The $3.2 billion sale of Nest to Google has raised eyebrows — and a few concerns. Will my heating habits get pushed to my Google + profile? Are Google ads going to stream from my heating vents? Probably not, but the move does suggest a tipping point for the rise in smart homes, smart home appliances and — most importantly — the smart grid.
As Quartz indicates in a recent piece about the purchase, when the world’s biggest information-organizing company takes over a device that can track heating habits and power consumption, an acceleration towards a more efficient and responsive smart grid seems imminent.
If you’re new to Nest, take a few minutes to brush up on your knowledge of the game-changing device. A digital thermostat that “learns” your heating habits and adjusts to energy usage to help reduce heating bills, Nest was widely hailed as the best great device in the smart home industry.
As a giant consumer of electricity, no one has more interest in power management than Google. But this latest acquisition reveals an ambition to expand that interest across the residential markets, which bodes well for advocates of a smart grid.
Credit: Quartz
