I have been visiting the same Apple Store for over a decade. I have seen it go through one renovation, a temporary location, and a major expansion. I remember the special moments of awe and wonder when I played with my first Macbook, iPod, iMac, iPhone, and iPad. The experience of the Apple Store always had an additive effect to the magic of the devices themselves. I have been a part of the “hero’s parade” as Apple Store employees applauded me down the center aisle of the store as I purchased the latest release of OS X. I have seen a Apple employee stand on top of a table in the middle of the Apple Store and engage the whole store in applauding a soon to be college student for getting accepted to the University of Texas and buying her first Mac.

The biggest change over the last decade was that it went from being my Apple Store to everyone’s Apple Store. Scott McNulty recently pointed out how much he dreads visiting the Apple Store. I empathize with his feelings to a certain extent, but I have also been able to find my own oasis in an Apple Store.

Apple’s next release of the iPhone, iPad, or Mac Pro will get me to the Apple Store for a hands on experience with the products, but over the last year I have noticed that what I do in the Apple Store has changed significantly. I walk right past the crowded tables with iPhones and iPad Mini’s and I head straight for my oasis in the Apple Store. That oasis is what I call the “complimentary devices” section. It looks like this:

An Oasis in the Apple Store, the “complimentary devices” section

As my product experience with Apple devices has evolved, so to has the place or product category I am the most interested in and excited about. That’s not to say am not excited about the next Apple product update or release, but when I am looking for that special moment of awe and wonder, as I had with each new product category Apple introduced, I now find my self making a beeline for the “complimentary devices” section of the store^α.

This section of the Apple Store isn’t crowded yet, but I think it is where you can find innovative new products to satiate you between releases of Apple Products. There will be plenty of predictions and rumors about what Apple will do next, but if I had to take an educated guess I think Apple’s next innovate product will come in the form of something that fits in with this class of devices. There is clear opportunity for a device in this category to become as staple to you as your iPhone. Even if I am wrong about that I think this class of devices is as important to Apple as the next great iOS app. I hint at this in my latest review of activity monitors and I know I am not the only one noticing this oasis in the Apple Store. You can also find people like Ernesto Ramirez from Quantified Self standing at this oasis looking at what he considers the future normal with these class of devices^β.

Even with the over crowding of Apple Stores and challenges of checking out there is still no retail experience that comes close to an Apple Store. While it may not be my Apple store anymore I still have my section of the Apple Store that will keep me coming back.

___________________

1. This class of devices receives better shelf space than even the Apple TV.

2. He has a great list of products you can find in this section, at least from a quantified self perspective.

Wearable tech, activity monitors/trackers, health and fitness gadgets – call them what you will, there is a burgeoning market for these types of devices. The concept is simple enough place something on your person and wear it 24/7 while it uses various sensors to capture data. Then sync your data to a smartphone or computer and magically become healthier. So that last part may not be so simple, but helping you be healthier or at least more conscientious of your health is the purpose of this class of devices. While the market for activity monitors (my preferred name for this class of devices) continues to grow this review aims to examine four activity monitors that are available at brick-and-mortar retail stores, the Fitbit One, Jawbone UP, Nike+ FuelBand, and the BodyMedia LINK.

From left to right: Fitbit One, BodyMedia LINK, Jawbone UP, Nike+ FuelBand

What’s not covered in this review.

I have shied away from reviewing the activity monitors in areas that are too subjective and are thoroughly covered by most major tech blogs. Is it easy to lose the tiny removable cap on the Jawbone Up? Is the Nike+ FuelBand comfortable to wear? These types of issues are personal and based on your own individual preference, needs, and lifestyle so I do not consider them in this review. What I will focus on regardless of the devices form factor is which achieves the goal of accurately tracking your activity, reporting your data back to you, and the potential of making you healthier.

The next area I will not delve into are any features of the activity monitors that are not passively collected. As an example, each device’s application allows you to manually track your calories consumed by logging what you have eaten each day. You can manually log your workout activity and some devices even allow you track how many glasses of water you drink. Tracking by manually entering data into software is in strong juxtaposition to the value proposition of what activity monitors should provide. There are also a host of smartphone applications that track calories and workouts so these features, while allowing you to store all your data in one application, are not unique to the activity monitoring devices.

So that leaves us at the first place to objectively evaluate the Fitbit One, Jawbone UP, Nike+ FuelBand, and BodyMedia LINK – Do they accurately capture data?

Step Count Accuracy.

I conducted two types of “controlled” experiments to evaluate each activity monitor’s ability to track steps. First, I did a treadmill test in which I walked 0.25 miles at 2.5mph at a zero degree incline. I logged the current step count on each device before I began walking and after I had walked the required 0.25 miles. I also manually counted how many steps I took. To ensure the accuracy of manually counting my steps I had someone independently observe me on the treadmill and count my steps as I walked 0.25 miles. The table below shows the results of this test.

Results of the treadmill test for step count accuracy

As the table above indicates the Fitbit One and the Jawbone UP proved to be the most accurate with the Fitbit One getting a perfect step count and the Jawbone UP only off by one step.

The second test was a walking trail test where I again walked 0.25 miles (the walking trail I used has quarter mile markers) at a natural walking pace. I manually counted my steps and again had someone with me to independently count my steps. The table below shows the results of this test.

Results of the walking trail test for step count accuracy

Again you can see that the Fitbit One and Jawbone UP came out on top with the Jawbone UP providing a perfect count and the Fitbit One two steps under.

28 Days of Steps.

By logging 28 days of steps with all four devices, the graph below shows a timeline of each device and how many steps it counted each day. Unlike the results of the more “controlled” walking tests here we get a sample of real world usage.

28 Days of step counts

In this graph some clear patterns emerge. The Fitbit One is a clear high outlier consistently providing the highest step count while the Nike+ FuelBand is the low outlier typically providing the lowest step count. The Jawbone UP and the BodyMedia LINK hold together in the middle very close to each other. The clear challenge here is that we don’t know for sure exactly how many steps I took each day so there is no reliable benchmark. Below is a matrix that shows the percent difference in steps for each device by using each device as the benchmark as if it were the accurate step count for all 28 days.

Percent difference in total step count over 28 days using each device as a benchmark

To help you understand the above matrix lets assume that the BodyMedia LINK is 100% accurate. If this were the case you can read across the third row labeled ‘BodyMedia LINK’ and see that the Jawbone UP was 3% over, the Nike+ FuelBand was 24% under, and the Fitbit One was 26% over the BodayMedia LINK’s count of steps over the 28 days.

