Many of my friends are tech / gadget geeks and living here in San Francisco certainly gives us a chance to see, play, and own the hottest toys around.  While most of the crew loves the personal electronics, I get even more excited about how technology integrates with homes and businesses.  That’s what I am a proud early adopter of the new Nest thermostat.  You can read all about the impressive ex-Apple team that put it together and my experience so far is nothing short of that Apple euphoric feeling.  Everything from the packaging to the ease of setup to the simplicity screams Apple in all the good ways.

• Packaging - brilliantly eloquent as if you were opening a new iPhone.  It even came with a slick screw driver to help with installation that will be valuable in the future.  Took about 10min
• Connection - once it was connected, it booted up (weird to say that about a thermostat) and immediately found our WiFi and asked to be connected.  Using the wheel built into the device, I entered the password and it immediately started downloading software updates. (it also went through a backup process, not sure where it is backing up to). 5min
• Peripherals - while it was downloading, I went to the App store and downloaded the iPhone app for the device.  Part of the fun will be adjusting and monitoring the temp from anywhere in the world
• Setup - going through the setup menu was easy and it asked me for things like my zip code, lowest temp when we’re away, etc.  Once done, it was running and ready and I quickly programmed the weekly schedule taking into account when the kids are home and when I am working at home.
• Usage - just getting started so I’ll let you know how it goes in a few months.  It supposedly learns constantly meaning it should be smarter then or something like that.

Nice little Friday treat after a brutal week