Future of developer mode

[mlseim]

Electric Imp along with the agent server/cloud is still the best iot solution in my opinion. The blink up and then the seamless connection to impcentral and the security is amazing.

I also use the ESP32 but is riddled with difficulty in updating online, and doing all the porting things with a router is “iffy”. I use the ESP32 for only accessing online APIs and controlling non essential devices.

I’ve had the Imp developer account since almost day one. I have several devices I use every day and it has become a part of my life.

So now Twilio has taken over, so to speak, and I’m concerned they will see how many of us “developers” are using our development imps for everyday use. Will they decide to charge us for agent use, or say we can only have a device in development for 90 days?

I want to keep my imps, and I discuss this device with other people who have never heard of it. Like me, they feel imp is superior to the ESP32 in regards to iot connectivity … even though the imp development boards cost more.

Perhaps there are other iot devices I don’t even know of. I realize there are technical issues that arise from the imp that is not really the fault of electric imp (example Bud Red Light). These companies lose track of technology trends mostly pertaining to the use of other services such as sports live scores. Things change or become obsolete.

So I’m just concerned about continuing to buy the imp development boards and ending up having to quit using them.

Now if Twilio decides to make developers pay a yearly fee, I would be ok with it if the price was fair. As long as I could keep everything running as normal.

Are there any imp “old time” legacy designers, like Hugo that can provide inside information on the future of us “old developers”?

Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

[hugo]

There are no plans to charge developers for non-commercial use of the imp platform. We have plenty of paying customers using the platform that make it profitable to run, and Twilio know - as imp did - that the best way to gain developer confidence is to let them try the platform.

Obviously, there is no free lunch in cellular, so if you’re using (eg) an imp006 with cellular then you’ll have to pay Twilio for the SIM and usage.

[mlseim]

Thanks for the reply … it makes me more confident, and hopefully, others who might have cold feet about trying an imp will be more willing to test it out.

[redpoint]

Glad to hear that developers of non-commercial uses won’t be charged. I have a bunch of the April boards which I used to make battery powered temperature sensors that live around my house, garage and greenhouse. I am in the process of building an air monitoring system using a Panasonic particle sensor SN-GCJA5 to monitor the dust levels in my workshop.

[hugo]

Oh nice, wasn’t aware that Panasonic did one with a fan now - the older particulate sensors they did needed airflow from another source. This one is a lot more like the Sensirion (and various chinese brand ones) with a built-in fan.