Nest Labs Stops Selling Its Smoke Detector(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Nest Labs Stops Selling Its Smoke Detector
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/technology/nest-labs-citing-flaw-halts-smoke-detector-sales.html
7 comments
[deleted]
I think it's a very responsible move. Learn from GM's mistake of not promptly recalling faulty products. Short term loss, but long term gain of consumers' trust.
Dear GM customer,
During recent laboratory testing of 2003-2007 Chevy Cobalts, we observed a unique combination of circumstances that caused us to question whether the ignition would improperly turn off during an accident.
We feel that the best and safest thing to do is to immediately disable the ignition-off feature to resolve the issue and remove any safety concerns. While we fix 2003-2007 Cobalt, please, under any circumstances, do not turn off the ignition of your car. We suggest calculating the amount of gas needed for a particular trip and adding only that gas to the fuel tank. At the completion of your trip, allow your car to automatically turn itself off when the fuel is exhausted.
During recent laboratory testing of 2003-2007 Chevy Cobalts, we observed a unique combination of circumstances that caused us to question whether the ignition would improperly turn off during an accident.
We feel that the best and safest thing to do is to immediately disable the ignition-off feature to resolve the issue and remove any safety concerns. While we fix 2003-2007 Cobalt, please, under any circumstances, do not turn off the ignition of your car. We suggest calculating the amount of gas needed for a particular trip and adding only that gas to the fuel tank. At the completion of your trip, allow your car to automatically turn itself off when the fuel is exhausted.
Already discussion on that happening here:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7526682
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7526682
Sensationalist title,
"... in a letter posted on Nest’s website that it would stop selling the product, Nest Protect, until it fixed a problem with a feature that lets people temporarily disable the alarm by waving their hands in front of the detector."
It isn't even like they're halting production, just sales.
"... in a letter posted on Nest’s website that it would stop selling the product, Nest Protect, until it fixed a problem with a feature that lets people temporarily disable the alarm by waving their hands in front of the detector."
It isn't even like they're halting production, just sales.
Ouch, I wonder if the fix will be to pull the feature. Kind of a bummer but I can understand there's probably a huge liability issue when it comes to smoke alarms.
It's not like they're defective.
Under certain conditions (like the unit being mounted low on the wall) and with multiple people running by the sensor, it might register it as a wave and silence that unit.
I've used the devices for a while and the convenience of not having the 3am chirp is worth the risk of the alarm being silenced by me running out of the room.
Under certain conditions (like the unit being mounted low on the wall) and with multiple people running by the sensor, it might register it as a wave and silence that unit.
I've used the devices for a while and the convenience of not having the 3am chirp is worth the risk of the alarm being silenced by me running out of the room.
Right, they aren't defective, they just might turn off the alarm. heavy sarcasm
Question for you: is there anyway for you to continue using them and keep this feature on? Or does it only work if you have it connected, and if you have it connected Nest can push updates to it?
Yes, absolutely.
The wave bug isn't an issue for me at all.
The issue is that there is a very slim chance that the alarm will get hushed if people run by the unit repeatedly and the device is mounted in an odd place (like lower on the wall).
The wave bug isn't an issue for me at all.
The issue is that there is a very slim chance that the alarm will get hushed if people run by the unit repeatedly and the device is mounted in an odd place (like lower on the wall).
So you're going to leave the wave feature on then?
The Wave feature was remotely disabled by Nest.
"Within 24 hours, Nest Wave will be automatically disabled. You don’t need to do anything and even with this feature disabled, our smoke alarm will continue to work very effectively, monitoring for increased levels of smoke and CO in the home. "
https://nest.com/letter-from-the-ceo/
It's just too risky for them to leave the feature on considering the product is a general public safety device. One death with Nest Protects would be disastrous for the product and the brand.
It's also important for home automation in general to prevent loss of life in these early products. Look at what happened to Tesla and the fires, the media makes small issues with new technology appear to outweigh all of the benefits. The media isn't running a story every hour on the new 1/2 inch plate of titanium which, to me, is extremely awesome, but that's just how press coverage goes right now.
"Within 24 hours, Nest Wave will be automatically disabled. You don’t need to do anything and even with this feature disabled, our smoke alarm will continue to work very effectively, monitoring for increased levels of smoke and CO in the home. "
https://nest.com/letter-from-the-ceo/
It's just too risky for them to leave the feature on considering the product is a general public safety device. One death with Nest Protects would be disastrous for the product and the brand.
It's also important for home automation in general to prevent loss of life in these early products. Look at what happened to Tesla and the fires, the media makes small issues with new technology appear to outweigh all of the benefits. The media isn't running a story every hour on the new 1/2 inch plate of titanium which, to me, is extremely awesome, but that's just how press coverage goes right now.
Isn't the wave the main selling point?