While I admit I know more about technology than business, I believe that the decision by Particle to discontinue the Xenons (and mesh) will end up being a fatal business mistake.
IoT is a very crowded field with many competitors. A lot of companies are making micros with modems and WiFi. In my view, what differentiated Particle was that they had an “eco system”. By an eco system, I mean an integrated set of hardware components that collect data from sensors AND sends it to the cloud.
I am not saying that Xenons were perfect. I have highlighted in the forum the continued problems I am having (until the present time and with the latest firmwaware) regarding the instability of the Xenons with fast updating UART sensors. However, on Xenons, i2c works and works well.
I have been running 2 outdoor systems with Borons and 3 Xenons each now for over a year (24/7) and it has been working well. With the discontinuation of the Xenons, I am just not sure of any compelling reason to continue using Particle products.
A company is never about its technology, it is its attitude that makes it successful. Good tech is an outcome of a good team/company.
I do not desire Particle’s downfall but I can see the writing is on the wall. My contacts with their sales dept were disastrous. Additionally, I have not had a good impression from some of their tech folks who (IMHO) operate like cowboys. The CEO’s immature attitude towards his customers speaks volumes how the company operates internally (You don’t give customers who create commercial product store credit. You don’t promise improvement by fixing internal procedures that should have been correct in the first place).
Sadly, some Elite members on this forum (we all know them!) are very helpful and genuine in their approach - I hope they won’t be taken down also.
My interactions with Particle’s sales and their technical staff have been positive but I do agree with the rest of your post especially regarding the Elite members (@ScruffR, @peekay123 and others) who have both helped me and taught me a lot.
I think Particle will be around for awhile, just another round of growing pains. I will tell you that I think the mesh was doomed from the start, the pricing model was not going to work for anyone trying to build a cost-effective business model. Borons are great though, I’ll be buying lots more of them in the near future
