WEBVTT - TechStuff Classic: TechStuff Builds a Nest 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tex Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.120 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:18.680 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with iHeart Radio and 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.280 I love all things tech, and today it is time 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:25.680 for a classic episode of tech Stuff. This episode originally 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:29.480 published way back on January twenty second, two thousand and fourteen. 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:35.000 It is titled text Stuff builds a Nest Enjoy. So 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:39.200 we're gonna talk today about the Nest Labs company and 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:43.000 UH and the products they make. And I, like Lauren 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.280 was saying, Google has made a really incredible move in 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:51.040 offering to purchase Nest for a what some might call 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:54.440 a ridiculous sum of money. I think that three point 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.880 two billion accounts as pretty ridiculous. I mean, I mean, 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:00.720 it's a company that makes two things so far, yes, 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:05.080 and it's only existed since so and they've only been 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.640 having stuff that they could sell since So anyway, let's 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:11.319 let's talk about this. If you had told me ten 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.720 years ago that I'd be sitting down and talking into 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.920 a microphone to record a show about a company that's 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:23.400 big product is a thermostat first, I would say who 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:25.480 are you and why are you? In this consulting firm 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.800 because that's where I was ten years ago. But moreover, 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:30.039 I just said no, I wouldn't. Who who would want 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.600 to listen to that? Well, okay, there has been a 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:34.800 lot of buzz about Nest over the past couple of 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.960 years that it has existed because they make these these 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:45.119 smart devices, smart thermostats and smart smoke detector carbon monoxide exactly, um. 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.960 And and you know, with the Internet of Things becoming 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:51.200 more of a real thing, people have been excited about. 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:54.240 This is one of the leading companies that's creating the 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:56.800 kind of hardware that you can use to to make 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.760 your home and Internet of things. Yeah, and also the 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.880 design aesthetic right, gorgeous it is and and and it 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.200 works with your smartphone and that's all terrific. And I 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:10.280 did want to mention that for the record, thermostats are 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.760 kind of a big business. There's some ten million sold 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:16.040 in the US every year, and they control some half 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:19.480 of the energy used in US homes, right, so this 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:21.919 is not insignificant. Yeah, if you talk, if you look 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.919 at your energy bill and you divide it by two, 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:31.519 that amount of money is going straight to your system. Yeah. 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.799 So if you are able to make an impact on that. 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.680 It will reflect in the amount of money you have 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:39.800 to spend on energy bills, particularly if you live in 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:42.280 a place where you have a fairly extreme climate, so 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:45.440 that you're HVA system has to work extra hard to 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.160 make sure your living space is a comfortable one. And uh. 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.240 And in fact, what this all comes back to a 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:56.280 guy named Tony Fidel, who once upon a time worked 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.640 for a little company called Apple. Yeah, by work, do 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.359 we mean it? He kind of led the iPod and 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.400 kind of that the iPhone teams for a while, for 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:09.280 multiple generations for iPod and I think three generations of 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.720 iPhone he was overseeing that. He was senior vice president 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.840 of those departments. And uh. And so yeah, we're talking 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:21.360 about someone who definitely knew about designing for a particular aesthetic, uh, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.600 and to create something that is attractive for consumers. Because 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:28.680 it's easy for us to forget this and I know 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.240 we say it on tech stuff all the time, so 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:31.960 maybe it's not easy for you to forget because we 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:36.000 say it so frequently. But before the iPod, you know, 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:40.640 MP three players existed, there were, but no one had 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.680 really designed one that really cut the public's attention like 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:46.760 there were there was no one that was a dominant 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.800 player at the time, and then the iPods design really 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.920 started to kind of dominate to the point where you 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:59.320 started seeing other companies designs look more iPod ish. Not 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:04.280 to Ryan Stirrup any patent, you know, wars again, but 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.280 but people realized that. I mean, previous to that, I 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:11.680 think that most MP three players looked like they were functional, Yeah, 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:13.960 like bricks. I had one. I mean I had one 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:18.520 that I loved because it was probably about the price 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.320 of an iPod, but it had twice the capacity. But 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:23.880 it looked like a brick and it felt like one too. 