If we go strictly by the data, the BodyMedia LINK and the Jawbone UP appear to give the most accurate step counts given that we have two independent devices that only have a 3% variance in their total step count for the 28 days. Based on the two “controlled” tests, treadmill and walking trail, the Jawbone UP out performed the BodyMedia LINK in terms of accuracy. Hence, I would pick the Jawbone UP as the most accurate step count, but I have one major issue with this conclusion which is the location where you wear the devices. The Jawbone Up and the BodyMedia LINK were worn on my non-dominant arm (left). I consistently notice (especially given that the data was collected in the winter months) that I often put my left had in my pocket as I walk and that I often carry items in my left hand as I walked, both of which lend to under counting my actual steps.

To more objectively evaluate the issue of left arm placement there are two specific days in the data that highlight this issue. On Day 15 a significant amount of my steps were walking in a mall while carrying shopping bags in my left hand. On Day 28 I spend a significant amount of the day moving boxes and furniture leaving my left arm motionless while walking. The table below shows the difference of steps and the percentage difference from the Fitbit One for Day 15 and Day 28.

Day 15 and Day 28 highlight the under counting of steps cause by left arm placement

It is possible that the Fitbit One is the most accurate step counter. To really isolate any inaccuracy caused by the left arm placement I look forward to comparing the results of the Fitbit One vs. the Fitbit Flex (worn on the wrist) to be released this spring. They will theoretically use similar algorithms and provide the opportunity to control for placement of the device when comparing step count results.

If step accuracy is extremely important to you I would pick the Jawbone UP or the Fitbit One. If you go with the Jawbone UP just be cognizant of your behaviors with your left hand and the potential for under counting of steps it could produce. The clear conclusion no matter how you look at it is that the Nike+ FuelBand performs poorly at step counting and is significantly under counting steps by at least 24%.

Calories Burned.

Accessing the activity monitors accuracy for calories burned proves to be much easier to do than steps if I make one key assumption. That assumption is possible due to fact that the BodyMedia LINK can calculate calories burned using sensors not contained in the other devices. Specifically it can measure Skin Temperature, Heat Flux, and Galvanic Skin Response. Given these sensors the BodyMedia LINK can calculate METS and in turn use METS to compute calories burned (Weight in kg * METS = Calories Burned per hour). So in order to evaluate calories burned for accuracy I will assume that the BodyMedia LINK’s calories burned is the benchmark.

A quick side note on the Nike+ FuelBand. In order to be able to compare the Nike+ FuelBand’s calories burned I had to add a “standard” 2000 calories burned per day to the number reported by the Nike+ FuelBand. For example if the Nike+ FuelBand reported that I burned 944 calories in a day I was required to change it to 2944 calories in order for the number to be comparable to the other devices. It appears that the Nike+ FuelBand does not include a resting calorie burn rate in the data it reports back to you. As a comparison the Fitbit One even if you don’t wear the device at all will report calories burned based on an assumed resting calorie burn rate it has computed for you.

Below you can see a graph of the daily calories burned reported by each device.

Calories Burned by Day

The first and most noticeable thing is that the Jawbone UP significantly under counts calories burned compared to all other devices while the other devices show very similar results. The table below, again assuming that the BodyMedia LINK is an accurate count of actual calories burned, shows the total number of calories burned over the 28 days and the percent difference in the total number of calories burned.

Total Calories burned over 28 days and the percent difference from the BodyMedia LINK

The takeaway is unexpected; both the Fitbit One and the Nike+ FuelBand despite not having any specific sensors to track calories burned yield marginal errors in counting calories burned compared to the BodyMedia LINK. Ultimately the key differentiator of the BodyMedia LINK, i.e. possessing specific sensors to track calories burned, provides no real added value. This is exacerbated by the fact that the BodyMedia LINK is larger and more difficult to wear (it must be worn on the upper part of your arm using an arm band) than the other devices.

For calories burned the Fitbit One and the Nike+ Fuelband come out on top while the Jawbone UP proves to be quite inaccurate.

Activity Tracking.

Two methods are used to help you track how active you are; time and points. All devices provide a measure of time for activity. The Nike+ FuelBand and the Fitbit One also provide a point system. Since there is no standard of how to measure what it means to be “active” the results from each device are essentially incomparable. Since each device at least uses time as a form of measure of activity I have made an attempt to compare them. Here is what each devices tracks as time measures.

• BodyMedia LINK – Moderate Activity, Vigorous Activity
• Fitbit One – Sedentary, Light Activity, Fairly Active, Very Active
• Jawbone UP – Active Time
• Nike+ FuelBand – Active Time

What each of these exactly means is a bit of a mystery. To attempt a comparison I used the following measures:

• BodyMedia LINK – Moderate Activity
• Fitbit One – Fairly Active
• Jawbone UP – Active Time
• Nike+ FuelBand – Active Time

Note: The Nike+ FuelBand is on a separate axis as it is not clear whether it is reporting hours and minutes (in which case it is just waking hours) or minutes and seconds. All the other devices report hours and minutes.

Activity by day for 28 days

As you can see there is correlation between all the devices but no ability to determine the accuracy of the data. In practical usage I found the Fitbit One and the BodyMedia LINK the most useful. The Fitbit One has a distinction in that its categories account for a 100% of your time (excluding sleep) giving it an edge over the other devices.

Activity Points.

The Nike+ FuelBand’s primary focus is on its activity points called ‘NikeFuel’ and the Fitbit One provides an ‘Activity Score’ which is represented on the device’s display as a flower that grows the more your ‘Activity Score’ increases. I found these measures to be useless. For example if you set a goal of earning 2000 Nike Fuel points per day but are 200 Fuel Points short, what exactly do you have to do to earn 200 more points? Run for 5 minutes, 30 minutes?

Activity Points for Nike+ FuelBand and Fitbit One by day

By comparing Nike+ Fuel Points to the Fitbit One’s ‘Activity Score’ in the graph, as you can see, they correlate very strongly. However, if you are really seeking helpful and actionable data the BodyMedia LINK and the Fitbit One’s activity time proves to be the most useful in helping you get healthier by allowing you to set specific goals and clearly see if you are achieving them and how to achieve them.

Sleep Tracking.

All the devices except for the Nike+ FuelBand provide sleep tracking. I found this feature to be the weakest of the data tracked. It was difficult to make sure I tracked my sleep every night. Both the Jawbone UP and Fitbit One require you to push a button to indicate you are going to sleep and to press a button again when you wake up. The fact that you need to push a button on sleep and wake voids this as real feature based on the fact that it is not passively tracked, one of my key criteria in this review. Furthermore the Fitbit One forces you to wear a wrist band in which to store the devices while you sleep. This proved to be annoying and I would often find the wrist band off my arm when I awoke.

