The news yesterday in the tech world was that Google pulled $3.2 billion out of petty cash
to purchase Nest Technologies, a three year old company that manufactures and sells household thermostats and smoke alarms that connect to the internet via wi-fi.
Nest makes some interesting things;
take a look at the Nest website. The thermostat learns your activities and preferences for temperature settings, and after a learning period automatically adjusts heating and cooling for both maximum comfort and maximum efficiency. A Nest owner can even control household temperature from a smartphone or a pad.
Nest collects energy use data for your home and sends you a monthly report detailing the money you saved via increased energy efficiency. Google bought Nest because Google wants to enter the meter reading market and Nest is a good fit for that. Google wants to electronically read your electric and natural gas meters and transmit that information to your utility companies, thus eliminating the utility companies need for meter reader employees.
Because I wrote this on Blogger and you are reading it on Blogger, we are connected to Google. You may have a Gmail address, you probably use the Google maps and internet search engine. You can buy wi-fi enabled kitchen and laundry appliances. Wi-Fi enabled home security and electric lighting systems have been on the market for a few years already. Android smartphones are Google enabled. Some new cars have Android infotainment systems. Life is becoming all Google, all the time.
Google knows where you live and probably what your home looks like from the street. It knows how much your home costs, and the amount of its property taxes. In fact, Google knows darn near everything about you. And Google can use that information as is sees fit.
Have you ever read the privacy section of an End User License Agreement? No? I'll summarize: You agree to have no privacy, period. Your information are belong to Google. You can go
here to learn what Google has inferred form your computer usage. And that's just the part they will show you. It isn't for nothing that government agencies and advertisers pay Google for information.
So, how connected do you want to be? You're probably pretty well connected already. Wait until hackers start messing with Nest and other home control systems. Come home to frozen water pipes, or unlocked doors, or maybe even theft if hackers determine you've been away the same time every day.
The only way to be unconnected these days it to leave the internet, never use email, get rid of your cell phone, stop surfing, stop shopping, stop reading blogs, stop using inline banking. In short: cut all the wires with the outside world.
Still want to be connected?