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:26.600 It was heavy. But the uh, you know, and the 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.400 iPhone another great example. We've talked about that before too, 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:34.200 about how in the United States smartphones were pretty much 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.479 the realm of executives, right like BlackBerry was king in 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.200 the US. Now in Europe and in Japan that was 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.560 a different story, but not here in the US. It 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:44.760 wasn't until the iPhone came out that you started seeing 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:46.880 the consumer market move toward it. So this is a 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.320 guy who was right there on the forefront. He knew 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:51.479 a thing or two about, you know, making sure you 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:55.080 had an attractive product. But that's not exactly what got 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.320 him excited about this. First of all, he retired. He 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:00.719 retired in two thousand eight from Bowl. He was he 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.120 was like, okay, I have made my mark. I I 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:09.440 have helped bring to really influential products to the market. 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:14.440 I may rest, but apparently things just weren't always you know, 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:17.800 the most comfortable temperature at the Fidel house. Maybe he 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:21.040 just got up to change the thermostat one too many times, 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.840 and he started thinking about this fact, the fact that 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:28.919 half of your energy is spent controlling the climate of 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:31.840 your home, and that, according to at least some study 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:34.400 that he was aware of, because it's in a blog 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:39.560 post on the Nest web page, that the average person 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:44.400 adjusts his or her thermostat hundred times a year, and 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:46.760 so and and and Furthermore, he was, you know, he 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:50.120 was trying to update his home to he he was like, 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:54.560 we've got these gorgeous products for our music and for communication. 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.440 Why can't we have that kind of thing for everything? 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:03.120 Why does why does this control for my climate? Where 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.360 apparently I'm getting up to do it multiple times a day, 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:09.200 Because if it's times a year, that's you know, that's 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:13.120 a bunch. Why is it so boxy and ugly, and 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:17.760 because the almost thermostats not really aesthetically pleasing, they're they're functional, right, 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.440 So that's why Yeah. Yeah, According to another guy that 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:22.040 we're going to be talking about in just a couple 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:25.120 of seconds, the design, the basic design on thermostats has 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:29.039 not really changed since the nineties. Yeah. You either have 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:31.000 the digital kind or you have the old kind that 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.520 has sort of a coiled thermometer in it. If you 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:36.480 want to know more, you can actually go back. We 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.479 did a tech Stuff episode about how thermostats work back 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:41.760 in the day where we talk about the actual the 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.840 actual mechanics of a thermostat, both the I think we 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.680 mainly focused on the old, the old mercury switch kind, 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.120 but there are various other types as well. Um. And 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.479 another thing that Fiddel was thinking about was the fact 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:57.360 that he, you know, we we live in the incredible future. 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:00.720 Why can't I control my thermostat from my smart phone? Right? 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:03.600 And and and there were some products out there that 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:05.279 would let you do that, but they cost like five 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.280 dollars a unit, right, And you had to you know, 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:10.440 you you essentially had to go to some sort of 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:14.520 home automation specialist and then have that installed forum then 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:16.400 why are why are these things in for you? It 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.120 wasn't like something where you could go to a warehouse 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:23.880 in or or is some major store Hony People or 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:27.240 Lows or something like that and say show me where 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:31.880 the automated or the remote thermostats are, because it was 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:35.120 all packages that you had to go through contractors to get, 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:38.480 so not the not the most accessible, certainly. And he 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.320 also realized that we were getting to a point as 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.200 far as computer software is concerned, where you could create 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:50.320 very sophisticated algorithms that could have quote unquote learning behavior right, 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.640 they could start to recognize patterns and then respond to 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.560 those patterns in a predetermined way. So the big example 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.360 that we would have with nest is that if no 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.920 one's in the house, there's no need to have the 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:06.480 heat cranked up or the a C cranked up to 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.320 keep the house at the regular comfortable temperature. And if 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:13.240 you know when people are coming home, all right, if 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.440 it notices that you come home at six thirty every night, 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:18.560 then it can start working the house towards that temperature 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.520 whenever it needs to in order to have it ready 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:23.200 for you to get home. Yeah, so when you walk 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.320 through the door. It feels as if your house has 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:28.560 stayed that temperature all day long, whereas the reality is 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.640 between the hours of whatever and whatever, it was not 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:35.840 you know, either the system wasn't working at all, or 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.720 it wasn't working nearly at full capacity, it was working 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.800 enough so that it wouldn't take too much work to Yeah, yeah, 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:43.760 you don't want to. I mean, obviously you don't want 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:46.280 to shut everything down. Like if it's if it's the 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.679 the what was what do they call it the polar vortex? 