Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#41

Post by gwbas1c » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 2:27 PM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #9

I would pay for a service that gives me constant 6% return on my money. Since all financial advisors tell me that the stock market returns are muh higher they should be all over this and make a lot of money.

Economics isn't that magic. Everyone has to share some of the risk!

Services like this exist, but you is really need to do your own research. Your research is required in order to help keep scams out of the system.

The major investment firms, like fidelity, Ameritrade, T Rowe Price, Etc, can probably recommend conservative investment vehicles for you that get pretty close to your goal. It just takes a phone call or a chat session.

Then there are more modern investment sites where you just tell them your risk profile and they choose the Investments for you.

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#42

Post by greaseball » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 2:29 PM UTC

jlgosse wrote: post #28

greaseball wrote: post #10

I'd love to see a SAAS product for watching sports. Similar to Netflix in terms of UI and pricing, but also with the support for live content. I know this probably won't happen any time soon since major US telecom providers have exclusive broadcasting rights to major sports games.

DAZN is making moves in Canada + a handful of other locations

This looks promising. Although, it seems they only offer NFL, soccer, and tennis coverage currently. Hopefully some day they'll add NHL and NBA games as well.

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#43

Post by gwbas1c » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 2:38 PM UTC

A better way to hire software engineers, or to find a software engineering job.

The problem, when I'm hiring, is that so much of the interviewing process is about determining competence. When I'm job-seeking, a lot of my time is spent determining the competence of the people in charge of the company.

In the medical field, doctors and hospitals are accredited. Thus the interviewing process isn't really about a doctor proving his or her competency, nor does a doctor have to worry about the hospital going bankrupt three years after taking the job.

We really need a professional licensing process for software engineers and the firms that hire us. Even though the tools we use change from year to year, the fundamentals of software development change about as fast as the medical field.

I haven't really come across any hiring firm or headhunter who is really good at determining the competency of a software engineer or the legitimacy of a business trying to hire. It doesn't matter who they are, they always boil down to middle men trying to sell whatever goods they have on hand while making a honest attempt to manage their reputation. They need the licensing process as much as we do because they just don't have the background to determine competence.

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#44

Post by exDM69 » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 3:15 PM UTC

nickjj wrote: post #16

exDM69 wrote: post #5

A phone that will last for 10+ years. Easy change of battery, glass, display, connectors, etc without specialist tools. Doesn't matter if it's a bit bigger than a nice form factor phone, I'm just sick and tired of phones dying on me and not being able to service them.

If you're cool with only using your phone as a phone + texting device you can get 5+ years out of current day non-smartphones and it only costs like $30 to fully replace it, so there's no need to swap individual components. My current phone's battery goes 3-4 days before I need to charge it, cost around $30 and it's currently been in use for 3 years with no signs of getting worse or breaking.

I'm not. I do need a browser and maps.

I've been considering moving to a dumb phone, but I do need some basic features.

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#45

Post by adrianN » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 3:20 PM UTC

Klathmon wrote: post #20

exDM69 wrote: post #5

A phone that will last for 10+ years. Easy change of battery, glass, display, connectors, etc without specialist tools. Doesn't matter if it's a bit bigger than a nice form factor phone, I'm just sick and tired of phones dying on me and not being able to service them.

I'm convinced this is basically impossible currently. Promising software updates alone for 10+ years is going to be a difficult sell, even if you really intend to. And it's going to cost a significant amount of money. And 10 years is a LONG time. 10 years ago android didn't exist, iOS had JUST come out, basically every "smartphone" out there was called a "PDA" and used windows mobile with a stylus. Even getting conne…

My current laptop is nine years old. Phones are just smaller laptops without a keyboard. I don't think there a fundamental engineering problems that need to be solved before a smartphone could last as long as a laptop.

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#46

Post by exDM69 » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 3:21 PM UTC

Klathmon wrote: post #20

exDM69 wrote: post #5

A phone that will last for 10+ years. Easy change of battery, glass, display, connectors, etc without specialist tools. Doesn't matter if it's a bit bigger than a nice form factor phone, I'm just sick and tired of phones dying on me and not being able to service them.

I'm convinced this is basically impossible currently. Promising software updates alone for 10+ years is going to be a difficult sell, even if you really intend to. And it's going to cost a significant amount of money. And 10 years is a LONG time. 10 years ago android didn't exist, iOS had JUST come out, basically every "smartphone" out there was called a "PDA" and used windows mobile with a stylus. Even getting conne…

Smartphones stopped being status symbols years ago and the development of phones has stagnated. I could not tell the difference between my old and my current phone apart from battery life.

