Makes sense to do it when you can hack together a quick prototype that will teach you more about the problem and will be fun. We needed a sensor data capture p

Makes sense to do it when you can hack together a quick prototype that will teach you more about the problem and will be fun. We needed a sensor data capture platform at work. There were a lot of odd requirements, like consuming data from embedded hardware, severe bandwidth restrictions, and high-precision (GPS) timekeeping. We hacked something together in python + flask in 2 weeks, and it was easy to experiment on the analysis side by just writing another flask route and generating some html with plot.ly and leaflet. We're also evaluating thingsboard and the elastic stack, but setting those up, experimenting, and extending them was slower, less fun, and harder to debug. At some point we'll do a shootout between all the platforms and pick the winner if this is something that gains significant users, in which case the community and active support of the platforms will be a big advantage.