First off, love it!
Second, when modifying the properties of a multiple options column you can't see text past a certain point, even though the row is clearly big enough: http://i.imgur.com/6ju4vCe.png
Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
101–110 of 131 posts
Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
#102First off, love it! Second, when modifying the properties of a multiple options column you can't see text past a certain point, even though the row is clearly big enough: http://i.imgur.com/6ju4vCe.png
Thanks for pointing this out! We'll get it fixed.
Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
#103Great execution! I wonder if this is what Paul Graham was envisioning when he wrote about a "web-based excel/database hybrid" in his post "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"[1] in 2008.
> 22. A web-based Excel/database hybrid. People often use Excel as a lightweight database. I suspect there's an opportunity to create the program such users wish existed, and that there are new things you could do if it were web-based. Like make it easier to get data into it, through forms or scraping.
> Don't make it feel like a database. That frightens people. The question to ask is: how much can I let people do without defining structure? You want the database equivalent of a language that makes its easy to keep data in linked lists. (Which means you probably want to write it in one.)
Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
#104I don't suppose they've considered making IEEE 754-2008 decimal floating point numbers the default number representation. It's a shame Intel didn't consult Dr. William Kahan earlier in their design of the x87 floating point unit. At this point, binary floating point is deeply entrenched despite most uses outside of scientific modeling being better suited to decimal floating point.
Most spreadsheet calculations are better suited to decimal floating point, and decimal floating point numbers are more intuitive for most users. A surprising number of the "Excel bugs" you find online are people misunderstanding binary floating point numbers, or some of the display hacks Excel uses to hide binary artifacts.
Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
#105This could be really nice for hobbyist usage for tabletop RPGs, but to fully fit that niche it really needs (a) anonymous sharing (with a read-only mode), and (b) a way to copy a shared 'app' to your own account.
Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
#106This looks like a nice product. Software companies have been struggling to make a mass-market database program ever since Lotus 1-2-3 (the "3" was a database), but the spreadsheet remains king, despite the fact that for storing structured data, it is almost as bad as a Word document with macros. So I'll be rooting for you. One complaint: Referring to your Basic plan as being "Free forever" is a bit disingenuous. In m…
> Software companies have been struggling to sell a mass-market database program ever since Lotus 1-2-3 [that is not Access] There, I fixed it for you. (disclosure: I worked on a similar tool, had a friend, one of the best programmers I know, who built a similar tool, worked on an ERP system that addressed many of the same use cases, and I started Skysheet, YC W09, with gruseom).
It appears you make reasonable comments, so you should know that you're dead d--b.
Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
#107This looks like a nice product. Software companies have been struggling to make a mass-market database program ever since Lotus 1-2-3 (the "3" was a database), but the spreadsheet remains king, despite the fact that for storing structured data, it is almost as bad as a Word document with macros. So I'll be rooting for you. One complaint: Referring to your Basic plan as being "Free forever" is a bit disingenuous. In m…
> Software companies have been struggling to sell a mass-market database program ever since Lotus 1-2-3 [that is not Access] There, I fixed it for you. (disclosure: I worked on a similar tool, had a friend, one of the best programmers I know, who built a similar tool, worked on an ERP system that addressed many of the same use cases, and I started Skysheet, YC W09, with gruseom).
MS office has been non-optional for the workplace computer for decades, so any tool has to compete with "free-as-in-had-to-buy-it-anyways".
Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
#108No way this a spreadsheet. This is just a CRUD app with data displayed in rows. Zero chance of catching with spreadsheet users.
Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Referring to your Basic plan as being "Free forever" is a bit disingenuous How so? I haven't had a company ever tell me this then start charging. Oftentimes they go out of business, but that is a different problem. :)
I'm not sure if the "forever" keyword was ever involved, but two examples that spring to mind are Google Apps and Dyn, both of which have discontinued their free tier.
Not sure about Dyn, but if you had created a Google Apps prior to them removing the free tier - you still have it for free... new customers don't get to use it free but existing free customers are still free.
Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid
#110I just imported a movie list with the names and year into a table. I want to automagically import the description from IMDB. What would be the best way to do that without going fully into manual mode?