Ask HN: Let's Revive PG's /ideas.html discussion • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Let's Revive PG's /ideas.html discussion

#31

Post by cake » Fri, Jun 18, 2010, 8:50 AM UTC

nudge wrote: post #3

1/3) Auto repair / servicing. The internet has helped consumers in all kinds of markets - retail and travel, perhaps most obviously - compare equivalent goods to ensure they are getting a fair price and good service. I would love for this to be applied to car repair and servicing. I confess that I know next to nothing about cars - I just want my car to run, and when it need repairs or services, I want to know that I'…

Yes auto repair is a big problem for me and for a lot of other people too I guess.

Just last week the garage that took my car misdiagnosed the problem and charged me much more than necessary.

Usually I try to get a grasp of what the problem could be and try to fix it myself if I can. This time I was under pressure to get it fixed quickly so I directly brought it to the garage. Had I tried to identify the problem (which I did later on with a lot of web browsing), I would have fixed the problem under 72h and $20 vs one and a half week, a lot of hassle and $150 at the garage.

I wish there could be a robust platform to help you identify a problem. The forums are often full of people that really don't know what they are talking about but they still come and confuse you.

I'm thinking about a website where you could identify you car's problem with community approved answers (based on their own experience or solid references from the repair manual).

Re: Ask HN: Let's Revive PG's /ideas.html discussion

#32

Post by dagw » Fri, Jun 18, 2010, 8:53 AM UTC

ben1040 wrote: post #26

I would love to see a real estate search site that used what Latitude or Foursquare know about me to suggest houses/apartments. I imagine a search service that tells you things "4 times a week, you check in at restaurants with 1 mile of this apartment" or "Buying this house will shave 8 miles off your commute."

I like it, but don't see the need for the Foursquare stuff (possibly because I don't use or get it). I already know where I work and what restaurants I go to. A site where I can filter on must be within N minutes walk/drive/bike/train ride of these addresses would be great. The trick would be, not to simply measure the distance between two points, but to take into consideration public transport, cycle paths, traffic levels and similar things.

Re: Ask HN: Let's Revive PG's /ideas.html discussion

#33

Post by rokhayakebe » Fri, Jun 18, 2010, 1:57 PM UTC

rguzman wrote: post #28

rokhayakebe wrote: post #21

8) Dating. I have been trying online dating for about 4 weeks now. I am damn near close giving up. The process is too damn painful and it nows seems it is much much much easier at a bar. If anyone wants to take a crack at it, here what I would advise you build: A simple app that asks you your very very basic info (name, picture, age, location, add 20 word description of yourself). Then simply, simply, simply show me…

The fundamental thing to attack when considering dating is how to get enough people to use it and keep enough people using it; not the semantics of the site. I think the basic problem with a site that operates like you suggest is that attractive women tend to not need dating sites. The same is true, probably to a lesser extent, of attractive men.

Roughly 70% of the women I have seen are attractive. 20% quite attractive.

Re: Ask HN: Let's Revive PG's /ideas.html discussion

#34

Post by vrikhter » Fri, Jun 18, 2010, 2:49 PM UTC

rwl wrote: post #11

1) Job and apartment search -- or "matching." I know there are all kinds of places where you can look for a job or an apartment online. But the process sucks . There is a ton of information out there, most of which is irrelevant, and the tools for sifting through it are terrible (I'm looking at you, Craigslist). Even when you find a job or an apartment you want to contact someone about, it's a total crapshoot as to w…

I've actually been thinking about similar things (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1424209). Would love to chat with you about it if you have the chance. vladik at rikhter org

Re: Ask HN: Let's Revive PG's /ideas.html discussion

#35

Post by toumhi » Sat, Jun 19, 2010, 4:32 PM UTC

Apartment search is very clearly a pain. In Amsterdam, people look on 4-5 different crappy websites to find a an apartment to rent. It's incredibly frustrating and time-consuming. I also hate to give a thousand euros (or more) as a fee to an agent just because they list a house. That's a classic example of information asymetry problem. Lowering the bar for homeowners to put an ad online and better matching owners-tenants would work wonders.