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Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid

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Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid

#51

Post by j_s »

christiangenco wrote: post #12

This looks fantastic! I was drooling during the demo video - you've improved on so many things from the standard spreadsheet at once. If I could make a request for the API: it's almost impossible to get a simple JSON serialization of a table in Google Spreadsheets. There are so many times where I just want to make a really simple MVP with a backend data source, but don't want a full-fledged Firebase database. If I co…

Read-only JSON data from Google Sheets is tricky only because of (1) finding the right URL and (2) ignoring all the cruft.

If you are looking to update the Sheet too I've not explored that far; otherwise let me know which of the above you're having trouble with!

Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid

#52

Post by ochoseis »

aofstad wrote: post #40
kdr77 wrote: post #39

Why does it require Google auth?

We require that you oauth in via a Google account purely for authentication right now. We don't request permissions for your email, calendar, contacts, or other data--only your name, email, and profile picture (which is used in the UI). We're working on support for email/password based signup, as well as oauth support for other services.

Hi Andrew! It's cumbersome but at some point you might want to consider LDAP/AD for enterprises who want to hook into it as well.

Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid

#53

Post by kolev »

howsta wrote: post #23
kolev wrote: post #17

Great... but could be useless without an API.

Hi Kolev! We do have plans to release an API (by end of this year or early next). If you're interested in getting early access and providing feedback on the features you would need, please fill out this form: https://getforma.wufoo.com/forms/q1ijurhh1cp2kfu/ Or, reach out to me directly at howie@airtable.com

Just did! Thanks!

Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid

#54

Post by joshdance »

EvanMiller wrote: post #45

This 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…

>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. :)

Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid

#55

Post by livestyle »

sharp11 wrote: post #49

Great concept, implementation look very nice, change your intro video. You're giving me a product tutorial when what I want is to understand the use cases and benefits. I don't care about how to use it (yet), I want to know why to use it. Also, please lose the background music - very distracting in a tutorial.

Excellent point. The video totally misses the "why" of this product.

Very difficult to get non technical peeps just suddenly ditch spreadsheets.

I think a focus on a specific use case i.e job would be better approach. Seems to be to broad in terms of the jobs that it is addressing.

Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid

#56

Post by yourad_io »

joshdance wrote: post #54
EvanMiller wrote: post #45

This 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…

>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.

Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid

#59

Post by shawn-butler »

I will look into this more so good job.

The tour seems a little broken in that the callouts sometimes appear in locations for "menu items" before the menu appears but is still very informative.

See image before menu: http://bit.ly/1xq1XYI And image after menu: http://bit.ly/1rprJrk

Re: Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid

#60

Post by howsta »

livestyle wrote: post #55
sharp11 wrote: post #49

Great concept, implementation look very nice, change your intro video. You're giving me a product tutorial when what I want is to understand the use cases and benefits. I don't care about how to use it (yet), I want to know why to use it. Also, please lose the background music - very distracting in a tutorial.

Excellent point. The video totally misses the "why" of this product. Very difficult to get non technical peeps just suddenly ditch spreadsheets. I think a focus on a specific use case i.e job would be better approach. Seems to be to broad in terms of the jobs that it is addressing.

Hi, good point--we have a template gallery that shows the "why" use cases https://airtable.com/templates

And also are building out a few dedicated pages for the most common use cases like the job applicant tracking one you described: https://airtable.com/applicantTracking/a3sz9t7b

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