? What about project loon, ara and tango?

Loon will continue to be a failure, Ara is priming to be a disappointment, and tango is always a prototype of now a tablet that offers little to no real value as it is. And they are using Kinect's chip, which is from a company that Apple bought.

But they will solve all of that with more marketing money.

 

[C DM]

How many failures do we need more?

Nest, Google +, YouTube Red/GPM, Boston Dynamics, Android One, etc.

And their "cool" projects? What about project loon, ara and tango?

Loon will continue to be a failure, Ara is priming to be a disappointment, and tango is always a prototype of now a tablet that offers little to no real value as it is. And they are using Kinect's chip, which is from a company that Apple bought.

But they will solve all of that with more marketing money.

Failure is part of innovation. And in many cases it's not failure but expirmentstion that in one way or another that then contributes (directly or in directly) to something else.

 

[Zirel]

Failure is part of innovation. And in many cases it's not failure but expirmentstion that in one way or another that then contributes (directly or in directly) to something else.

Yes, failure is part of innovation, but it's in the lab.

 

[C DM]

Yes, failure is part of innovation, but it's in the lab.

It's beyond that as well. Keep in mind that for a company like Google, putting things out in the wild is essentially what constitutes a lab. Let's not forget what the primary and healthy part of Google's business actually is. And like I said, many of those things aren't failures just because they were shut down at some point or sold off or something else like that.

 

[Zirel]

It's beyond that as well. And like I said, many of those things aren't failures just because they were shut down at some point or sold off or something else like that.

Drinking the Alphabet Kool-Aid much?

Seriously, they are projects that were abandoned. That means it has failed.

 

[C DM]

Drinking the Alphabet Kool-Aid much?

Seriously, they are projects that were abandoned. That means it has failed.

Funny how many posts accuse of drinking the Apple Kool-Aid only to have this opposite one to pop-up. Doesn't make much sense, does it. Just goes to show that once some people feel someone else has a different view of something and they don't really have much to go with as far as discussing it then they just go for ad hominems.

Oh, and, but of course, Google is doomed (just like Apple is doomed).

 

[bruinsrme]

Is it just Nest? Home automation is extremely fragmented. It seems there are too many cliques at the party.

I bought 3 nest thermostats last year. I reduced my furnace run time 275 hours by having the ability of controlling the thermostats remotely. But it doesn't talk through Homekit.
I have a couple of isight wall switches to control lights. Meh, offline, not found and so on.
The deadbolts are schlage, slow performance, inaccurate status and operates through ATV/homekit.
Belkin has some interesting products but now homekit

I don't think alphabet is the only one stagnant.

One the other hand, I would like to see the nest cam app support multiple camera view and better cloud pricing

 

[Zirel]

Funny how many posts accuse of drinking the Apple Kool-Aid only to have this opposite one to pop-up. Doesn't make much sense, does it. Just goes to show that once some people feel someone else has a different view of something and they don't really have much to go with as far as discussing it then they just go for ad hominems.

Oh, and, but of course, Google is doomed (just like Apple is doomed).

Funny I say.

While Apple is enjoying much success in the grand scheme of things, with successful endeavors like Apple Pay (Beat Google Wallet overnight), HomeKit (Google still hasn't properly launched their Home Automation platform), Apple Watch (Beat Android Wear overnight), HealthKit (Google Fit practically has no support), it is Apple that is doomed, and Google which has been demonstrated that they are only capable of producing failure after failure, that's praised as "the savior of the human race".

No, Sir, you're drinking the Google Kool-Aid.

Google is doomed to be dependent on the advertisement business.

And while at that, they are done for. Facebook is eating YouTube alive, most YouTube views come from music videos (100's of millions of views), and viral videos (10's to 1 million of views). The first ones, are problematic. The second ones, are going away for Facebook, where they get more views.

 

[maflynn]

Drinking the Alphabet Kool-Aid much?

No, Sir, you're drinking the Google Kool-Aid.

Instead of retreating behind the tired comment, why not discuss the topic? There's no need to accuse a member of kool-aid when he simply disagrees with you.

 

[Zirel]

Instead of retreating behind the tired comment, why not discuss the topic? There's no need to accuse a member of kool-aid when he simply disagrees with you.

Okay, I'll just rest here, waiting for the Google success stories, and how Google is so far ahead, and positioned to be the top dog of the next 20 years, while Apple is the next BlackBerry.

