Heres How Google Is Handling a Big Controversy
Nest, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, is reaching out to customers unhappy about the firm's decision to mothball a product made by a company it acquired in 2014. The gadget, the Revolv smart home hub, gave users a central point of control for Internet-connected devices in their home. "Revolv owners, we're here to help," Nest's official support account tweeted. "Please get in touch so we can find the best solution for your needs." The company intends to "work together with customers on a case-by-case basis to determine the best resolution, including compensation," a Nest representative said in an emailed statement to TIME. , Revolv's smart home hub allowed owners to automate their home appliances through a single app. Users could control multiple devices at once based on certain "scenes." A "Shutdown House" scene would turn off all connected devices, for instance. The app also let users monitor their devices remotely. It's not unusual for a hardware company to stop updating an aging product. But a memo on Revolv's website said that the product would stop working entirely on May 15, effectively leaving owners with a useless device. Nest also said in its statement that Revolv owners were notified about this back in February. "So we're pouring all our energy into works with Nest and are incredibly excited about what we're making," the memo read. "Unfortunately, that means we can't allocate resources to Revolv anymore and we have to shut down the service.", That angered Revolv owners like Arlo Gilbert, who wrote a lengthy post on Medium to complain about the shutdown. Gilbert argued that "Google is intentionally bricking" hardware he owns, opening a discussion about what it means to own a product that a company can decide to terminate.