[HN Gopher] Earth Online: non-stop satellite monitoring platform
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Earth Online: non-stop satellite monitoring platform
Author : feydaykyn
Score : 44 points
Date : 2024-04-19 06:38 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (nimbo.earth)
(TXT) w3m dump (nimbo.earth)
| dvdplm wrote:
| Why is this provided for free?
| koutsie wrote:
| Probably attracting business customers. Kinda like Tailscale.
| Onawa wrote:
| Advertising and free samples, in short. From their
| explanations:
|
| Nimbo features and satellite layers open for everyone
|
| We have indeed chosen to let everyone explore our whole dataset
| of satellite images for free, so that more people, even not
| specialized in the field, can give a go at navigating
| geospatial imagery.
|
| That is why all our features are entirely available for all
| geography enthusiasts to enjoy : split view, swipe and our
| amazing timelapse animation tool. Also free are our four
| satellite layers, namely natural colors, infrared, NDVI
| (vegetation health) and radar. A fifth layer, displaying our
| LAI index, can be accessed under a paid plan.
|
| Free satellite views, but not unlimited
|
| So subscription to, and use of Nimbo Earth Online is entirely
| free. Free, but not unlimited. This means that any user will
| get an amount of browsing credits per month - we call them
| geocredits - to navigate our maps as they please. Once these
| credits run out, all services will stop until they
| automatically refill at the start of the following month. So,
| kind of like a mobile phone plan, but at no charge.
|
| But don't worry, Nimbo's free geocredit allocation is amply
| sufficient to enjoy Earth exploration as you please. And should
| you need more, just get in touch with us to learn more about
| our paid plans !
| throwaway888abc wrote:
| Paywall ? (As one word)
| jcrawfordor wrote:
| At the lower end of the market, the main competition (Google,
| Bing, Apple) are totally free. The emphasis on QGIS support
| suggests that they're hoping to capture "prosumer" and smaller
| business applications that would get value out of a more
| professional toolset but aren't in a position to get into the
| ESRI pricing tier. If you can get people to do their basic
| looking around in your product for free, you have a way better
| chance of making some money off of them when they want a more
| specialized product from time to time.
|
| I'm in that sort of position, I have research projects that
| I've even paid for custom satellite tasking for (not as
| expensive as you would think these days!), but I don't have the
| budget for a costly subscription. It's only in recent years
| that there are services that appeal to these lower-dollar user
| types though. The free for the basics, fee for analytics and
| tasking model is pretty common for newer remote sensing
| companies and I think the trend will continue.
| wolverine876 wrote:
| It's interesting that this common decision, both for business
| and 'mission' purposes (often people also love what they do,
| the community around it, etc.), is mysterious.
| matt3210 wrote:
| This is a good business model. I can see the product for free and
| if I have a use for more than personal level of access I can buy.
| exploringBytes wrote:
| Many applications educating us about human's influence on earth
| and climate change can be realized with this tool. I'm wondering
| if and how this service could also be used to quicker stop
| conflicts and bring peace to the world. Any ideas?
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(page generated 2024-04-20 23:00 UTC)