The BodyMedia LINK has a leg up on all other devices in the fact that it does passively track your sleeping time. The only thing I had to provide the BodyMedia LINK at the time of setup was what time I typically go to bed. The down side of the BodyMedia is that if I were to lay down and watch a movie for 2 hours it would assume I was sleeping.

So you can track how many hours you sleep and by using the accelerometer in each device they attempt to help you track sleep quality by using your motion during sleep to determine times of deep sleep, light sleep, how many times you awoke during the night, and how long it took you to fall asleep. Below you can see specifically what each device claims to track.

• Fitbit One – Time to fall asleep, times awakened, time in bed, sleep efficiency, total time slept
• Jawbone UP – Hours Slept, Light Sleep, Deep Sleep, time to fall asleep, time in bed, times awaken, total time awake
• BodyMedia LINK – Sleep Start Time, Sleep End Time, Time Sleeping, Time Lying Down, Sleep Efficiency

How much your motion equates to what stage of sleep you are in on the surface seems like a crude proxy. Overall it feels like this feature is forced and added to expand the number of features that can be marketed. I suspect, as with what happen to me, is that most activity monitor users for the first couple of weeks will track their sleep and then consistent tracking of sleep will begin to become hit or miss since the data doesn’t really provide any meaningful insight or actionable data and is easy to forget to track. For what its worth below is a graph of my total sleep time. I would say that the BodyMedia LINK does a good job of tracking your sleep without the complexity of the Fitbit One and Jawbone Up, leaving the only challenge to be remembering to wear the device to sleep.

Total hours of sleep for 28 days proved to be difficult to track

Behavior Modification.

Knowledge is the least effective indicator of fitness. While activity monitors enable you to capture data, knowing is only half the battle. The missing key to the equation is that there isn’t enough insight from the data. The Jawbone UP at least attempts to provide you with insight. Here is an example: say every time you eat after 8pm (and are willing to log your food intake) you have a decreased sleep efficiency. The Jawbone UP states that it tries to report back to you this type of insight over time, as it continues to capture data about you. Even thought I wasn’t manually logging all the data possible the Jawbone UP provided some small pieces of insight and tidbits of information over the 28 days, but it still needs to go much farther to be fully engaging.

Various screenshots of how your data is reported back to you

Currently none of the devices solve the toughest challenge of truly creating behavior modification. The things that motivated me the most to change my behavior the were as follows:

• Fitbit One – Step count, strongly aided by the device having a display I could check it easily and regularly
• Nike+ FuelBand – I often found myself curious as to how many NikeFuel points I had, but constantly felt inept at understanding what I need to do to reach my Fuel point goal for the day.
• Jawbone UP – random insights/information provided
• BodyMedia LINK – Total time of Moderate Physical Activity with a goal of 30 minutes a day

One of the latest entrants into the activity monitor market Basis has a key focus on habit formation and their approach to both data visualization and behavior modification, in what appears to be a very practical solution, takes this key shortcoming of the reviewed devices head on.

It is worth noting that I did lose 15 pounds during the 28 days I was reviewing the devices, but it had little to do with the devices themselves. What the devices did accomplish was keeping my inner gadget and data geek engaged in my goal to be healthier, but not much more than that.

The Real Opportunity.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article the market for activity monitors is still in its infancy so these devices only begin to show whats possible. I think the shortcoming of each company’s approach to activity monitors is their myopic view of focusing on the devices as only “health” devices. If these types of devices are to become a staple to your person like your smart phone they must evolve beyond their limited range. Where I would like to see the market for activity monitors head is into the smart watch category. By combining the functionality of a smart watch such as Pebble with activity monitoring you can really start to envision a must have product that could become as ubiquitous as smartphones. In fact the Pebble has an accelerometer built in so its no farther away from being able to replicate the functionality of the activity monitors than by someone creating the application for it. The Basis really starts to hint at this possibility with their solution. I would love to see the Basis and Pebble combined into one device.

Final Thoughts.

For those fascinated by the idea of the quantified self like me, I highly recommend these devices; as for true mass-market adoption I believe these devices are still in the realm of early adopters. The best-in-class device will be the most passive device. I refer to being passive in a holistic sense. Passive to wear, you don’t have to think or worry about putting it on and/or feel you are even wearing it. Passive to sync data, I shouldn’t have to open an app or plug my device in. Passive in behavior modification, the devices and accompanying software should simply and easily empower and engage me to be healthier in a realistic way.

So after 28 days which device will be the one I continue to use? The Fitbit One.

Which activity monitor are you interested in purchasing?

• Fitbit One
• Fitbit Flex
• Jawbone Up
• Nike+ Fuelband
• BodyMedia Link

Miscellaneous Notes.

Below are some random notes that didn’t directly make their way into the main portion of this blog post.

Fitbit vs Jawbone Up vs Nike FuelBand vs BodyMedia LINK.

The “vs” question is the one I have been asked the most. I think the real challenge is that each device has its trade-offs and each has its pros and cons depending on your idiosyncrasies. There is no perfect device yet and no runaway market leader, but the Fitbit does have the advantage that it is a product generation ahead of the other devices. It is also interesting that it is more common for me to be asked, “Fitbit vs Jawbone Up, which is better?” In terms of mindshare it is impressive how much brand awareness there is for Fitbit and Jawbone compared to the behemoth of Nike.

Data Liberation.

One of the more concerning aspects of the activity monitors is that once each service has your data it is trapped within their system, with the exception of the Fitbit One (see update below). That being said the only way to export your data with the Fitbit One is by paying a annual fee for their premium service of $49.99 per year. This is very disappointing give the fact that if you are a programmer and know how to access their API the data is freely accessible. I found the prescribed methods of viewing the summary of my data in each application to be frustrating; I could never quite get the view of the data that I wanted. The worst was the BodyMedia which does not provide the ability to view the data in time series. The Jawbone Up provides the best visualization and formats of your data.

Update: A member of the Jawbone software team contacted me to let me know that they do allow you to download all of your UP data in a CSV format from their website, just follow the directions below:

• Go to Jawbone.com
• Sign in using your UP credentials
• Click on your name in the upper right corner
• Click on the ‘Accounts’ tab
• At the bottom of the Accounts tab you should see a section titled ‘UP’ with download links by year

Buttons.

