Nest

The Nest Thermostat is a learning thermostat that improves over time by observing changes in its surrounding. There are senses built into the thermostat that detect movement, temperature, humidity, and light. Any manual adjustment made to the thermostat is recorded and eventually the thermostat will begin automatically adjusting itself according to the owner's patterns created through their daily routine. It costs $249.

Smart Fabric--What's Not Cool (Jocelyn)

As Kristina pointed out, BMW's design is both innovative and cool; And what happens when a new product is both of those things? The price is through the roof. I could see car makers using this technology as an excuse to inflate the prices of their products, even in cars that don't look as cool as the concept car presented in Geneva.
As much as I would love to drive around in a "Tron car," I can tell you right now that I won't be able to afford it until the technology is old news.

Stroking the seat or dashboard to change the radio station or turn on the wipers might seem like a really cool trick in theory, but put in practice I could see a lot of problems with it. First, because it eliminates the need for buttons, drivers would have to learn all new controls. If you've ever driven a strange car and been confused for a moment when your hand changed the temperature instead of the volume because the controls were different from what you were used to, just imagine how confusing and distracting it would be to have to fiddle with every upholstered surface of the car to find the control you're looking for. And, of course, there won't be any labels to tell you where to touch. That would look weird. Secondly, Kristina pointed out that the smart fabric technology can be just as durable the fabric it is woven into. However, I've never seen anything woven into leather; and even if BMW did manage to weave these plastic wires into the leather seat, can we call it the same quality as traditional leather seats? People who buy luxury cars with leather seats aren't going to be pleased to know that there are bits of plastic under them.
Lastly, I would like to address other uses for this smart fabric. We read an article about how the fabric could be woven into that of a couch or chair and programmed to work like a remote. Well how lazy is our society getting that not only can we not be bothered to use the the buttons on the TV, but now we're too lazy to even look for the remote.

Smart Fabric Introduction

BMW is investigating a new touch-sensitive fabric for use in their upcoming models. The interactive seats and dashboards would be all touch sensitive with controls for air conditioning, the radio, and more. There have been many recent improvements by a research team led by Professor Maksim Skorobogatiy in Montreal, Canada that have made the fabric more marketable. They showed a concept car at the Geneva motor show.

What's Cool about Smart Fabric? -Kristina

The smart fabric looks quite amazing. That is a large draw of any technology now. The sleek screens of nowadays tablets and phones have made touch items the "hip" thing for our generation.

The newest smart fabric technology is able to be cleaned like normal fabric. This is a significant improvement from its previous prototypes. Most retailers realize that people eat, drink, smoke, etc. in their car and they need fabric that can be cleaned without special care and detailing. Instead of using copper wires, they are trying to use conductive plastic that can be sponged clean so the average person could clean it like in current cars.

It is now as durable as any other fabric used for car seats. When woven into a durable fabric, it is just as functional as leather or polyester. It supposedly doesn't feel any different than the fabric with which the technology is interwoven, so there would still be options of feel and look to car seat material.

This fabric has the potential to eliminate buttons on the dashboard. You wouldn’t have to look at the radio or air conditioner buttons and controls which distract drivers. Also, labels can be confusing. In many cars, the label for turning the air flow up looks like a strip of bacon. In the book, "Proust and the Squid," Wolf speaks of “visual feature analysis” and she says it takes a half second after a word appears to actually see it and then another second to comprehend and take action. That second and a half when driving at 70 mph would correlate to approximately one hundred and fifty-four feet. (70 miles per hour = 102.666667 feet per second.) That distance could easily cause a car accident. By eliminating those visual buttons and replacing them with smart fabric that doesn't need to be seen, smart fabric could eliminate a few distractions for drivers and prevent distracted driving accidents.