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Nest CEO: Google, not Apple, is building ‘the technology we are going to need’

Published Mar 24th, 2014 3:03PM EDT
Nest CEO Fadell Interview

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Nest shocked and disappointed many an Apple fan earlier this year when it agreed to get bought out by hated rival Google for $3.2 billion. Now Nest CEO Tony Fadell, a former Apple executive who was instrumental in designing the iPod last decade, has taken a mild swipe at his former employer in a new interview where he insists that Google is the company that will lead the way in innovation for the next decade.

opinion8td has plucked some key quotes from Fadell’s interview with The Sunday Times this week and has found that Fadell is not shy about singing the praises of his new employer while also being somewhat dismissive of Apple’s recent efforts.

“I don’t know what Apple is working on,” Fadell told The Sunday Times. “When I looked at the technology we are going to need 5-10 years from now, who has that and who is building it, it is Google.”

Fadell’s overriding goal is to disrupt the market for home appliances, which he says are “as bad as mobile phones were before the iPhone.” However, he also insists that being bought by Google doesn’t mean Nest users’ personal information will get sucked up into Google’s gigantic treasure trove of data that it uses to sell highly targeted ads to its users.

“Nest data is your data and it is going to be used only to improve the products and services that you buy from us,” he said, while also emphasizing that Nest was not going to move its headquarters to Google’s main campus in Mountain View, Calif. “It is not going to waltz on over to some other place without you knowing. That was very clear when we were doing this deal.”

To see even more quotes from the interview, make sure to check them out at opinion8td’s page.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.