All the devices have one button to control all their functionality. The Jawbone Up had the worst button for a few reasons. The button itself did feel enough like a button. It did have enough action on it and I was never confident as to whether I actually pushed the button or not. Also the button is on the backside of your wrist forcing you to always have to turn your arm over to push it. The Fitbit One’s button suffered from a lot of accidental pushes in my pocket I would often pull it out to find the sleep timer running. The Nike+ FuelBand has the best button in terms of feel and function.

Post-PC devices.

The Jawbone UP is interesting in that it is the one device that aims to be a post-PC device. Specifically it provides no web interface and you can only interact with it using an iOS app. I believe this is also the reason the Jawbone UP provides the best application experience in terms of data presentation and ease of use. One key place the Jawbone UP provides a weird contradiction is that it has positioned itself as post-PC device but it comes with a USB charger and no in-wall plug for charing. So with the Jawbone UP you don’t need a computer except when you want to charge your device, a very odd decision.

Complimentary Devices and Apps.

Using either the Withings or FitBit Aria Wi-Fi enabled body scales compliments your activity tracker very well and continues to extend the idea of passive data collection. Using either one of these scales will send your weight data directly to FitBit and BodyMedia so no manual entry of your weight is required. Fitbit has a host of “apps” that allow you to integrate your Fitbit data with many different services. You can see a full list here.

If you use the BodyMedia LINK I highly recommend the Withings iOS app given the lack of good data visualization provided by BodyMeida. The Withings iOS provides a great visualization of your data for a quick glance to see how you are doing in one of four areas weight, activity (the app syncs with BodyMedia LINK only), heart (using the Withings Blood Pressure Monitor), and sleep (the app syncs with BodyMedia LINK only). During my 28 day review period I actually preferred using this app above all others. If you use the BodyMedia LINK using this app is a no-brainer.

Syncing.

Wireless syncing and a display on the device really enhanced my usage of the activity monitors and the Jawbone UP falls short as it provides neither. The Fitbit One provides the best wireless syncing solution as long as you have a computer that you are in the vicinity of on a regular basis. The Fitbit One provides a USB dongle that passively syncs the Fitbit One whenever you are in proximity to it so you never have to worry about syncing.

Battery Life.

When it comes to battery life I wore each device to complete discharge during the 28 days. Each device only needed to be charged once except for the Jawbone UP which needed to be charged three times. Total battery life for each devices is as follows in increasing order:

• Jawbone UP – 9.8 Days (average of 3 battery cycles)
• Fitbit One – 13.5 Days
• BodyMedia LINK – 22.1 Days
• Nike+ Fuel – 26.3 Days

If you use the Fitbit One I highly recommend the Low Battery Notifer app. It emails you whenever your Fitbit’s battery gets low.

Wearing the Device.

I find the innocuousness of the Fitbit One to be preferable. All other devices where noticed and commented on by multiple people during the 28 days I was reviewing the products due to their visibility. The main downside that comes with the innocuousness of the Fitbit One is that I often left it in my pocket without realizing and found myself constantly needing to remind myself to make sure I put it in my pocket. The Jawbone UP, Nike+ Fuel Band, and the BodyMedia LINK give their left arm placement provided a more “put it on and forget about it” feel that was much more convenient.

Best Software/App.

I would force rank the software/app experience of activity monitors as follows:

1. Jawbone UP
2. Fitbit One
3. Nike+ FuelBand
4. BodyMedia LINK

Silent Alarm.

The most surprising feature I learned to like was the silent alarm on the Fitbit One and the Jawbone Up. The devices simply vibrate at the alarm time you set, and the Jawbone Up claims to be optimized to wake you up when you are in “light sleep” during a 30-minute window before your alarm. The silent alarm feature is a great compliment to the Philips Wake-Up Light.

Reactions to this review:

Shyam – this is amazing. Thanks you so

much for sharing your analysis.

-Ernesto Ramirez

Most comprehensive comparative review on

activity monitors I’ve seen yet…

-Noah Lang (@noahlang)

…delightfully in-depth review of quantified

self devices…

-Fraser (@fraser)

Comprehensive and unbiased – A detailed

comparison of the top fitness trackers

on the market.

-cor

Wow, love this!…

The whole post is worth a read…

-Austin Johnsen

The most comprehensive & thoughtful

comparison of fitness tracking devices

I’ve seen yet

-Derek Flanzraich

There are many reviews of the Nest Learning Thermostat but they have primarily focused on installation, features, and user experience. Putting all features of Nest aside if the Nest does not live up to the promise of saving energy none of its features or “gadget-y coolness” matter in the end. To truly review the Nest I have analyzed my energy usage during the first three months of having the Nest installed. This is after the Nest had enough data to activate all of its energy saving features which include:

• Auto-Schedule
• Auto-Away
• Time to Temp
• Leaf
• Airwave

The Analysis.

Let’s start with the raw data. The data represents May, June, July, and August of 2011 and 2012. The chart below shows kWh for each month and the average high temperature for the each month comparing 2011 to 2012.

Total energy usage year to year comparison

As you can see there is a significant drop in kWh from 2011 to 2012, but there are several factors that need to controlled for. In order to evaluate the energy savings of the Nest I will make the following assumptions:

• There has been no significant change in my lifestyle year over year for the three month period in question^α
• For every one degree increase in the average temperature it increases my energy usage by four percent^β

In order to normalize the data with the above assumptions I took my 2012 usage and adjusted it to 2011 temperatures. For example in July 2011 the average temperature was 5 degrees warmer than July 2012, hence I increased the kWh in July 2012 by 20% to account for the temperature differential. The chart below shows kWh usage normalized to 2011 temperatures for all four months.

kWh normalized to 2011 temperatures at four percent per degree

So even after controlling for temperature differences year over year there is still a significant decrease in energy usage. The chart below shows the percent change in kWh for each month year to year after normalizing the data.

Percent change in kWh for each month year over year

The Result.

While this isn’t a perfectly controlled analysis, given the percent change in energy usage, I think its safe to conclude that the Nest thermostat offers energy savings given my conditions. Over the four month period this equated to a savings of $305 based on the normalized numbers which means the Nest paid for itself in four months. Its worth noting that I normalized the data across all kWh not just those kWh used for air conditioning hence these savings are a conservative estimate^γ.

Opportunities for Improvement.

Overall I am very happy with the Nest thermostat and I believe it lives up to the energy savings promise based on this analysis, though I am hesitant to give those savings a hard number based on the shortcomings of this analysis ^δ.

I could probably extract even more savings from the Nest if it provided geofencing capabilities and could detect if I left the house or was approaching the house based on the location of my iPhone. When I purchased the Nest I thought “The Leaf” feature, which shows you a green leaf if you set the temperature to one that is energy efficient, would alter my behavior, but ultimately I just ignore it and change to the temperature that is most comfortable.

