Imagine that you are looking for the best “smart” system to equip your home with lighting, sensors and other devices. After much research, you decided on Revolv, a circular hub that centralized the communication of numerous systems (doors, alarms, sensors, etc.), and you began to equip your home with compatible devices. After spending hundreds of euros, Nest (yes, Google) buys Revolv and, year and shortly after, announces that Revolv will stop working .
“As of May 15, 2016, your Revolv hub and the application will stop working,” the company announced in a brief statement. This means that all devices will Revolv ornaments or, says Arlo Gilbert, known entrepreneur and a customer angry basically sold them a “can of hummus”. The reasons? Focus on Nest development.
“It’s a cheeky ‘fuck you’ to all the people who trusted them and bought their hardware. They didn’t post this ad until long after Google made the acquisition, so those are Google’s words under the direction of Tony Fadell. It is also worth noting that even though they have my email address, the only way to know about this IoT riot is to visit the Revolv website, “explains Gilbert.
Revolv may not be a well-known system or have many users, but Nest’s decision puts us on notice of what may come in the future: not only can Nest “sneak” into your home and deactivate when they please one of its products or services, but has dared to do so.
If you buy a Nest product, a Chromecast or any other device from Google, would it be normal that after the year of warranty they reserve the right to “turn it off” and leave it without working forever ? No. Gilbert also starts an interesting debate: “Will the era of the Internet of Things bring the end of the concept of property?” Of course, it is like thinking twice before buying any Nest device.
