Like the Motorola deal, which marked Google's first major foray into hardware, the Nest acquisition gives Google a stepping stone into an important new market at a time when consumer appliances and Internet services are increasingly merging.
It began as a startup organized by three of the leading innovators at MIT nearly a century ago with the goal of making radio a household appliance, at a time when radio was genuinely revolutionary.
Hopefully we're entering a time when televisions are more off a home appliance rather than a dedicated video device.
The new executive, Ralph F. Hake, 52, comes to Maytag, based in Newton, Iowa, at a time when the company, the maker of Jenn-Air, Magic Chef and Admiral appliances, is under pressure from the slowing economy and stiff price competition.
He will take over at a time when Sears hopes to exploit the departure of the Circuit City chain from the home appliance business.
Finally, core competency was an issue: the company's most innovative appliance-design work is done in the United States, and at a time when speed to market is everything, separating design and development from manufacturing no longer made sense.
Lee has struggled though overwhelming medical and legal battles at a time when Samsung Electronics has grown from a manufacturer of relatively unsophisticated consumer items, including household appliances, to the world's biggest manufacturer of smartphones.
At a time when ads are hard to come by, the advertisers in Everyday Food include the obvious (Kmart, Martha Stewart Living), but recent issues also have had Miele and Bosch, the appliance manufacturers, and winemakers like Napa Ridge and Turning Leaf.
The works in the final section recall memories of a simpler time, when cars and home appliances lacked modern conveniences, and when it was a treat just to go and "visit" with family and friends.
That was when appliance production finally rose.