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:51.560 When uh, it was when I was at ce S, 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:54.400 so I missed it. I wasn't here in Atlanta, and 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.719 that's what they called it. Nine degrees here. There's some 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:58.720 kind of science about it that I think that we 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:01.240 have actually written and stuff about on how stuff works 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.200 at this point, but I have no idea. I just 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:05.840 saw tweets that said polar vort text. I was like, 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:08.200 I don't know what it is it the day after 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:11.360 tomorrow back in Atlanta, I don't know nine degrees it 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:14.280 was basically yeah, in that case, you wouldn't want the 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.120 house to get all the way down to you know, 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:19.319 below freezing obviously not. But but at the same time, 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:21.720 you wouldn't want it to be at you know, seventy 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.000 five degrees because you'd be using a lot of energy 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.439 while you're not actually there. So it needed he solve 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:30.040 the problem. It was an engineering problem. You had to 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.600 build a device that could monitor the temperature, keep it 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:37.400 within a certain range, and then be flexible enough so 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:41.160 that that range changes based upon the parameters that are present. 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:44.559 And also if you happen to like it warm in 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:47.600 the morning but cold at night, then if you had 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.240 a thermostat that could learn these patterns, it could start 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.480 to anticipate it and change them for you proactively, so 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:54.840 you don't have to be the one to go up 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.200 there and say like, oh, you know, I like it 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:59.200 cold when I go to bed, but when I wake up, 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.719 it's it's my body temperature so low. I need to 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:05.120 get my temperature up. I needed to be warmer. So 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:09.080 this was a great opportunity he saw. So he ended 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:13.040 up contacting a couple of other folks and working on 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:16.840 an idea for a learning thermostat. Yeah, and these were 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.080 mostly other ex Apple folks or perhaps folks that were 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:23.600 maybe at the time still working for Apple. Exactly the 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:28.000 date lines of these there's certainly ex Apple folks now yes, um, 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:31.640 and and one of them, Mr Matt Rogers, he would 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:37.120 wind up co founding this company, Nest with yep. So 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:42.640 twenty ten is when Nest Labs officially forms May specifically, 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:46.960 and they their strategy was to be kind of quiet 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:50.440 about what they were doing. They didn't talk about their products, 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:52.800 I didn't talk about their lines of research really, and 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:55.360 so it kind of took the world by surprise when 0:10:55.360 --> 0:11:00.559 in October of twenty eleven, Fidel essentially announces, Hey, here's 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:03.679 this thing we've been working on. Is this little, round, 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:07.800 gorgeous looking device. It's actually a thermostat and it's smart 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.720 and it can connect to WiFi and you can adjust 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:13.280 it with your phone and it learns what you like. 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.480 And people were just thinking, you are saying too many things, 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:18.600 Mr man, I don't know what you're what's going on. 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:21.840 I think that they owe so much of their um 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:25.920 just general corporate feel from Apple. Uh. You know. Matt 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:28.800 Rogers strikes me as kind of an Apple fanboy who 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:33.400 who became eventually one of the iPod software developers there. Um. 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:35.360 But he has said that his first computer, when he 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:39.040 was like three years old, was a Macintosh Plus and that, um, 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:42.360 a lot of the you know, design, sensibility and just 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.920 just concepts of how to run a business are definitely 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:48.280 deeply owed to Apple in general and Steve Jobs very 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:52.280 particularly sure, and you can certainly see elements of that 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:56.600 when you look at both the company and its products. 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:00.240 So Fidel wrote a blog post that when up on 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:06.040 the Nest website October and kind of explained why a 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:08.880 thermostat because that was you know that you had two 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.800 big reactions from people when this was first announced. People 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:15.439 would say, uh huh, like what, what's what's your game? 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.280 Why would you even do this? And the other were 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:20.320 like where when and where can I buy one of these? 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.280 Because it looks beautiful? And I mean, I remember when 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.080 this came out because I remember, you know, I was 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:27.880 a big fan of shows like c Nets Buzz Out Loud, 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:31.960 and I remember people like Tom Merritt and Molly would going, uh, 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.079 you know, kind of bonkers over this thing. They were 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.640 they were like this, yeah, and at the same time 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:39.199 when I started looking into it and my gosh, I 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.520 kind of want one of those two. Well, he in 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:44.360 that blog post laid out what it was they wanted. 