Android or Apple? Pick your poison, both have issues and positive things going for them. Neither is likely to dry up and blow away.
As for the new investments made in goTenna, they certainly do help all of goTenna product lines. You seem to perceive some walled off spaces between them. Just ain’t so. Mesh and Pro use the same underlying software, Aspen Grove. They use the same encryption scheme. They provide the same number of hops. The primary differences are the frequencies they use and the increased maximum ERP of 5 W.
It’s worth noting that there are some GTMs posted on the Node Map in Hong Kong, but my guess is that there are many more that aren’t mapped. Considering the circumstances, most probably prefer discretion. AFAIK there is no Chinese money invested in goTenna, but not sure how that would keep people in HK from acquiring and using them. The same applies in the US, where, yes, the government has bought a lot of Pro units. Does that prevent activists here from acquiring and using GTMs effectively? Not at all.
The wall between pro and standard units is the price. They can ask (and get) $499 PER UNIT for the pro. The markets for pro just grow, more and more governments, groups, organisations. Why would they put any effort into selling $100 units to individuals? I hate to say it, but I honestly think that the commercial units were a proof of concept for the big buyers in pro.
The pricing more likely represents the difference in volumes. With Mesh being the consumer unit, its potential sales vastly exceed government sales. The higher price of Pro reflects its substantially lower sales volumes.
One major specific limiting factor here on Pro is the requirements necessary to use it. You need a Part 90 license and authorization to use it on the frequency of interest if you aren’t a gov’t agency of some sort.
The average consumer doesn’t really have a choice between the two. They’re pretty much Mesh customers with the exception of some radio amateurs who might be able to easily gain licensing with the Pro. Those who are able to buy Pro are pretty much stuck talking among themselves because most Pro units are “Official Use Only” that confines itself to to the specific freqs they are authorized to operate on, creating a variety of closed meshes accessible only to other licensed users on those specific freqs.
In contrast, the GTM lets users operate their units anywhere that others use the GTM, as all the GTM units operate on the same set of authorized common freqs. Vast difference in the enduser experience as well as a commonality that simply doesn’t exist under Pro.
So, if you’ve got an argument here, I’d like to hear it.
If you honestly believe that then you are living in denial. What percentage of your interaction circle have you persuaded to go to Gotenna? 1 person? 2? 5? Out of everyone you know? Compare that to how many army units? How many air force? Police departments? Sherrifs? Marshalls? Coast guard, navy, air force, seal, swat? Then the larger private companies. Tesla? The market for pro units is simply mind boggling. These units are a fraction of the price of the alternatives, easy to use. In a few years, unless the company really screws up, there won’t be a government department that doesn’t have these. And that’s not the American government, that’s ANY government.
Well, you can make that same argument about whatever cellphone you’re using right now. They’re government certified tracking devices. Why would anyone own one? For your argument, it’s even scarier…Practically everyone has one…Aiiieeeeee!!!
If you aren’t prepared to take responsibility for your own security, then, well you’re not too serious here. Everything in this day and age has pitfalls. You’re panicking about this but you’re more than likely carrying and using a device that tracks your most intimate life details. All while ignoring the substantially greater control of privacy a goTenna Mesh provides when it’s available as an alternative means of communication.
Only you can decide if it’s for you, but lots of people from all walks of life have found the GTM to be a reliable if sometimes quirky partner. They sometimes think it’s on the internet or the cell network and it’s not…and it’s power is now available at reasonable cost to anyone who wants to buy it. Not perfect, but pretty darn good at keeping things private while giving the user a range of choices.
But all a goTenna Mesh is is a valuable supplement to something you undoubtedly already use. The various folks you’re worrying over also use pens. Should anyone be upset by someone getting an order of pens from Camp Swampy?? Because the military use many things we also use in ordinary life. People make this stuff because we all need it. Not something I get indignant over.
Mike I am not saying I am worried about government, I am saying that the company Gotenna stands to make more money from them than they do from private individuals. Please don’t try to paint me as a paranoid nutjob, you either misunderstand the argument or are purposely trying to shift it. You say the civilian market for Gotenna is larger than the market for pro, so why has there been no push for sales? I don’t know about over there, but o e here there are no resale partners, no adverts, no push for sales, hell I couldn’t even buy merchandise if I wanted to. Not the signs of a company trying to grow.
This is too long to read, but there is only one interpretation of the phrase “free shipping” in the context of internet shopping, and I’m 100% with Zasta on this one…
