Only thing that would make sense to me is that he mounted his TV where the thermostat would be. I could see how a Nest would be useful here because you could use their temperature sensors that you can place anywhere in the house to basically ignore the sensor in the nest unit. If that's not the case I would think he may be spending a bit more on AC and power than necessary.

I got one better: the guy who installed a wireless modem inside a faraday cage inside our mechanical room, seeing as he worked for the telco.