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Comment by Animats | Hacker News Reader

Google seems to be appallingly bad at any non ad supported product. They've managed to screw up all their ISP products (Google Public WiFi, Fiber, Loon, etc.) Now the home automation products. The company has no culture of customer service, which dooms any product which requires it.

I just hope they don't screw up self driving cars, where they're actually succeeding.

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It's a dead company but they will exist for very very long just like IBM.

This (Nest, and other home devices) can't be profitable if it requires much customer service anyway... It just needs to work after install with no issues (or changes/regressions) for 10-20 years.

I contacted ecobee to get clarification on one of their wire diagrams and they were able to provide customer support. I buy zooz smart devices which are much cheaper than a nest and they have given me detailed wiring instructions based on photos I sent them. It is possible to be profitable and provide customer support. Most customers aren't contacting support every time they buy a product. Building a good reputation helps sell more product.

Well, they kept the phone line alive ever since the forst Nexuses. And I am glad they didn't kill when they switched to the Pixel brand. But then those devices support search and ads...

My new car has an Android Automotive system baked into the IVI head unit, I'm just crossing my fingers that it's supported for the length of my lease.

Maybe they actually succeed with that - dead people don't call customer support.

Other than the slow rollout, what's wrong with Google Fiber?

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