It will be interesting to see what reporting Nest will offer once it has year over year usage data for a large number of users. I think one of the key factors that makes it easier for me to yield energy savings from the Nest is the fact that I have a single person household. It is concerning to me and seems like an obvious miss that Nest does not collect more demographic information when users register their thermostat. Demographic data such as number of persons in the household, home square footage, etc… could really enhance the reporting they can provide to users as well as improve their algorithms. The killer feature for the Nest that could really deliver on its value proposition would be the ability for Nest to pull my energy usage data directly from my provider analogous to how Mint can pull bank account information.

I was able to easily recoup the cost of the Nest in four months, but in my opinion there is enough value in its utility alone to justify purchasing a Nest Thermostat.

Update:

This post was updated to include four months of data. When originally published it included only three months of data.

Several people have asked if I was using a programable thermostat before installing the Nest. I was using a Honeywell Chronotherm IV Plus, which is a programable thermostat, but I never programmed it properly. So it should be noted that a significant part of any actual energy savings probably comes just from making use of a programable thermostat as intended. Though I would also suggest that a key part of the Nest’s value is in the fact that most people never program their thermostats even if the feature is available, hence the EPA dropping off the Energy Star rating from programable thermostats.

To respond to several other questions I have received and that are worth factoring into my results:

I have a single story home with one Nest unit that is ~1700 square feet. My house was also built in 1922 which means its not very energy efficient with lots of opportunity for air to leak in out of the house.

1. That is to say my non air conditioning electricity usage such as wash/dryer, PS3, TV viewing hours, dishwasher, etc…are given as equal year over year.

2. This is a strong assumption, I found this site that mentions that for every one degree you increase your thermostat it increases your energy costs by 4%. I actually need the inverse of this for my analysis, but I was unable to find any information on what a 1 degree increase in outside temperature does to energy costs. I also assume this is very dependent on where you have the thermostat set relative to the outside temperature. Furthermore, I would also assume that the relationship can’t be linear, for example a 1-3 degree increase in outside temperature causes a 4-5% increase in energy usage, but a 4-6 degree increase in outside temperature causes a 7-8% increase in energy usage.

3. It is assumed that higher outside temperature do not significantly impact usage of other electrical appliances. Air conditioning accounted for 49%, 52%, and 54% of my total electricity usage for May 2012, June 2012, and July 2012 respectively.

4. If you have any thoughts on how I could improve this analysis please let me know.

My Favorite Steve Jobs Quote.

“We’re here to put a dent in the universe.

Otherwise why else even be here?”

-Steve Jobs

My Favorite Steve Jobs Presentation.

My Favorite Steve Jobs Photo.

My Favorite Mac Setup, ca. 2007.

My Favorite Condolences.

Voicemail:

Email:

“Shyam – can’t help but think about you reading all the sad news about Steve Jobs on twitter. You two are sort of symbiotic in my book. Take care” – Joni

Text:

“Holy shit Steve Jobs died.” – P!

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,

disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They invent.    They imagine.    They heal.

They explore.    They create.    They inspire.

They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Thank you Steve Jobs for being one of the crazy ones.

I recently gave a presentation at Ignite Dallas 4 on Saving the World from Bad Design.

Presentation Description:

I believe design thinking can save the world. We live in a world that has become jaded to bad design. Everything in our world is designed from our toothbrush to our education system. Why are we so willing to tolerate bad design when it impacts our lives in so many significant and meaningful ways? I for one am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!

SlideCast of the Presentation:

The Twitter Reaction:

@jenwinneaton

@BenTautfest

@MattBasically

@benjudy

@DaniMedia

@elyseholladay

@ataleb52

@mikedmerrill

@MShahab

@UmarSyed

In use since the 16th century innovation has become one of the biggest buzz words in business during the last decade crescendoing into a deafening noise. Over used and over hyped, the word innovation itself has lost meaning. One of the most important unintended consequences is a lack of focus and understanding of the word invention vs. innovation.

Innovation is about taking an idea and making improvements to existing processes, products, or services. While invention is more of a creative process where one has insights beyond what is currently known and creates processes, products and services never seen before. There is a fine line between the two that can overlap.

Put more simply business investments to create ideas is a focus on invention and ideas that create a return on investment are innovations.

Invention vs. Innovation

So as you focus on trying to create innovation for your company don’t forget about the investment in creating ideas that must take place first. If you truly want to be innovative start by thinking about how to invest in becoming inventive first.

“The abuse of words like innovation, disruption, game changing and breakthrough is killing us. We’re tripping over our own egos, lost in the ignorance of romance for the vagaries of pseudo-thinking associated with these words. The more often people in a company use this word, the less likely anything worthy of that label is actually happening, as it’s often the confused and the desperate who believe simply saying a word again and again like a magic spell causes anything at all to happen.” – Scott Burken^α

___________________

1. Source: 52 Weeks of UX

If you have to say your brand or product is revolutionary, visionary, or inspiring it probably isn’t. If you find yourself writing copy with the words of what you want to be or think you are, face it you aren’t that. If you are innovative your brand experience should exude it in a self-evident way. If your brand is inspiring, then I should feel inspired not read ‘inspiring’. Let’s refer to this as Eminem Marketing from now on. Stop writing it and start being it.

Cause I am whatever you say I am if I

wasn’t, then why would I say I am?

– Eminem, The Way I am

]]> http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/the-brand-doth-protest-too-much/feed/ 0 http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/tedtalk-classics-1-show-me-the-data/ http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/tedtalk-classics-1-show-me-the-data/#respond Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:00:28 +0000 http://www.getgrok.com/?p=384

Hans Rosling shows us the power of data visualization. Rosling makes data feel accesible and uses it to tell a story in a way that is inspiring while debunking common myths, but more than anything else it is his passion that sucks you in. Be sure to visit Gapminder.org and check out the new desktop version of Gapminder that is available.

]]> http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/tedtalk-classics-1-show-me-the-data/feed/ 0 http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/cheers-and-jeers-from-apples-wwdc-2011-keynote/ http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/cheers-and-jeers-from-apples-wwdc-2011-keynote/#respond Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:00:46 +0000 http://www.getgrok.com/?p=306

Arrrggh! It’s good to be a Pirate.

