Still free: Stormpulse freemium explained
Over the last month we’ve received hundreds of responses to the Stormpulse Advanced survey. Many of those responses included comments: everything from suggestions to praise to constructive criticism. Any time someone left an email address, we tried to take the conversation further, to learn just how they used the site in 2008, and what features they like the best (what brings them back). Even in the off-season, the response has been great, and we’re honored that so many people are turning to Stormpulse for their severe weather-tracking needs.
But sprinkled throughout those hundreds of responses were a few comments that made us cringe. The painful part? Each of them thought that ‘free Stormpulse’ would be going away. So first, let me apologize for not communicating more clearly. We should have had a better way of letting all of you know that the site is not going to a pay-only format. All of the features you used to track Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike, and Paloma will be around in 2009, and then some (we have many, many new additions in mind), just as free as ever.
So what’s happening? We’re building what we’re calling Stormpulse Advanced. These will be premium, paid accounts. So we’ve been asking all of you out there what features you’d like to see in a premium account, so we can build the product you want us to build. So far the clear winners are radar loops and animation and historical details on forecasts. Close behind are things like sea surface temperatures, hurricane hunter data, and the ability to save preferences. Not surprisingly, a number of folks are also interested in no advertising (although some folks actually want advertising, as long as it’s tasteful and relevant, which of course it would be).
So if you’re out there and someone tells you that they heard that Stormpulse isn’t going to be free, please do us and them a favor and kindly let them know that we plan to be here for all of you in 2009, just as we were last year.
As always, thanks for your support and feedback.
6 comments so far
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MAP SHOULD BE LOOPED AND NOT CUT OFF MID-PACIFIC
Just wondering if the new features for 2009 will automically update on my current map on my site?
Thanks! Keep up the fantastic work.
> Any time someone left an email address, we tried to take the conversation further, to learn just how they used the site in 2008, and what features they like the best (what brings them back).
No you didn’t, cause I didn’t hear from you. :-)
You’re atop my pile o’ tools for this year, but really, let’s get the storm colors touched up? TD and TS are still too close together.
You guys asked me for suggestions last year, and I emailed you colorcode, but I never heard back…
How can I pay for the paid service of stormpulse? And it would be nice to have this I I phone.
Today, I note that cities are no longer on the map, so checking distances from TD1 to, say Halifax is no longer an option.
Is this the way of the future, or just an aberration?
We had an outage yesterday that caused this. Writing up a blog post to summarize in a few minutes here. Sorry for any confusion. This was not a feature or an indication of any enhancements. :-)