Updated
Updated · The Verge · Jun 28
The Verge Releases Season 4 Episode 3 on Tony Fadell's Nest Reinvention
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Jun 28

The Verge Releases Season 4 Episode 3 on Tony Fadell's Nest Reinvention

1 articles · Updated · The Verge · Jun 28

Summary

  • The Verge’s Version History published the third episode of its fourth season, tracing how Tony Fadell returned from post-iPhone retirement to build Nest and rethink the thermostat.
  • Fadell’s frustration with outdated, expensive home temperature controls drove the effort, which the podcast frames as an attempt to reshape how homes work.
  • The episode says Nest scaled quickly largely because of Fadell, while arguing the thermostat itself was a mixed product that got key ideas right but missed in important ways.
  • The Nest story extends Version History’s smart-home season, following earlier episodes on the Harmony remote and Roomba and adding context on Nest’s broader impact on connected-home design.

Insights

Fadell’s vision was praised, but users disliked its core ‘learning’ feature. Was the original Nest a brilliant failure?
With early models now losing support, did Nest create a smart home revolution or just a new cycle of tech obsolescence?
As Google halts new thermostats in Europe, is the dream of a universal smart home device officially dead?