Steve Jobs continues to prove his idiom: Why join the navy when you can be a pirate. The “new” Notifications Center is inspired and pirated from Android’s notification system. Safari’s Reading List functionality mirrors those of Instapaper, Readablity, and Read it Later.  The new search capabilities in Mail emulate Gmail and the reading experience borrows from Sparrow. Of course the Apple design philosophy in almost all cases greatly improves upon anything that inspired them. There are a host of other “new” features from Apple that can be added to the pirate list.

Life on the Delta.

iOS in a PC and cable free world is great and is made possible by the key usablity improvement of delta updates.  What that means is no more massive 1/2 GB downloads^α to update your iPad or iPhone.  Now let’s hope the same applies to iTunes itself.  It’s interesting that the staple Mac apps have not been migrated into the app store but the OS update itself has, but maybe this is yet to come when Lion is released.  No matter what, Apple has solved one of the biggest problems of its iOS ecosystem.

Double Entendre of Usability.

More multitouch, full screen apps, and death to the scroll bar all add great usability experiences and continue to push the evolution of the GUI forward.  But why in the world are the new calendar and address booked designed to look like my Franklin planner from the 90’s!?!  Why are pictures on my computer held up by onscreen paper clips?!?  This retrograde in design choices makes no sense coming from Apple.

These are digital calendars and address books the UI’s should not be stuck with all the short comings of the offline world.  I expected more from you Apple. There are probably a significant and ever growing number of Apple product users who have no idea what a desktop planner or physical address book even looks like in the real world, but are forced to use UI analogies to a physical real world experience they have never had.

Planned Modernity.

Planned obsolescence isn’t Apple’s game. Instead they have perfected a form of technological Chinese water torture. Starve your users of the features they want the most and then slowly release them over the next few years. This is how Apple gets people to applaud the addition of flagging email messages as a feature. But it is interesting when Apple does cave into consumer demand for a feature. The way they present their appreciation for customer feedback is almost mocking.

You wanted feature X and now we have deemed you worthy to have it. No matter what, all we are left with is to applaud and be thankful for features we craved years ago. This also relates to my first point about pirating, a good idea is introduced by an App developer, the app is rejected by Apple, then Apple adds the feature^β.

Rain Delay for Google and Amazon due to iCloud..

Apple continues to trick their competitors to show up to the wrong game.  The industry was touting netbooks and Apple was focused on the iPad.  The same kind of playing field seems to be shaping up when it comes to the cloud and browsers.  Google and much of the start-up world is so focused on turning the browser into an OS, yet Apple’s iCloud strategy completely ignores the browser from having anything to do with achieving the right usability for a cloud solution.

Steve Jobs even took a jab at Amazon and Google for thinking that anyone would want to play or manage their music collection in the browser.  Apple’s approach to the cloud is spot on with the design thinking that a cloud solution needs, starting with Dropbox’s approach and taking it to the next level. As we have come to expect from Apple, “It just works”.

App Curation.

Apple is starting to think of ways to address the problem that 425,000 apps create. It’s too many apps for anyone to process and kills discoverability. What they started to create with iOS 5 are niche app stores. In addition to the iBooks store we now have Newsstand for newspapers/magazine and games right in the Game Center. I suspect we will continue to see more from Apple in order to help consumers navigate the mind numbing number of available Apps and facilitate curation and discovery of Apps.

Steve Who? Building Investor Confidence.

Similar to the Planned Modernity I talked about above, we see a slow trickle of Apple executives taking the stage. This is obviously tied to investor confidence in Apple as Steve continues to struggle with his health. Apple is amazing at this just noticeable difference with each keynote presentation. At this point I even expect and prefer my iOS keynote updates to come from Scott Forstall.

 

Will the real Steve Jobs please stand up? 

Even the picture on the Apple’s homepage linking to the keynote video has a picture of Steve Jobs, Philip Schiller, and Scott Forstall on it, not just Steve Jobs as the lone technology and design messiah from Cupertino.

___________________

1. The iOS 5 beta clocks in at 736 MB

2. Scott Forstall alluded to this with a hard-to-make-out comment during the keynote along the lines of poking fun at the usability issue of using the volume button to take a picture, he said “Use the shutter button to turn your volume up”, jokingly.  Almost something akin to telling people to push the ‘Start’ button in Windows XP to ‘Shutdown’ the computer. 

]]> http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/cheers-and-jeers-from-apples-wwdc-2011-keynote/feed/ 0 http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/the-laws-of-simplicity-go-mainstream/ http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/the-laws-of-simplicity-go-mainstream/#respond Thu, 02 Jun 2011 05:30:05 +0000 http://www.getgrok.com/?p=261

There has been a boon of minimalist applications released for the Mac App Store and the App Store. Information Architects, Inc. has a great video to promote the release of their latest application, iA Writer for the Mac, that really sums up this trend the best.

Other applications similar to iA Writer include Ommwriter and WriteRoom.  They all have the same unique selling point; allowing the user to focus on their writing and avoid distractions.  While some of these applications may take the idea of simplicity too far, it is a trend I hope to see continue.

The simplest way to achieve simplicity is

through thoughtful reduction.”

-John Maeda

A strong influence of this trend in simplicity is mobile application design. As Luke Wroblewski advocates we should design for mobile first.  Designing for mobile first forces you to simplify, given the limited real-estate of mobile screens, naturally leading to better design choices.  A great example that Luke shares of this is the Southwest Airlines homepage vs their mobile interface.

Which user interface is easier to use? Mobile design forces simplicity.

Even Microsoft is jumping on the bandwagon of simplicity. If you are an Apple fan boy, you cannot deny that Microsoft’s Metro UI first introduced with Windows Phone 7 is a compelling masterpiece of user interface design^α. And now Microsoft is bringing The Laws of Simplicity to the user interface of its next version of Windows.

Overall the evolution that is happening to graphical user interfaces is exciting. The feedback loop from mobile design to desktop design gives hope that there is much more innovation to come. The greatest benefit of this will hopefully be a stronger trend in the understanding of the role of simplicity in design beyond the offices at 1 Infinite Loop.

___________________

1. Even John Gruber of Daring Fireball was compelled to praise Microsoft

]]> http://www.getgrok.com/2011/06/the-laws-of-simplicity-go-mainstream/feed/ 0 http://www.getgrok.com/2011/05/the-plague-of-push-button-marketing/ http://www.getgrok.com/2011/05/the-plague-of-push-button-marketing/#respond Tue, 31 May 2011 07:45:26 +0000 http://www.getgrok.com/?p=156

Its really easy to put a Facebook Like button on a website or on print marketing. In fact it has become a de facto standard to put social media icons on everything. But what does this really do for the consumer or the brand?

