I don't mind the repost. It's doing good work. It's good to be reminded of it, and it's a slightly different thing each time. I'll buy it when it's ready for prime time.
The founder reads this.
Founder: What's held me back from buying this is a lack of github links and instructions. EVERY place you say "open source" should link to the repo. The repo should have CLEAR instructions for how to hack this.
There's a lot of copy like "We provide detailed instructions and videos" but NO hyperlink to said detailed instructions or videos. Any place you mention specs should link to ACTUAL specs. What's your BOM? What microcontroller are you using? Do I rewrite the firmware in Python? Rust? MakeCode? Etc.
Those are the tires I want to kick. If my child can program this in MakeCode and it's designed for tinkering, it's a no-brainer. If it's on github, and easy to set up to work from my desktop, it's reasonable. If it involves setting up docker containers and proprietary environments for hacking C code, it's not as obvious a buy. If I can't figure out how to get started in 30 seconds, I assume it's the last one. I have a lot of projects around the house I wish I'd done, and I'm not buying more until a few of those finish.
Also, I will never pay for your service. The whole point of open everything is I control my data.
The other piece I'd like is a dirt-cheap set of temperature / humidity tools. I bought an 8-channel weather station, so I can monitor temperature indoors and in each room. I'd love to switch to something more open.
Again, a lot of this comes down to how easy it is to get started. If I can make dashboards in 5 minutes with numpy / plotly / pylab / etc., I'm delighted. If I can't, but it's not bad, I'm grumpier. etc.
So in conclusion, I'd do user studies and think-aloud protocols with customers.
The supplier answers all your questions on their website (and as you can see, the founder is taking your suggestions)
Also, their software is just as hackable as you seem to want. I was able to create my own dashboard in a very short time using numpy and plotly. I query my archive using duckdb.
The founder reads this.
Founder: What's held me back from buying this is a lack of github links and instructions. EVERY place you say "open source" should link to the repo. The repo should have CLEAR instructions for how to hack this.
There's a lot of copy like "We provide detailed instructions and videos" but NO hyperlink to said detailed instructions or videos. Any place you mention specs should link to ACTUAL specs. What's your BOM? What microcontroller are you using? Do I rewrite the firmware in Python? Rust? MakeCode? Etc.
Those are the tires I want to kick. If my child can program this in MakeCode and it's designed for tinkering, it's a no-brainer. If it's on github, and easy to set up to work from my desktop, it's reasonable. If it involves setting up docker containers and proprietary environments for hacking C code, it's not as obvious a buy. If I can't figure out how to get started in 30 seconds, I assume it's the last one. I have a lot of projects around the house I wish I'd done, and I'm not buying more until a few of those finish.
Also, I will never pay for your service. The whole point of open everything is I control my data.
The other piece I'd like is a dirt-cheap set of temperature / humidity tools. I bought an 8-channel weather station, so I can monitor temperature indoors and in each room. I'd love to switch to something more open.
Again, a lot of this comes down to how easy it is to get started. If I can make dashboards in 5 minutes with numpy / plotly / pylab / etc., I'm delighted. If I can't, but it's not bad, I'm grumpier. etc.
So in conclusion, I'd do user studies and think-aloud protocols with customers.