What does Nest’s shutdown of Revolv mean for the future of smart home tech?

Andy Uhler Apr 6, 2016
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A screenshot from the Revolv setup video. Donna Tam/Marketplace

What does Nest’s shutdown of Revolv mean for the future of smart home tech?

Andy Uhler Apr 6, 2016
A screenshot from the Revolv setup video. Donna Tam/Marketplace
HTML EMBED:
COPY

 Nest is scrapping its Revolv smart home hubs, essentially turning the gadget — which can control your lights, smoke alarms, coffee makers, etc. — into a brick. They came with a lifetime warranty and a $300 price tag, so customers are, not surprisingly, unhappy.

The smart home company’s move poses a more general question about emerging consumer technology, and specifically, the growing popularity of the Internet of Things. How reliable are these products and does this shake consumer confidence in early adoption?

We talked to Arlo Gilbert, who wrote a scathing blog about the shutdown, and IoT expert Evan Kaplan.

“What I would assume is that they’re moving somebody to some new piece of hardware that they’ll ask people to upgrade,” Kaplan said. “And what you’d hope in these sort of situations is the people who have the hardware would get an automatic free upgrade to whatever was coming next…that’s what you would hope.”

To listen to the full story, click on the audio player above.

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