Can we just make it a given that every major brand is on Twitter and Facebook? If I am truly a brand advocate, I will seek out the brand online and engage with it. All this advertising to push a Like button is lazy marketing. Why should the consumer pick up a single finger to help a brand?  Instead of focusing on creating value for the consumer, we have debased it down to making the consumer do the work of pushing a button. Buttons can be found on direct mail pieces, billboards, and on post-roll, so what are we supposed to do, be so inspired by seeing a non-interactive button in the analog world and run to our computers or phones to “like” a brand on Facebook!?!

The popularity of push button marketing exists because it makes social media and online engagement easy to understand for a brand, because it stops differentiating itself from traditional marketing methods that have been used for decades. It’s easy to measure how many people have liked your brand, and brand can go back to blasting messages to the passive consumer just as they did before with traditional media.

On my wall or in my mailbox what’s the difference?

All we have done is replace direct mail with wall posts. Using social media does not make a company innovative. All the Like button has become is an “Opt-in” button to get social media spam from brands. Using push button marketing is like a Staples easy button for marketing executives. Need a social media strategy? Just put social media buttons on everything you do, now that was easy.

Clearly there are many brands out there who are getting things right when it comes to using emerging media and who know that this isn’t just about push button marketing. Unfortunately for most companies the more things change the more they stay the same, watch the video below and think about how the plague of push button marketing changes the conversation…I don’t think it does.

]]> http://www.getgrok.com/2011/05/the-plague-of-push-button-marketing/feed/ 0 http://www.getgrok.com/2011/05/exit-stage-left-gil-scott-heron/ http://www.getgrok.com/2011/05/exit-stage-left-gil-scott-heron/#respond Sun, 29 May 2011 18:33:03 +0000 http://www.getgrok.com/?p=201

We often underestimate the influence that poetry has had on American culture. With Gil Scott-Heron’s passing it is an opportunity to be cognizant of the influence that poetry has had on the American culture during the later half of the 20th century.

Ginsberg, Kerouac, and the Beat Poets began to blur the lines between poetry and music in the 50’s. The Beat generation set the stage for those to come later including Gil Scott-Heron, the Last Poets, Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel, et al. The cause and effect of poetic and musical influences is an interesting trail to follow.

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will be live.

-Gil Scott-Heron

Much attention is paid to popular artists such as Kanye West, Dr. Dre, or Eminem proclaiming their influence by Gil Scott-Heron. But I find that the “true” contemporaries of Gil Scott-Heron are artists like the Dead Prez, Lupe Fiasco, Michael Franti, et al.^α whose work holds truer to the poetry and sharp commentary on American culture and politics that Gil Scott-Heron provided.

What all these artists have in common is that even without music their words are powerful enough to stand on their own. The six degrees of separation of musical influence between each generation of artist is most poignant from Michael Franti and Rono Tse with the selection of their band name Beatnigs. Within their work you can see the arc of influence from the Beat generation, rap, hip-hop, rock, punk, to industrial music^β. In my opinion it is those artists within any of these genres whose work can be considered poetry that I consider to be true masters of their craft, and maybe even more so for those poets that are conscience of the arc of influences and are adept enough as artists to bend/blend each genre of music.

So as we mourn the loss of a great American poet there will be many tributes to Gil Scott-Heron’s work but I think it’s just as important to think about his legacy in terms of the contemporaries he influenced as a testament to his impact on American culture.  Let’s not forget to pay homage to poetry as a powerful art form that does not get as much main stream attention as it deserves^γ.

Television: The Drug of the Nation
The Beatnigs
(remixed by Adrian Sherwood, Gary Clail, and Mark Stewart)

Hip Hop
Dead Prez
Let’s Get Free

American Terrorist
Lupe Fiasco^δ
Food & Liquor

I thought I would end on a video that brings together Gil Scott-Heron with Chris Cunningham’s haunting industrial/gothic audio and visual remix of New York is Killing Me. This video brings the arc of influence back full circle from beat poets to industrial music and is a fitting bookend to Gil Scott-Heron’s body of work.

___________________

1. Obviously there are many significant artists that I could list, I only listed those that come most strikingly to mind for me personally.

2. The arc of influence I speak of is tied to a personal music history. There are many takes on musical influences in the 20th century and you can check out some examples here, here, and here. I am not intending to be academically accurate, what I am asserting is a personal accuracy to the chain of influences.

3. I left out any discussion around around the Poetry Slam movement. This is as relevant as the music genres I mention.  The very definition of poetry is worth questioning. I highly recommend you buy this book The Spoken Word Revolution.

4. Lupe Fiasco is a good example of an artist who is very conscience of the arc of influences much like Michael Franti, check out Lupe’s work with Japanese Cartoon.

]]> http://www.getgrok.com/2011/05/exit-stage-left-gil-scott-heron/feed/ 0 http://www.getgrok.com/2011/05/business-advise-from-the-matrix/ http://www.getgrok.com/2011/05/business-advise-from-the-matrix/#respond Sat, 28 May 2011 19:14:00 +0000 http://www.getgrok.com/?p=138

There’s a difference between knowing the

path and walking the path.

– Morpheus, The Matrix

This quote always comes to mind when I am faced with a tough business decision. It reminds me not to succumb to analysis paralysis or get bogged down by the emotions of the decision. Until you make the decision you will never truly have knowledge. It is only by walking the path that you can ever gain knowledge.

The 4p’s of marketing, product, price, place, and promotion must be augmented with the new tools and perspectives because consumer paradigms have shifted and we must account for them in the digital age.

• Place – is now about Search Engines and Discoverability
• Promotion – is now about Social Influence and Social Engagement
• Product – is now about the Experience it creates for the consumer
• Price – is about Design; where functionality and utility win over cost

via: Lifeblue

A universal cable fits well in the Apple

design ethos paramount to the elimination

of cables all together”

What I do believe and agree with is the concept of the universal cable–one cable to rule them all. I originally supposed that HDMI^β would be this, but Apple chose Mini DisplayPort. What is clear is that USB was a success in terms of adoption, but its speed frontier^γ and extensibility are not on par with what it will take be become a universal standard.

When you look at the first Macbook Air’s pop out USB port its clear that Apple’s perpetual need to miniaturizate and optimize the design of their products can only benefit from a universal cable. What I struggle with is the fact that USB 3.0 provides a consistent form factor and provides backwards compatibility, so I am all for adding Thunderbolt, but would have appreciated USB 3.0 on the new MacBook Pros and iMacs to hedge our bets on future standards and product availablility.

