I dont get where this sense of entitlement to all of their services for free comes from. As an emlid mod said above, they had to introduce some sort of revenue source to keep up with all the costs of supporting us. Calling them greedy for trying to stay afloat and being economically sustainable is not fair nor correct.
I agree with that the subscription based cost model is not optimal. You cant compare emlid with Adobe or Autodesk though.
It’s not an entitlement issue at all. It is an issue that this was not what they ever suggested they were working toward. They always said that line work was being worked on. Never once did they mention oh hey, doing linework in the app is a great idea! We might need additional revenue in order to implement it though.
We have no idea how they are doing as a company financially. But we can surmise they arent hurting either. They found the funds from somewhere to release the RSX a brand new product and somehow to release a redone app. So saying they are doing this to “stay afloat” is obnoxious at best.
Look, I acknowledge they are a business and its a business’ goal to make as much money as possible. Goals for consumers are obviously at odds with that.
Make no mistake though, you can make parallels to Adobe and Autodesk. Was it necessary for Adobe to go away from perpetual licenses for their products, which are the default standard in many industries, to a subscription model? Were they needing to do that to stay afloat and be economically sustainable? Obviously not…
Having a subscription model where customers are happy/willing to pay the subscription is EVERY business’ wet dream. Somehow, these businesses got by without subscriptions years ago. But it is quickly becoming accepted because “everyone is doing it”, “they have to make money somehow”, etc…
Look at the auto industry. Literally trying to put a subscription model in place for features that are built into the car! Computer software with “microtransactions”. The farming industry with Deere locking down tractors that farmers pay 100’s of thousands of dollars for. They become literal bricks, unable to be used despite paying for the hardware.
These companies have pulled the rug from underneath from its users. I understand that there’s no way to go back anymore. But that doesnt mean that I cant be upset or disappointed that I thought Emlid as a company was more focused on the user than their bottom line.
When you make a decision to purchase a piece of equipment, software, or service, you factor what you need against what is available in the marketplace and at what cost, and then you make a decision to purchase or not.
The “sense of entitlement” is that you made your purchase decision at some point, and then when there are new feature available, you think that you are entitled to them for what you already paid. That is exactly what you are presenting whether you think so or not.
I’m sure that the work that has gone into the ReachView application over the years is to add value to the hardware that Emlid has developed. The receivers are just as capable when they are running 3rd party software, so Emlid really didn’t need to include anything more than a way to interact with the receiver and it’s settings. But, including an app that does that, but also makes it easy to use the hardware for real work without 3rd party software adds value.
If someone has purchased an Emlid receiver, all of the features and benefits that went into that original value/cost decision are still included and intact. In fact, it is likely that improvements and features have been added after that sale for most all users. To think that all future features that are developed to work with a product going forward should also be free for perpetuity is ridiculous.
If you need more than what ReachView (Now Emlid Flow) offers, there is still 3rd party software, and many users do use some other application with their Emlid receiver. Now, Emlid is venturing into the market of more powerful field software to compete with these other applications. To do that, they have to make a split somewhere, and they have chosen to do it here. If you don’t think the new Survey Features are worthy of the cost, then don’t purchase them. You still have everything that you had before. As they add functionality to the Survey side, at some point maybe your cost/value calculus will change.
But. to think, and say, that Emlid is letting users down because they want to put resources into another market, field survey collection, and they want to earn money from that, is not fair. They have provided many, many improvements to their ecosystem in a very short time and have provided that added value to their user base for free. Their support and response to user’s needs is unparalleled.
All of your Emlid gear will work just as effectively today as it did last week, and probably better.
How is it not entitlement? You feel you have the right to a different pricing model than what their business analysts tell them is the best for their company. I know the perpetual license is desired by many but apps do not work this way. Today’s tech evolution is too fast and there are too many moving parts so continual maintenance is a necessity. I’d hate to see what happens when you buy something like this outright and something in the macro ecosystem changes and you are SOL until they can figure out a backwards compatible patch for you. What you are entitled to is a good product that works and when it doesn’t you are well supported.
More work for no more money? No thank you. Did they ever say that they wouldn’t charge for it or go to a subscription model?
