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posted by janrinok on Monday February 12 2018, @04:34PM   Printer-friendly
from the learning-the-hard-way dept.

After buying Nest, keeping it as an independent company, and considering selling it off, Alphabet/Google is now rolling Nest back into itself. Nest makes various home automation products including a "smart thermostat", security systems, and video doorbells:

Some early employees of Alphabet's smart-home company Nest, including co-founder Tony Fadell, are frustrated by how the company's history has played out now that it has been rolled back into Google.

Google bought Nest for $3.2 billion in early 2014, less than two years before it blew up its corporate structure to form the holding company Alphabet. Under Alphabet, Nest became an independent company and was heralded as the model business in the "Other Bets" category, which also includes Alphabet's venture capital arms, its smart city project Sidewalk and other experimental businesses.

But looking back, these early former employees say that the split ended up being a setback for both companies. "From the outside it looked like Nest was the perfect poster child for Alphabet but, at the same time, separating it was undoing the thing that was most essential for both companies — figuring out how to make them work together," former Nest CEO Tony Fadell tells CNBC via email.

Nest co-founder Matt Rogers announced that he will be leaving the company:

A day after Alphabet announced plans to roll Nest into its hardware team, co-founder Matt Rogers has announced that he's exiting the company. The story was first noted by CNET and quickly confirmed by Rogers on Twitter.

Could just be social media talk, but Rogers' brief statement on the matter appeared to imply that there were no hard feelings. "Nest has been an amazing journey and the honor of my career to build," he wrote. "I could not be more proud of what we have all accomplished and can't wait to see what's next for Nest."

Also at The Verge.


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  • (Score: 2) by Uncle_Al on Monday February 12 2018, @05:36PM (4 children)

    by Uncle_Al (1108) on Monday February 12 2018, @05:36PM (#636742)

    https://techcrunch.com/2012/06/24/what-happened-to-android-at-home/ [techcrunch.com]

    Nest destroyed it.

    What goes around, comes around, Tony.

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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Monday February 12 2018, @05:44PM (3 children)

    by frojack (1554) on Monday February 12 2018, @05:44PM (#636751) Journal

    Your linked article never even mentions Nest, or Dropcam, or thermostats.
    If you had a point, you couldn't have buried it deeper.

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 12 2018, @06:05PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 12 2018, @06:05PM (#636757)

      What do you expect from a precursor to AI?

      • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday February 12 2018, @08:48PM (1 child)

        by nitehawk214 (1304) on Monday February 12 2018, @08:48PM (#636822)

        Wait, have I been thinking his name is Uncle Al, as in Al Buddy, when it is AI, as in Artificial Intelligence?

        Damn sans-serif fonts.

        --
        "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
        • (Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday February 12 2018, @08:53PM

          by nitehawk214 (1304) on Monday February 12 2018, @08:53PM (#636826)

          Damn spellcheck, I meant "Al Bundy"

          Though now I am thinking about an Artificial Intelligence Al Bundy.

          Also, it would be useful if Soylent would tell you why it refuses to post a comment.

          --
          "Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh