wonderful
Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
11–20 of 245 posts
Re: Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
#12I think it's a really cool idea but you have a network effect issue. I would expect it to be hard to get enough of my friends on it for it to be useful. Integrations with existing message apps and environments would be ideal, though I'm not exactly sure how that would look.
Building such a thing as a Matrix client might be an interesting concept.
Interesting idea tho.
Re: Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
#13Thanks for working on this. It reminds me of a social app called Slowly ( https://slowly.app/en/ ) where you write "letters" to people and they are delivered based on the approximate physical distance between them. It's common for letters across countries to take >12 or sometimes even >24 hours. It's led people to a lot of meaningful relationships/friendships, they publish some as stories: https://slowly.app/en/story…
I discovered Slowly just over a month ago. Really surprised about the lack of spam and the interactions I've had.
Re: Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
#14I think it's a really cool idea but you have a network effect issue. I would expect it to be hard to get enough of my friends on it for it to be useful. Integrations with existing message apps and environments would be ideal, though I'm not exactly sure how that would look.
Hey thanks a lot. Network effects will definitely be the #1 challenge. I considered integrations—I first tried Pony as an email service, actually. I wanted it to be as accessible as possible. This led to a lot of problems, specifically you get this asymmetry and confusion of some people being on Pony and others being in instant real-time. All of our existing platforms come with norms and expectations, and using a non…
Wouldn't that be solvable by assigning a Pony-managed reply-to address? That way Pony can still manage how it sends back the replies to you.
I really like email as a comms platform and think that it could greatly benefit Pony.
Re: Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
#15You've reinvented UUCP
Earlier in the week we had discussions on how various social networks were just replacements for finger, so maybe he's on to something.
Re: Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
#16I think it's a really cool idea but you have a network effect issue. I would expect it to be hard to get enough of my friends on it for it to be useful. Integrations with existing message apps and environments would be ideal, though I'm not exactly sure how that would look.
Hey thanks a lot. Network effects will definitely be the #1 challenge. I considered integrations—I first tried Pony as an email service, actually. I wanted it to be as accessible as possible. This led to a lot of problems, specifically you get this asymmetry and confusion of some people being on Pony and others being in instant real-time. All of our existing platforms come with norms and expectations, and using a non…
It's a novel idea, and you're correct to keep it out of integration.
Assume, for a moment, that your idea takes off and becomes the next WhatsApp. People, you know, will find ways to return to their normal selves. They'll cram a ton of links and messages into their allotted time slots.
What you're attempting to address is a fundamental flaw in human nature. Many people are aware of the issue and are taking precautions in their daily communication. Many, however, do not.
Re: Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
#17Great idea!
Re: Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
#18That's a charming idea. I could see how email bridging might be a way to achieve network effect, but then email bridging might just turn it into another email client.
I'm surprised you took the approach that pickup = delivery. I would assume you'd have a lag between them, with only cancellation allowed in that gap. Basically "you have N minutes to reconsider this thing you wrote, if you've changed your mind and want to edit it you have to defer to next pickup".
I would think a "mindful correspondence" system would have an enforced gap between composition and delivery to avoid "oops I clicked send at 6:29 PM but it's wrong and I need to change it".
I mean, this is based on my experience in email and twitter, which you've rightly identified as the opposite of "mindful" correspondence (where "submit" and "deliver" are the same action), and personal experience with business apps that make heavy use of fixed daily jobs (where "submit" and "deliver" are the same action at one very specific deadline that everybody is rushing to hit).
Re: Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hey thanks a lot. Network effects will definitely be the #1 challenge. I considered integrations—I first tried Pony as an email service, actually. I wanted it to be as accessible as possible. This led to a lot of problems, specifically you get this asymmetry and confusion of some people being on Pony and others being in instant real-time. All of our existing platforms come with norms and expectations, and using a non…
Wouldn't that be solvable by assigning a Pony-managed reply-to address? That way Pony can still manage how it sends back the replies to you. I really like email as a comms platform and think that it could greatly benefit Pony.
I think the point is you'd get a barrage of ill-thought-out/ephemeral/chatty messages all at once in the day, which is maybe worse than being spread out, and certainly not the 'mindful correspondence' goal.
Re: Show HN: Pony – a messenger for mindful correspondence
#20That's a charming idea. I could see how email bridging might be a way to achieve network effect, but then email bridging might just turn it into another email client. I'm surprised you took the approach that pickup = delivery. I would assume you'd have a lag between them, with only cancellation allowed in that gap. Basically "you have N minutes to reconsider this thing you wrote, if you've changed your mind and want…
I'm not at all involved with this, but just based on reading the website and reading your comment I think you might have a slight misconception of how this works.
There is no send button. You write drafts, and then at the pickup/deliver time, Pony picks up all the drafts from your outbox, and delivers any mail for you at the same time.
Therefore, you can change your mind about what you've written at any point before it gets picked up.