But the guy was fluffing off the concerns of potential customers. I'm sure the percentage asking for the stupid/inane shit he mentioned were super low. Versus the many more who just want some slightly more than basic THERMOSTAT features, such as myself.

Personally, yes, it would be great to allow automation systems to tie into the thermostat, but that's not a stumbling block for me,so it isn't something I mentioned in my list. It's only mentioned in that blog post, out of context by its author, instead of addressing the real concerns of current home HVAC.

So Tom, you're absolutely right, but so am I. We're almost a year on with this product, so maybe they'll have new hardware around the corner. The scary thing is that some features, such as fan scheduling or randomizing (co-called "circulation mode" by some brands) can be accomplished as a software feature on the existing platform.

The Nest seems like it's intended to be retrofitted into an older house to replace a thermostat that's 20 or more years old. At least that's how their marketing comes off to me.

My house is far from state of the art in terms of HVAC, and Nest still can't say it's current with the technology I have. There are thousands of homes in my small town alone with the same technologies.