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:46.080 The thermostat to be able to do. He said he 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.640 wanted to design the thermostat to learn your preferred temperature 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:53.640 and schedule since when you left the house or when 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.800 you came home, to give you tips and feedback on 0:12:56.920 --> 0:12:59.560 your energy use. To be able to connect to WiFi 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:02.160 so you can control it from anywhere, for it to 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.880 look beautiful, and for you to feel proud to actually 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.320 be an owner of it, which it's very Steve jobs 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:10.840 ish kind of thing, right right, and also to have 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:13.559 a positive impact on the world. And you know, I 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:17.560 honestly think based upon the work that this company has done, 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:21.480 they're being they're being sincere about that. It's not that 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.640 you know, it's obviously it's a business, but it's not 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.120 something where I don't think that's just lip service, like 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:29.240 let's make the world a better place. I haven't heard 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:32.439 any numbers from outside sources, but according to the company 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:37.320 UM as of as of only February, they had already 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.480 helped energy efficiency to the tune of saving like two 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:43.640 million kill a lot hours of energy. So I'm like 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:48.160 twenty nine million dollars worth and in US, yeah, convergion, 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.240 so you're saving money and you're also by by taking 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.240 down some of that demand, we don't have to produce 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.760 as much energy and we're not wasting it on on 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:59.920 heating an empty house, or we're not burned, we're not 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.720 burning even more coal or or using up more natural 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:06.040 gas or whatever it happens to be that has provided 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:10.360 the heat and or a c for those homes. And um, 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:14.239 it's interesting. They started taking pre orders for the Nest thermostat, 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.520 and I think that was at a price point of two, 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:21.920 which I believe is what still is today. Two, So 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.680 you know, not a small amount of money for something 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.400 like that, but still cheaper than any I mean by half, 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:31.720 cheaper than any relatively similar products in the market. Yeah. Yeah, 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:35.920 and also it would ultimately save you money, assuming that 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.440 you're using it properly. So at any rate, pre orders 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:42.920 pre orders within three days of of them talking about this, 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:45.560 that within that blog post going up, they had sold 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.400 out of all of their stock that they had planned 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.640 on producing in the short term. So after three days 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.400 of the store being opened, they shut it. They closed 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:57.080 the store after three days with the explanation of guys, 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:00.680 this had way more of a demand than we had anticipated. 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.600 We knew that we had something potentially big on our hands. 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:06.000 We didn't know that all of you would agree with us. 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.880 And so they closed the store and they started working 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.200 very hard on meeting the demands of the initial pre 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.080 orders as well as figuring out how were they going 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:19.960 to meet the expanded demand. And it wouldn't be until 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.760 uh later in UH I think it was March two 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.240 thousand and twelve. So they shut the store down November 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.280 two thleven. It's not until March two thousand twelve that 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.680 they're able to open the store back up again. I'm 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:34.920 sure that most of that time was devoted to um 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:38.680 to investment related issues and sure and maybe like uh 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:42.720 streamlining manufacturing process and he's getting the supply chain in order, 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.560 you know, lots of stuff that the background stuff. Yeah, 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.720 that's not terribly exciting to talk about. It's pretty important. 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:53.000 It turns out that that's a big deal. We'll be 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:57.560 back with more about tech stuff explaining how Nest works 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:07.720 after this quick break. So, starting in May two twelve, 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.040 the Nest Thermostat became available in other places besides their 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.680 online store. You could get it at Lowe's Hardware stores. 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:17.120 By June, you can get it on Amazon. By a 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.000 little bit later in the year. I think of by 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:21.200 October that year you could get it best Buy. You 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:25.680 can't even get it at the Apple online store. Yeah, 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:29.360 so you know, that's obviously the relation. And I don't know, 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.240 I'll be right now, I don't know if that's going 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:33.360 to be be the same now that Google has is 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.400 acquiring Nest. Yeah, that's a con question. They have affirmed 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:40.040 that they are going to um continue supporting I I 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:42.400 O S product exactly. Yeah. It's not gonna be like 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:45.800 suddenly your iPhone is unable to adjust the temperature of 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:47.440 your home, right that would be that would be a 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.080 pretty ridiculously poor business decision. And I think I think 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:52.120 the Google and Apple have both learned their lesson on 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.360 that kind of I mean, you even had for a while, 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:56.760 you had one person, like you had the CEO of 0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:59.120 Google sitting on the board of directors of Apple for 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.760 a while, that was Eric Schmidt. That that didn't last forever. 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.320 He did a step down for the board of directors eventually. 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:09.240 But the relationship between Google and Apple is not always contentious, 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.320 even though they are direct competitors, at least in the 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:14.520 mobile space and arguably in the computer space. But I 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.360 don't think chromebooks are really that big of a competitor 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:21.040 against at any rate. Yeah, at any rate. Getting back 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:27.040 to Nest, So by October, remember this is just one year, 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.000 not even a full year since they had announced it, 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.560 because they they announced it late in October two eleven. 