I've got the Nest Fire alarms (2nd gen) and they've been good. I didn't get the thermostat (got a cheaper Sensi instead) because of the problems it has with setting a comfort zone, though I thought the second gen thermostat resolved that? The recall was for the first gen ones fire alarms - there's a funny video on youtube with some guy trying to switch off first gen Nest fire alarms which would activate randomly.
Yep. If anyone chooses to work in a hostile work environment, they can just as easily choose to quit. I quit from a job where my boss seemed to be high on drugs and was extremely verbally abusive to the IT guy. I determined I could just as easily be the next person in line to receive these irrational tirades and so I immediately headed for the door (best working decision I ever made).
Constantly yelling at someone doesn't result in better work. If anything, it results in less work because it will eventually get to the point where you just don't give a shit because you're going to get yelled at anyways. Its no way to run a company (or a division of a company). How would you like it if your boss came in screaming and yelling every day at you? How would you feel about working there? How would you feel for others around you who are getting yelled at? As others have said, sounds like he's trying to be a Steve Jobs and thinking yelling gets work done, when in fact its the opposite.
Fadell is the head of the company. He is who he is, so unhappy employees should definitely leave voluntarily. Continuing to work for a jerk is the choice of the employee.
Unfortunately, Nest sounds a lot like most corporations.
This is also true. Wherever you have people competing with each other and against deadlines, you will have emotions running hot. Office politics, undermining of authority, backstabbing, credit taking, sabotage, grandstanding, drunkenness, drug abuse ...all of this and more are quite common.
Steve Jobs at 25 years of age launching Apple as a public corporation, Steve Jobs at 30 years of age starting NeXT, and Steve Jobs at 41 years of age returning to Apple demonstrates a continuum of personal growth to the end of his life. Steve and his legacy are exceptional; Tony Fadell is certainly not, though I'm hesitant to judge him on such limited anecdotal evidence.
I can think of Howard Hughes as another exceptional innovator in multiple fields, Nikolai Tesla, Alan Turing, and likely Elon Musk, ; I'm sure that are others that come to mind, but not many.
Steve Jobs at 25 years of age launching Apple as a public corporation, Steve Jobs at 30 years of age starting NeXT, and Steve Jobs at 41 years of age returning to Apple demonstrates a continuum of personal growth to the end of his life. Steve and his legacy are exceptional; Tony Fadell is certainly not, though I'm hesitant to judge him on such limited anecdotal evidence.
I can think of Howard Hughes as another exceptional innovator in multiple fields, Nikolai Tesla, Alan Turing, and likely Elon Musk, ; I'm sure that are others that come to mind, but not many.
Unfair comparison. While Jobs is known to have been dictatorial, he doesn't sound nearly as abusive as Fadell. Further, NeXT boxes worked well; they were Unix-based and we had a whole lab of them at Penn State. NeXTStep became OS X after all, which means it lives to this day as a very good product.
Back when Google bought Nest some were saying they wished Apple would have. But it didn't surprise me that Apple didn't go after Nest. Fadell would have come with Nest and what would Apple do with him? Fadell would never have come back to Apple unless he had a big role and reported directly to Tim Cook. But Apple already has someone that leads hardware engineering and someone that leads hardware design so where would they slot Fadell? Create some home automation subsidiary? Doubtful. Plus there are rumors out there that he's not the most loved person inside Apple. I always did wonder exactly why he left.
A great leader inspires you to do better. That is what Steve Jobs did. This guy is just being abusive not to do better in the world (like Steve did) but to justify his company valuation. Period. Big, huge difference.
I have a friend that works at Nest. He made out like a bandit for sure. I suppose if the money is good enough, one will simply just take it. I couldn't work for that company as I don't believe in the products they make, and with Google owning them, I certainly don't trust those same products either.
Steve saw the personal computer, the iPod, the iPhone, and even the iPad as revolutionary, world-changing products, and he could get you to see it that way too.
Nest is...thermostats and smoke detectors. Oh I'm sure the elite specs will give gadget geeks boners, enough for AppleInsider to call these things "flagship" products. But they're still fancy thermostats and smoke detectors.
Well this is unfortunate to hear. I love my Nest Thermostat, never had any problems with it yet. But if the company is going down the drain, does anyone know of a good alternative product if and when I replace it?
I've long held that Nest made a lousy thermostat, for the precise reason stated that it's difficult to get a consistent/comfortable setting. Too often it tweaks the temperature when it shouldn't--at least in my house, with its design.
Last minute design changes aren't good for ensuring reliability.
It may be worth noting that Nest seems to be a target of patent infringement lawsuits from Honeywell.
Well this is unfortunate to hear. I love my Nest Thermostat, never had any problems with it yet. But if the company is going down the drain, does anyone know of a good alternative product if and when I replace it?
I love my Honeywell Prestige. A less expensive, highly rated option is the Ecobee3.
Funny how what was once the darling of the Apple Store is now shunned and mocked post-Google acquisition. Does anyone really think Tony just woke up one morning after the Alphabet buy and decided to be an abusive control freak?
