iPod Fathers Launch the Nest Learning Thermostat

Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, two of the guys who led the teams that created the iPod and iPhone, have unveiled the Nest Learning Thermostat, a $249 piece of equipment that hopes not only to take some stress off, but also to reduce your energy consumption.

Fadell and Rogers are no longer on Apple’s payroll, but they’re regarded as the fathers of the iPod. Rogers was responsible for iPod software development at Apple, from concept to production.

Fadell, who left Apple in March last year, led the team that created the first 18 generations of the iPod and the first three generations of the iPhone.

The duo’s startup, Nest, has announced a product that hopes to revolutionize temperature adjustment in homes.

As the video embedded below shows, Nest learns from the user’s temperature adjustments, programs itself to keep the family comfortable, and shows a cutesy little green leaf to indicate that you’re saving energy.

The thermostat can be controlled not only manually, but also remotely from anywhere you are using a smartphone, tablet or laptop. “Nest never stops learning, even as your life and the seasons change,” says the firm.

According to a piece by Mercury News covering the product, about one-third of annual U.S. residential electrical consumption is used for heating.

86 percent of residential fuel oil is used for the same purpose, the report said, citing the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 21 percent of residential electricity use is destined for cooling homes.

Erik Charlton, Nest's chief of sales and marketing, believes their new product can help reduce America’s energy consumption by quite a margin.

"If you could have one of these in every living room in America, you could save the U.S. 3 percent of its energy consumption, and that would be a profound impact," said Charlton.

If this little gizmo alone can do so much, imagine how much America (and the rest of the world for that matter) would reduce its carbon footprint, if every company started developing their household appliances with energy saving in mind.

Nest's founders said no one had done anything revolutionary to improve thermostats for decades, despite having programmable ones since the ‘70s.