I have been considering the Emporia products as well for a few weeks and have been googling to find a way to do data collection locally.
After reading this thread I have to jump in and agree with the other posters that local data options would really really help sell your product, especially since you have said your only source of direct income is from the sale of the product, and that you don’t sell data.
So I have to question. How much can you possibly make off a kit that’s only $110CDN to buy? How much is each customer projected to cost you per year? How many years will you be able to continue to support and keep the product alive? If I buy one, and go through the hassle of having it installed, will you guarantee i get 10 years from it?
I think you’re really underestimating the number of units that could be sold without having to support monthly server/support costs.
If ongoing customer support costs are a concern with DIY people, Why not consider a one-way firmware upgrade to Open Source firmware that removes the device from your cloud and have it be officially unsupported? Heck, you could probably crowd fund the development costs. Your product looks fantastic and professional, I’d happily donate $10-20 to a crowdsourced development goal.
But sadly, now I’ll be purchasing a different device. So put me in the column of lost customers.
