New guy - Clay Jackson, Amateur Radio N7QNM, here. “Interesting” thread - here are some thoughts:
1 - There Ain’t No Such Thing As a Free Lunch - somone’s gotta pay for the servers and connectivity that we’re all using (including this forum). I’d rather see some sort of “commerical” operation like PurpleAir doing this than some individual or even group doing it “out of the goodness of their heart”. That way, there’s at least a chance that what we’re doing will last longer than one person or group.
2 - Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity or ignorance.
While they may have gotten the “horse before the cart” by not reassuring users/purchasers/data providers FIRST, they have REPEATEDLY said “You won’t have to pay for your data”. So, let’s all follow the Community Guidelines and cut 'em a break.
I moved from a “home brew” PMS5003 setup, to SwitchDoc Labs (until they decided to call the “hobbiest market” quits) to PurpleAir just for the stabilty and longevity; and am really glad they’re here!
I use weewx as a reporting mechanism (Prosser, Washington Current Weather Conditions) - haven’t integrated PurpleAir - that’s tomorrow nite’s project :-).
Looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship