Author Topic: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?  (Read 1099 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline ryanerb

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 13
  • Pismo Beach, California
    • ShellBeachWebcam
Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« on: May 12, 2022, 06:22:58 PM »
I know on Sailflow.com there are certain stations that users must pay for access.

My question is, do the actual station owners ever get paid?

I know it seems lots of stations these days are made publicly available free, but I was wondering if anyone is actually paid for their station data....
See my large deployment of WEBCAMS at http://www.805webcams.com

Offline vreihen

  • El Niņo chaser
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1216
  • K2BIG
Re: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2022, 07:27:15 PM »
The owners of sailflow.com (WeatherFlow) made a commitment back when their Tempest stations first came out to pay station owners a $15/year "data dividend" for operating their station.  I have heard nothing since, and most certainly did not receive any checks.....
WU Gold Stars for everyone! :lol:

Offline ryanerb

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 13
  • Pismo Beach, California
    • ShellBeachWebcam
Re: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2022, 07:30:02 PM »
The owners of sailflow.com (WeatherFlow) made a commitment back when their Tempest stations first came out to pay station owners a $15/year "data dividend" for operating their station.  I have heard nothing since, and most certainly did not receive any checks.....

Wow, 15 a year is NOTHING.
And to think they are charging 4 to 15 dollars a month to their thousands of users?
They are raking in all the dough and the station providers get pennies...
Interesting...
See my large deployment of WEBCAMS at http://www.805webcams.com

Offline vreihen

  • El Niņo chaser
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1216
  • K2BIG
Re: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2022, 07:30:15 PM »
Also, the stations that they want money to access are probably WeatherFlow's bread and butter professional coastal observation stations, that are only available with a commercial license from them.....
WU Gold Stars for everyone! :lol:

Offline vreihen

  • El Niņo chaser
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1216
  • K2BIG
Re: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2022, 07:34:50 PM »
Actually, that $15/year price is groundbreaking, since it was the first time that a dollar figure was put on the value of PWS weather observations.

If WU paid their reported 250,000+ users that same $15, it would cost IBM only $3.75 million per year.....
WU Gold Stars for everyone! :lol:

Offline ryanerb

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 13
  • Pismo Beach, California
    • ShellBeachWebcam
Re: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2022, 07:37:39 PM »
Actually, that $15/year price is groundbreaking, since it was the first time that a dollar figure was put on the value of PWS weather observations.

If WU paid their reported 250,000+ users that same $15, it would cost IBM only $3.75 million per year.....

Yeah, pretty wild when you do all the calculations.
So lets say IBM paid out 3.75mill a year.
How much do they 'bring in' on WU?
WU basically gives all it's data away from free, so maybe there is just advertising revenue they earn?
Or IBM just fronts the server bills and takes no revenue and just hosts WU for the good of mankind?
See my large deployment of WEBCAMS at http://www.805webcams.com

Offline broadstairs

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 853
Re: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2022, 04:57:39 AM »
I just took a look at Sailflow.com and it shows a couple of station near me which it grabs the data for from WU. I alway know WU was not a good place to send my data as it gets used everywhere by everyone without direct attribution unless you go via WU!

Stuart
Ecowitt GW1003 with ultrasonic wind gauge, lightning sensor and PM2.5 sensor with Personal Weather Tablet as a console.

Offline vreihen

  • El Niņo chaser
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1216
  • K2BIG
Re: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2022, 11:25:19 AM »
Or IBM just fronts the server bills and takes no revenue and just hosts WU for the good of mankind?

Don't kid yourself.  I'm pretty sure that IBM only bought WU and other companies specifically to feed their observations into Watson (AI), to build their own proprietary weather models for resale to insurance folks and anyone else with deep pockets.....
WU Gold Stars for everyone! :lol:

Offline ryanerb

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 13
  • Pismo Beach, California
    • ShellBeachWebcam
Re: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2022, 12:06:40 PM »
I just took a look at Sailflow.com and it shows a couple of station near me which it grabs the data for from WU. I alway know WU was not a good place to send my data as it gets used everywhere by everyone without direct attribution unless you go via WU!

Stuart

I host a lot of webcams, and it's amazing how many sites somehow 'get ahold of your data'....
They pass it around like crazy.
See my large deployment of WEBCAMS at http://www.805webcams.com

Offline ryanerb

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 13
  • Pismo Beach, California
    • ShellBeachWebcam
Re: Does SailFlow Pay Station Providers?
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2022, 12:08:04 PM »
Or IBM just fronts the server bills and takes no revenue and just hosts WU for the good of mankind?

Don't kid yourself.  I'm pretty sure that IBM only bought WU and other companies specifically to feed their observations into Watson (AI), to build their own proprietary weather models for resale to insurance folks and anyone else with deep pockets.....

There's always a business model somewhere.... and chasing guys with deep pockets is a good one!! Most consumers won't always pay the big bucks for weather data...
See my large deployment of WEBCAMS at http://www.805webcams.com