[1vuio0pswjnm7]

Is the subscription mandatory. What about the minority of users who do have a static IP address. Should all users be given an option to arrange their own static IP address as well as to subscribe to a pre-packaged deal. They might be able to get a better price than $99/yr, or better terms. Whats to lose by having options.

These are honest questions because I have often thought about a similar project where a static IP is required and wondered if and how it could support itself.

[1vuio0pswjnm7]

Another way to think about this is that the service is a static IP for $99/yr and the rest is "free", i.e., optional. Perhaps the majority of users will be attracted by the "free" stuff, but a minority might see a static IPv4 as having many potentially useful advantages for personal computing.^1

This is how I view the internet. I pay for access, and this gives me access to, among other things, the web, and various "free services" offered on the web by so-called "tech" companies.^2 There is no obligation that I have to use them. I can choose what I think is useful and ignore the rest.

1. Previously we have seen the static IPv4 address marketed by ISPs in the US as a "business account". Personal use is not contemplated.

2. But the IP addresses we get from ISPs suck for things like running a smtpd. We need solutions to this problem besides "tech" company middlemen.

[gsreenivas]

We might consider adding support in the future - we're not philosophically against it, but it is more work to develop and support.

[solarkraft]

It's honestly a red flag.

[gsreenivas]

A red flag for what? I would like to understand this better.

[solarkraft]

Company integrity/actually wanting to empower users. This unreasonably forces dependency on the company and bricks the device once support inevitably ends. That's usually a pretty good indication for a user-hostile company.

[gsreenivas]

I'm not sure where you got that the device would be bricked. Can you point me to where you saw this?

All data is accessible on local ports on the LAN, with or without the subscription service.

[ud_0]

I think there is a potential issue with the overall concept and dichotomy between "owning" a device to "own" your data, and using external services that must be rented to make that happen. But it sounds like a fixable marketing/communication issue. To elaborate:

Considering R&D and manufacture, it looks to me like you're offering the box itself at cost or even below. Your obvious competitor is Synology, and they have an extensible storage space concept.

So I agree with you that the meat is probably in the Apps. You're offering an email solution as the killer subscription service using somewhat questionable marketing text. But again, that can be fixed. If you were to say "okay, we're planning on offering a range of subscription apps where the core concept is to provide a public-internet service endpoint and the resulting data gets funneled directly into your home box" then you're much clearer about the value you provide and customers would have an expectation that a) their app still works if the subscription expires (it just doesn't get any new data) and b) what they're paying for in the first place. Throw in an info graph that shows the data flow!

Of course, you might have to contend with open source implementations that offer the same endpoint services as a self-hosted option BUT you could even embrace that and make the protocols open because I suspect that the convenience of your all-in-one services would trump the complexity of self hosting in most cases.

Other services/apps you could offer along the same lines could be: federated social media, video downloading and conversion, video and audio chat, collaboration and office tools, home automation, and of course cloud backup (not the paltry 128GB currently folded into the subscription package, but a separate pay-as-you-go solution with "unlimited" storage).

[solarkraft]

The subscription not being optional ("We don't make the subscription optional at this time", https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28351035), with unspecified consequences of not having one.

One thing I definitely gather from that comment is that E-Mails wouldn't work, which appears to be the main selling point of the device.