A great leader inspires you to do better. That is what Steve Jobs did. This guy is just being abusive not to do better in the world (like Steve did) but to justify his company valuation. Period. Big, huge difference.
I have a friend that works at Nest. He made out like a bandit for sure. I suppose if the money is good enough, one will simply just take it. I couldn't work for that company as I don't believe in the products they make, and with Google owning them, I certainly don't trust those same products either.
Steve saw the personal computer, the iPod, the iPhone, and even the iPad as revolutionary, world-changing products, and he could get you to see it that way too.
Nest is...thermostats and smoke detectors. Oh I'm sure the elite specs will give gadget geeks boners, enough for AppleInsider to call these things "flagship" products. But they're still fancy thermostats and smoke detectors.
Totally agree. Yes, Nest carried the lowly and mostly unthought about thermostat into the digital age, but it's still just a thermostat - something most of us only think about when the temperature is not what we want it to be. The thing is, a thermostat is not something you have to interact with in a way that Nest can monetize beyond the initial investment of the unit itself, and perhaps some kickbacks from power companies that sign on to promote them. I've been tempted to get one, but I'm just not convinced I need it and that it will do anything to lower my natural gas bill. Maybe they should be working on a whole house energy monitoring system, that goes beyond the thermostat and can control how and where your whole house uses energy?
Unfair comparison. While Jobs is known to have been dictatorial, he doesn't sound nearly as abusive as Fadell. Further, NeXT boxes worked well; they were Unix-based and we had a whole lab of them at Penn State. NeXTStep became OS X after all, which means it lives to this day as a very good product.
NeXTStation and NeXTCuBe are more than excellent computers and a real breakthrough in software. It pioneered a Mach kernel with BSD UNIX and open source development software like gcc (C, C++ and Objective C) combined with revolutionary development tools like InterfaceBuilder and a graphic display system that used Display Postscript (Display PDF OS X uses now is a weak derivative of it). It was also a full OO development system and its user interface and many other parts of the system where implemented in it. It also included a DSP processor and applications like Ensemble (that uses this processor as a synthesizer) I haven't seen replicated yet. So NeXT was extremely innovative and had applications aimed at creative people. Never had a better computer, or one so exciting (maybe except for the first iPad).
It cannot be compared to the extremely weak products of Nest.
Yes, Nest carried the lowly and mostly unthought about thermostat into the digital age, but it's still just a thermostat - something most of us only think about when the temperature is not what we want it to be. The thing is, a thermostat is not something you have to interact with in a way that Nest can monetize beyond the initial investment of the unit itself, and perhaps some kickbacks from power companies that sign on to promote them.
Not true. Honeywell released its Prestige 2.0 thermostat with Red Link technology at about the same time as Nest released its simple thermostat.
Beyond the initial hardware sales, Nest/Google/Alphabet work to monetize the market by monitoring your behavior.
That's an ignorant, arrogant, and antisocial response to a very serious social issue common in American employment. A hostile work environment does serious damage to people, productivity, and the bottom line. Workplace-caused PTSD is a legitimate and serious issue.
Workplace bullying and abuse is a sign of poor or absent leadership skills, not "tough management" or "babies".
By all means, get yourself into an abusive environment and experience it for yourself...
For those who are commenting on the nest thermostat. I have 4 of these plus a couple other brands I am testing. The nest design and function is very good. As for this article about the leadership? Sounds like some power tripping if it is true.
Comments
I can think of Howard Hughes as another exceptional innovator in multiple fields, Nikolai Tesla, Alan Turing, and likely Elon Musk, ; I'm sure that are others that come to mind, but not many.
Nest is...thermostats and smoke detectors. Oh I'm sure the elite specs will give gadget geeks boners, enough for AppleInsider to call these things "flagship" products. But they're still fancy thermostats and smoke detectors.
I've long held that Nest made a lousy thermostat, for the precise reason stated that it's difficult to get a consistent/comfortable setting. Too often it tweaks the temperature when it shouldn't--at least in my house, with its design.
Last minute design changes aren't good for ensuring reliability.
It may be worth noting that Nest seems to be a target of patent infringement lawsuits from Honeywell.
It pioneered a Mach kernel with BSD UNIX and open source development software like gcc (C, C++ and Objective C) combined with revolutionary development tools like InterfaceBuilder and a graphic display system that used Display Postscript (Display PDF OS X uses now is a weak derivative of it).
It was also a full OO development system and its user interface and many other parts of the system where implemented in it.
It also included a DSP processor and applications like Ensemble (that uses this processor as a synthesizer) I haven't seen replicated yet.
So NeXT was extremely innovative and had applications aimed at creative people.
Never had a better computer, or one so exciting (maybe except for the first iPad).
It cannot be compared to the extremely weak products of Nest.
Beyond the initial hardware sales, Nest/Google/Alphabet work to monetize the market by monitoring your behavior.
I'd never trust anyone who said 'almost literally', instead of 'nearly'.
Workplace bullying and abuse is a sign of poor or absent leadership skills, not "tough management" or "babies".
By all means, get yourself into an abusive environment and experience it for yourself...