We can’t surmise either way and God forbid they try to make a fair profit. I learned this a while back in procurement of services and I would get bids from several companies just like any responsible person but was guided by our CFO (of all people) that we should be totally happy letting a company earn a good and fair profit.
Part of my responsibilities is tech across the organization, office and field, and I can tell you for sure that the perpetual hasn’t been the default standard for years.
All that said you are understood and are not making a bad point. Just keep in mind this is a first release and I am sure it hasn’t fallen on deaf ears. I can assure you that.
Some of my ideas:
In order to complement the linework an offset function to either side at a given distance with a chainage at (pre-)defined intervals would be great.
Furthermore, it would be nice to be able to project additional points beyond the limits of the (offset) line. (e.g. point, distance, azimuth)
Regards
Buddy
Like it! We run into situations pretty regularly with walls where non-standard offsets are need because of space and wall configuration. You obviously can’t offset to face of wall or footing from behind the wall so you fit them where you can and it’s usually not feasible for someone to do it in the office at that point.
Line stakeout is a very basic feature. Basic features should be included in the free plan in my opinion.
They do have the basic and necessary features in the free version. There is no bait and switch here. If you believe this is a basic feature, then go ahead and use the terrific intercompabitility emlid built into their products and use their hardware with another software that is free and provides the essentials you need. Nothing is stopping you.
It is incomprehensible why there is not a more differentiated pricing model for users who only need linework and none of the other new features. 45$ per month for users who were waiting for years to get linework is just ridiculous. Sorry Emlid, but this does not meet my expectations at all. If I were a professional user and earn money with surveying, ok. But for the many hobbyists among us, who use their gear every few months, this price model is far away from the acceptable.
I think there lies the disconnect.
Most professionals who saw Emlid as a potential major cost-reducing alternative to other solutions won’t bat an eye to the pricing model because it’s orders of magnitude cheaper than the major brands when you consider all the pieces of the puzzle.
For the weekend warriors who were able to get in the GNSS game because the receivers are so inexpensive, then a few hundred dollars a year of subscription seems a lot. In a vacuum, it is. Surrounded by the other options, it isn’t.
And about the pricing model from the big brands in lower cost of living countries, this just illustrates how much their markup can be reduced and how much of it is likely pure profit.
edit
I can see the reason though why the lack of more advanced functions would make people not want to pay for the subscription yet.
Can you provide the names of a couple of apps that are offering line stakeout for free? We’d love to try them.
Stakeout for free? Check this out, for example:
This is a free software, which I developed and offered to all users in this community.
It enables Emlid Receivers to transfer coordinates to Topcon totalstations. This way I am able to use the Topcon Software for line stakeout. Unfortunately I have to perform a resection of the total station every time I want to stake out.
I was hoping for an upgrade of the ReachView app for a long time and expected my totalstation to become obsolet eventually. In this forum, the linework feature was promised many times. But it has always been kept secret, that this feature will be protected by a paywall, which is affordable for professional users only. This is the perfect way to disappoint customers.
I understand Emlid, they want to earn money. The pricing of Emlid products was the reason for its success in the early days. Looks like this is over now.
SurveyMaster is free and connects well with Emlid receivers. It has Stake Line, COGO Tools and much more.
Thank you. I’ve heard the name but don’t know anyone who uses it. I see it has site calibration too…
I`m so glad for you and your post about it. Doing the “English verbal uppercut”. Spot on!
Thank you.
Why are most of the free apps suggested here unavailable from the official stores/repositories and require downloading APKs from websites that pop security warnings in my browsers?
Survey tool is a great tool!.
Sadly just random device will work and connect with a Reach unit and the Android/Ios.
I`ve been down that road so many times now
Emlid built something from nothing, or something from what many of us would trash.
I really hope they succeed. Mainly because they do take inputs from users and they are just like you and me, just a bunch of really nice and smart people trying to make a living in this world.
Just another 2`cent out of my pocket 
#rantover
I’m glad someone else recognized this. They have not gone through the official screening process so who knows what’s really in the app. Probably harmless but I would have to get some good feedback from users to even think about putting it in an enterprise environment.
Literally $0.82/day.