 

[C DM]

Funny I say.

While Apple is enjoying much success in the grand scheme of things, with successful endeavors like Apple Pay (Beat Google Wallet overnight), HomeKit (Google still hasn't properly launched their Home Automation platform), Apple Watch (Beat Android Wear overnight), HealthKit (Google Fit practically has no support), it is Apple that is doomed, and Google which has been demonstrated that they are only capable of producing failure after failure, that's praised as "the savior of the human race".

No, Sir, you're drinking the Google Kool-Aid.

Google is doomed to be dependent on the advertisement business.

And while at that, they are done for. Facebook is eating YouTube alive, most YouTube views come from music videos (100's of millions of views), and viral videos (10's to 1 million of views). The first ones, are problematic. The second ones, are going away for Facebook, where they get more views.

An admirable job confirming what I mentioned.

 

[Zirel]

An admirable job confirming what I mentioned.

I don't get what you were trying to say.

 

[maflynn]

Okay, I'll just rest here, waiting for the Google success stories, and how Google is so far ahead, and positioned to be the top dog of the next 20 years, while Apple is the next BlackBerry.

Its fine to debate the topic and convey your opinions, but you stooping to such tactics as accusing people of drinking the kool-aid does no good and actually inhibits the discussion

 

[Zirel]

Its fine to debate the topic and convey your opinions, but you stooping to such tactics as accusing people of drinking the kool-aid does no good and actually inhibits the discussion

It would be the first time that somebody here accuses other people of drinking X kool aid, with X being a company name?

Or it is okay when X = Apple, and not OK when X = Google?

 

[vvswarup]

We don't know what's going on behind closed doors but it's evident that Nest is not the game-changing acquisition that it was made out to be. Google hasn't done something so spectacular with Nest that Apple would regret not buying Nest and finally can Tim Cook.

 

[rhett7660]

Is it just Nest? Home automation is extremely fragmented. It seems there are too many cliques at the party.

I bought 3 nest thermostats last year. I reduced my furnace run time 275 hours by having the ability of controlling the thermostats remotely. But it doesn't talk through Homekit.
I have a couple of isight wall switches to control lights. Meh, offline, not found and so on.
The deadbolts are schlage, slow performance, inaccurate status and operates through ATV/homekit.
Belkin has some interesting products but now homekit

I don't think alphabet is the only one stagnant.

One the other hand, I would like to see the nest cam app support multiple camera view and better cloud pricing

Always has been and the big companies (Google, Apple, Microsoft) have not been able to crack into it and create a standard for all to use.

I am looking at Lutron now, moving away from Belkin's WeMo (way to many issues with updates, by YMMV). I like that Apple has put out the Homekit framework/API's, but the lack of developer's picking it up and running with it, to restrictive? or what appears to be the lack of interest on the part of Apple, is something that needs to change. Until then, we are going to be left with a market that is severally fragmented.

 

[bruinsrme]

Always has been and the big companies (Google, Apple, Microsoft) have not been able to crack into it and create a standard for all to use.

I am looking at Lutron now, moving away from Belkin's WeMo (way to many issues with updates, by YMMV). I like that Apple has put out the Homekit framework/API's, but the lack of developer's picking it up and running with it, to restrictive? or what appears to be the lack of interest on the part of Apple, is something that needs to change. Until then, we are going to be left with a market that is severally fragmented.

Agree.
Apple is too restrictive and Google seems too loose. Microsoft, what in the world are they doing?

I have heard nothing but good things about the Lurton system.

 

[maflynn]

We don't know what's going on behind closed doors but it's evident that Nest is not the game-changing acquisition

A good point was raised with this weeks Macbreak weekly podcast. When a lot of the bad press regarding Fadell was breaking recently, you did not hear his bosses over at Alphabet come to his defense. Everyone was quiet, which they (Leo, Rene and Andy on macbreak weekly) allude to that the ax was ready to fall at the point, as they had enough. I suspect that there's some truth to that line of thought.

The article postulates that no one inside of google really wanted to work with Nest (Fadell) and I think that was telling in a lot of ways, I think google erred in giving Fadell too much leaway. If your own company hates dealing with this division, then something's wrong and you need to correct it. I think its too little too late for Nest, but only time will tell.