Looking back 10 years doesn't make sense because development was rapid then. But look back 5 years and there isn't a huge difference. A phone from 5 years ago would be fine in 5 more years.

Software updates and hardware serviceability are the bottle necks in phone longevity. The challenge is economical, cultural and political, not technical.

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#47

Post by adrianN » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 3:23 PM UTC

gwbas1c wrote: post #39

sioux77 wrote: post #3

I live in apartment complex. I’d like to buy my own washer and dryer and be able to rent out a place with water/dryer hookups and pay a monthly and usage fees as to not use the gross common laundry machines. To my knowledge no such service exists.

When I lived in an apartment without laundry services, I found it was cheaper to just pay a laundry service for pickup and drop-off at my front door. I paid about $50 a month, when an in unit washer dryer would cost a lot more. I also looked into a washer dryer unit that I could plug into my sink. They are really common in Europe but not in the United States. The problem is that American voltage is too low to run a d…

I don't understand how $50 a month can be cheaper than having your own machine. A machine should pay for itself in less than a year.

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#48

Post by RhodesianHunter » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 3:26 PM UTC

gwbas1c wrote: post #39

sioux77 wrote: post #3

I live in apartment complex. I’d like to buy my own washer and dryer and be able to rent out a place with water/dryer hookups and pay a monthly and usage fees as to not use the gross common laundry machines. To my knowledge no such service exists.

When I lived in an apartment without laundry services, I found it was cheaper to just pay a laundry service for pickup and drop-off at my front door. I paid about $50 a month, when an in unit washer dryer would cost a lot more. I also looked into a washer dryer unit that I could plug into my sink. They are really common in Europe but not in the United States. The problem is that American voltage is too low to run a d…

It's not just the voltage / amperage. Even if you buy a really expensive over-under that plugs into a 220 the lack of an output vent slows down drying dramatically.

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#49

Post by Klathmon » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 3:26 PM UTC

adrianN wrote: post #45

Klathmon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm convinced this is basically impossible currently. Promising software updates alone for 10+ years is going to be a difficult sell, even if you really intend to. And it's going to cost a significant amount of money. And 10 years is a LONG time. 10 years ago android didn't exist, iOS had JUST come out, basically every "smartphone" out there was called a "PDA" and used windows mobile with a stylus. Even getting conne…

My current laptop is nine years old. Phones are just smaller laptops without a keyboard. I don't think there a fundamental engineering problems that need to be solved before a smartphone could last as long as a laptop.

I wouldn't call it a "fundamental engineering problem", but over the past 10 years there have been some pretty insane strides in power consumption, size, screen technology, and software that have made what we consider today to be the "smartphone" possible.

The change in laptops hasn't gone a fraction as far as it has in cell phones in the past decade. That might stop soon, but until it does getting a phone to last 10 years is a pipe dream, unless you are okay with a severely out of date device, which again, I don't think that 99% of the public will be.

And without customers, a company won't be able to support a phone for that long, so you'd end up with a slow, expensive, dated looking, insecure device.

Re: Ask HN: What product/service would you be willing to pay for?

#50

Post by Klathmon » Wed, Dec 27, 2017, 3:29 PM UTC

exDM69 wrote: post #46

Klathmon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm convinced this is basically impossible currently. Promising software updates alone for 10+ years is going to be a difficult sell, even if you really intend to. And it's going to cost a significant amount of money. And 10 years is a LONG time. 10 years ago android didn't exist, iOS had JUST come out, basically every "smartphone" out there was called a "PDA" and used windows mobile with a stylus. Even getting conne…

Smartphones stopped being status symbols years ago and the development of phones has stagnated. I could not tell the difference between my old and my current phone apart from battery life. Looking back 10 years doesn't make sense because development was rapid then. But look back 5 years and there isn't a huge difference. A phone from 5 years ago would be fine in 5 more years. Software updates and hardware serviceabil…

While i disagree that phones aren't status symbols any more (they absolutely are!), I agree with

>The challenge is economical, cultural and political, not technical.

While there are some technical hurdles to overcome to make a phone that lasts 10 years, they aren't that big comparatively. The real problem comes when you need to support software for a decade, getting people to buy a phone that's more expensive, larger, and slower than the competitors, selling enough to make the whole thing economically feasible, and getting people to be okay with a dated looking device.

I just don't see that being possible right now, especially while phones are still getting higher resolution, more capability, larger batteries, and smaller form factors. Maybe when phones hit the same plateau that laptops did a few years ago it will be possible, but I would not want to be part of a company attempting it right now.