The IThermostat

The New York Times as an article about how managers at Apple who worked on the IPod and the IPhone are now at a start-up company working on the iThermostat. Their premise is that they can use digital technology and concepts of machine learning to help people control the temperature of their homes more precisely, saving money and reducing pollution. The thermostat costs $249, which is twice the price of other thermostats, but they claim that it will pay for itself in one year. One of the founders said that at Apple, "we were building toys," but at the new company they were building "a product that could have a huge impact on a big problem.” The big question is whether Americans will pay as much for a thermostat as they will for their digital toys.