We are being harsh. I apologize for this: As far as the branding goes, people have a hard time trusting online shopping as it is. Childish colors and a monkey does not help.
Cyber-pollution doesn't deserve an apology.
Ask HN: Review my students start-up
11–20 of 24 posts
Re: Ask HN: Review my students start-up
#12I like the simplicity, but the logo needs to be toned down a bit.
I agree, the simplicity is really the strong suit here. I would say this is at least a solid start.
I first tried a search for a semi obscure product called a "grillmate". Got nothing. I then went to the opposite side of the spectrum and searched "hair dryer". Tons of hair dryers and no real way to sort them by any relevant criteria. This makes the service a bit useless in my opinion, but exposes an opportunity at the same time.
Your best bet is to guide people into finding that one product that they just can't quite put their finger on. Walk me through a process that helps me find that one keyboard that I saw at my friend's brother's house last week. If you can do that, then you'll really distinguish yourself as a product search engine.
Re: Ask HN: Review my students start-up
#13[deleted]
Bongobing may not appeal to you, but it is a valid attempt by a student who is attempting to learn. By that standard, they deserve our honest opinion. They obviously need to be pointed in the right direction, and I don't feel that "No." necessarily accomplishes that. I'm surprised so many people have voted this comment up as it does not contribute to a thoughtful discussion.
Re: Ask HN: Review my students start-up
#14[deleted]
Curt negative feedback isn't helpful. Comments -- especially to students and others asking for help in good faith -- should include some morsel of information that can be used to improve.
Re: Ask HN: Review my students start-up
#15I don't know about you, but I find it impossible to read that URL without reading "BoingBoing" instead of "BongoBing."
Re: Ask HN: Review my students start-up
#16I typed in Ferrari Testarossa and I got cologne. I tried Ferrari Testarossa sports car and got a sports slide.
On the other hand it is fast ;<)
Re: Ask HN: Review my students start-up
#17[deleted]
Bongobing may not appeal to you, but it is a valid attempt by a student who is attempting to learn . By that standard, they deserve our honest opinion. They obviously need to be pointed in the right direction, and I don't feel that "No." necessarily accomplishes that. I'm surprised so many people have voted this comment up as it does not contribute to a thoughtful discussion.
[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Review my students start-up
#18Maybe s/he should just focus on one particular market - say computer hardware or video games etc - and excel at bringing in results for that market, best current deals etc. Otherwise it's no different than a froogle.com or something similar and would have difficulty competing.
Re: Ask HN: Review my students start-up
#19As others have said, the presentation -even if you like it - doesn't save it from the fact that it produces no useful results.
I'm not inclined, therefore, to explore why it has a "login" prompt at the top right. One search, zero relevant results, back to Google or Bing or Yahoo or anything else.
My impression is that the presentation seems targeted at 4-year olds, although that may be harsh.
Re: Ask HN: Review my students start-up
#20You have to work on the quality of the search results. I did a simple search for ipod, and laptop and got items related to laptops or ipod's but no results returned the actual product. Also there seems to be no way to organize the search results by price either which might be helpful.