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.480 But in October twelve, the second generation of Nest Thermostat 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:40.160 debuted and um, this one was you know, a little 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:43.800 sexy er, even it was thinner. So they were able 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.280 to miniaturize some of the components make it even more compact, 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.879 which is kind of astounding because they even increased the 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:55.080 capabilities of the second generation. So the first generation worked 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.640 with oh, I don't know, it was something like fIF 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.040 HVAC systems out there, and you had to check to 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:04.040 make sure before you know, they stressed check to make 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.320 sure that the one that you have, the system you 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:11.280 have is uh is compatible with the system UH. Well, 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:13.960 they were able to open that up to a much 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:19.160 larger percentage of the market. They also were able to 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:23.159 create a device that could work with uh H VAC 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:26.480 systems that had two different capacities for cooling down your house, 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.160 so some of them would work at a percent sometime 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:34.240 and then knock it down to for just maintaining a temperature, 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.160 or if it didn't need to, like if you're getting 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:40.040 starting to approach the temperature, then they might might power 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.280 down a little bit, but not turn all the way off. Well, 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.800 those systems have two dedicated wires for that. There's one 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:51.080 dedicated for there's one decadent, and the original Nest did 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:54.560 not have the capability. Yeah, you couldn't. It didn't have 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.399 a place to plug both of those in the second 0:18:57.440 --> 0:18:59.560 Nest did, so you could do that. It also works 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.040 with multi stage heating systems. That works with systems that 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:06.879 have humidifiers or de humidifiers, and and across all energy modes. 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:09.880 I mean if you've got gas or propane or electricity 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.520 or etcetera. Yeah, So, so it definitely opened up the 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:16.520 market a lot wider than the initial Nest did. And 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:20.000 again it was smaller too, so um or at least 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:22.600 it was thinner, it didn't project out as far from 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:28.280 the wall. So yeah. They say that three out of 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:33.400 four of their Nest customers opt to install it themselves 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:35.800 and that it can be installed within thirty minutes. They 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.920 also have the Nest Concierge service, so if you feel 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.920 like you are one of those one of who would 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:46.800 likely electrocute him or herself were you to attempt to 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.639 install it, such as, I don't know yours truly, uh, 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:52.520 not that I haven't nest, but if I did, I 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:56.119 would totally. I'm tech savvy, which means I also know 0:19:56.200 --> 0:20:00.920 it can kill me. Um. But yeah, you can actually 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:05.560 opt for an additional fee to have someone come out 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:09.480 and help you. So then made two thousand thirteen, Nest 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:13.040 made its first acquisition. It was a company called my Energy, 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:17.600 which specifically builds products that let users track energy usage 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:20.320 and savings. So the idea is by getting some more 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:24.360 analytic data and some more collective uh products, they can 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:28.120 make the Nest even more effective and make products further 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:30.800 down the line that are able to incorporate some of 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:35.560 this analysis so that you get an even more granular 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:39.200 idea of what's going on and how you can save energy. Now, 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:43.439 as we've seen in the past, there's a huge market 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:47.520 for stuff that collects data and then analyzes it and 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.160 presents it to you in an understandable way. Oh sure, 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:53.720 and and basically any time that you allow these days, um, 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:56.280 you know, nerds, which are most of us. Let's be 0:20:56.359 --> 0:21:00.200 honest and um to to min max their surroundings. You're 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:03.880 going to yeah, fitness trackers perfect example, right, being able 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:05.399 to sit there and say, like, now I'm able to 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:09.080 attract every single calorie that I intake and burn. I 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:11.560 don't mean to make you check your force while you're 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:14.600 doing that, but it's a little bit over a thousand today, 0:21:14.600 --> 0:21:17.560 I'm gonna work out. Okay, that's good. So yeah, I don't. 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:21.120 I'm not wearing any of my accouchramal today, not even 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:23.919 my pebble. I feel a little lost without it, to 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:28.359 be honest. But anyway, so clearly there's a market there, 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:31.560 so it makes sense to bring that in and incorporate 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:34.639 that in the Nest family. But then, uh, you know, 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:37.440 we get over. Towards the end of two thirteen, they 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:41.400 also introduced a brand new product, and that's the Nest Protect. 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:45.760 That's their smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. Now, this 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:49.000 was obviously a departure and some people again we're thinking, 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:52.520 why why would you would I need one of those 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:55.119 to be smart? Doesn't the thing on the ceiling that 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:58.159 beeps do just as well. But this one, again is 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:01.720 WiFi enabled. It can can neck to an app so 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:03.560 that that way you can get an alert on your 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:06.120 phone if your smoke detector goes off, which obviously could 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:08.680