Apple can be a little schizophrenic when it comes to adopting new technologies.  When it serves their interests early adoption is the way to go (no floppy disk on the original iMac, Thunderbolt) but in other cases Apple lags too far behind the industry (SD Cards, Blu-ray, Intel CPUs). Every technology manufacturer is going to have their hits and misses when it comes to adopting new standards, but I can’t quite get a grasp of the method to Apple’s madness when it come to adoption of these standards. Sure Apple is great at creating new markets but Steve Jobs always seems a little off target when it comes to adopting standards.

___________________

1. Yes I know I am supposed to stream/download on my video online, and I will when it is the same quality (audio/video) as Blu-ray. Steve Jobs has likened Blu-ray to high end audio formats, but they never got retail shelf space that Blu-ray has. Plus its still indeterminate how ISP’s are going to deal with the bandwidth to make all this streaming/downloading possible without it ultimately costing too much to the end user.

2. HDMI 1.4 in theory is on par with Thunderbolt except for the ability to transmit power (this may be a gross oversimplification of the difference)

3. USB transfers data through controllers vs directly with the computer’s internal I/O bus.

He who understands everything about

his subject cannot write it.

I write as much to discover as to explain.”

-Arthur Miller

I have to admit last year I got a bit bi-mobile OS-curious. I was drawn in by the siren call of Android. The quintessential moment came when Apple rejected the Google Voice app . I loved using Google Voice as a key part of my mobile experience. When it became clear that Apple’s rejection of the Google Voice app was going to stick, I felt my first true pain of a closed Apple app approval system.

I felt burned by Apple.  I started acting like a jilted lover and thinking about every shortcoming of the iPhone and how evil a closed system is. I started thinking how constrained I was by Steve Jobs and that is when I became Andriod curious. I was also pulled by the siren call of WiMax, so I took the plunge and got the HTC Evo. And at first it was fun–the amazing integration of Google services was great–but within weeks I started to regret my decision. That regret was only exacerbated by the sting of a two year contract with Sprint.

Here are the issues I faced:

• Horrible battery life
• WiMax was rarely available
• I was constantly managing my phone
• UI inconsistencies were rampant
• It was an OS by easter egg
• GPS never really worked for me (took too long to resolve)
• Removing notifications was a full-time job
• Call quality was subpar
• I had to install a task manager
• HTC-customized UI was atrocious
• I found myself scouring forums trying to figure out how to do certain things
• My iPod-ready car stereo did not work with my phone
• I could go on and on…

So a year into my Android experience, Apple finally approved a Google Voice app, and I had to switch back to the iPhone. A week into using an iPhone I loved using my smart phone again. In fact I loved my iPhone even more because what made it so great was even more glaringly obvious just off of my Android experience. I will admit there are a few things that I miss about my Android.

Here is what I miss about Android:

• The calendar widget on my home screen
• Turn-by-turn navigation
• Having Flash
• Swype Key

What I will say is that it was fun, kinda like a trip to Las Vegas where you feel like you can do anything you want, but you get to go back home and all is forgotten. Oddly the siren song of Android has recently started calling me again with the release of the Android Open Accessory Kit . The potential from this type of hardware development unleashes intriguing possibilities for Android. But I now know not to fall for the siren call. I just wish there was a way to visit the Las Vegas that Andriod is without a two year contract and to be able to return to my safe, clean, and well designed home after a few days of debauchery and excess.

Empowering Consumers with Servers.

It can make servers usable at the consumer level.  Currently using a server is complicated and relegated to the tech savvy.  Just thinking about DNS entries alone makes the idea of a server inaccessible for the average person.  A year ago, I tried to set up a Windows Home Server for everyone in my house and it was an utter failure.  It was way too hard for me to set up and too complicated for any one to understand how to take advantage of any of the upsides.

If a server side app store was to exist a significant number of usability and technical problems would have to be solved, but these are all solvable.  The tools and techniques used to manage and to install software on a server have been designed for and by developers.  If someone was so motivated purchasing and using a server can very easily be converted to a consumer facing process (think what Apple did for smart phones but for servers).  These would be hosted servers that can easily be set up and purchased.  This would set the tone for a broader vision just as a PC in every home was visionary, a server for every household could be a necessary and eventual evolution of that original vision and force the tech world to rethink how it approaches serving consumers.  It’s time to break away from being so desktop and browser focused.

Federated Web Apps for Everyone.

So if servers were easy to purchase and manage by the average consumer, what could they do with it?  Let’s use a specific example. Once I have my server, I would go to the server side app store and install Dropbox on it.  I would then install Dropbox on my desktop computer as well.  Dropbox would update on my server just as I update my apps in any current app store.  Essentially every cloud based app could be provided to consumers in this way which means a move to a federated model for all web apps.  Obviously there are many types of web apps this wouldn’t apply to, but a significant number of the most popular web apps could use this model.  The creates the opportunity for all web apps to be federated and the data stored by these apps becomes free from the control of a central entity.  Which leads to the next potential advantage of a server side app store…

Privacy and Copyright Implications.

In the example of Dropbox it is clear that privacy issues are and will continue to abound in the age of cloud based services.  A significant number of the challenges we face over privacy concerns abate in a world with a server side app store.  I have installed the app on my server and now I house all my data on my own server, and now have full control of my data.  The copyright issues that the creation of services like Amazon and Google’s digital music lockers start to lighten.  Amazon and Google provide the music locker app I install on my server, but they are not responsible for the storage of my music–once I have their app installed on my server, I store the music on my own server.  Extending this, I could install Facebook and Twitter on my server empowering me as the consumer to be in control of my data.

Business Model Implications.

The recent uncertainty over the fate of Delicious left users of the web app in limbo for many weeks.  APIs fortunately made the data portable, but in a world with a server app store with a federated model, if Delicious went under, I could still continue to use the latest version of the app for as long as I wanted, just as we do with desktop software that becomes unsupported or abandoned by the developer.  In the tech startup world we always hear about the problems of scalability, but a distributed model would alleviate these concerns for any start up whose service takes off.

Who will provide the hardware/service of the personal server could also have implications.  Instead of the telco’s and cable companies being wary of the internet eroding their profits they could (or could not) be the service providers of the personal server that will be needed.  Just as every person has a physical address, a personal server could be the digital address of every person. If we figured out a way to deliver physical and electronic mail around the world, it doesn’t seem far fetched to think that we could solve this problem for all digital content.

The point of this isn’t to get tied up in the technical challenges but hopefully to give us a vision of what a server side app store could do for consumers and to provide us with a better technology paradigm upon which to innovate and hopefully escape some of the pitfalls that are becoming glaring in the current paradigm.