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Ask HN: What do you wish someone would build?

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331–340 of 535 posts

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish someone would build?

#331
post #111
post #90

A decent portable computer. Obscenely large, replaceable battery. small screen (1080p or 720p at 10~13in) that i can actually slide up when open so i don't have to look down and kill my neck/back. decent mechanical keyboard at least 90% size (like the eeepc1000) it can be low on CPU but should have the most connectivity it can. It can weight a little more than a 15" gaming laptop weights today.

Get a thinkpad

How quickly we forget the bullshit companies pull on us

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish someone would build?

#332

- A legitimate successor to the original FJ40 Toyota Landcruiser, possibly electric - A version of this watch (maybe even a smart watch) that didn't cost $25,000: https://ressencewatches.com/watches/type-3

I would love a reliable version of the Jeep Wrangler, and bonus points if it had a drive system like the Chevy Volt - all electric drive with a gas generator. High torque of electric motor would be great for off-road. Removable battery pack to take off a huge chunk of weight if you want to off-road.

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish someone would build?

#333
post #241

A platform to connect information / stories / images / video / audio to locations. There are thousands of small, mostly subsidized one-off projects but no general platform for everyone to upload material connected to places and create, say, a personal guided tour of their hometown.

Facebook?

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish someone would build?

#334

A lockbox for real estate agents that has a built-in video camera and microphone+speaker. I mean something like Ring (1) plus MasterLock 5400D (2) plus embedded 4G mobile connectivity. It must not be a permanent installation (like Ring) and it should not require visitors to be pre-registered (like Supra Keys (3)) in order to access the property (for example contractors, repair staff, delivery personnel, etc) If somet…

Could you just attach a smartphone to a door, and have open one of those Supra lockboxes over Bluetooth? I guess the issue there is battery life.

I make prototypes of stuff like this as a hobby. You could use a fairly inexpensive SoC that has Wifi/Bluetooth built in ($6), attach a module for 4G connection (~$50), and give it a huge battery so that it can lasts a few weeks. It would be asleep most of the time, and wake up every 2 minutes or so to check for updates. Meaning you'd have to stand there at the door for a couple minutes before it'd give you access.

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish someone would build?

#335
post #75

A fully open source business workflow engine, pre-built with a great UI for the users to execute the workflow. Mobile friendly is a definite plus. Almost all government software are essentially workflow engines. This would instantaneously solve loads of problems.

Are there any partially open source ones? Or crappy fully open source ones? Seems like a weird thing to not at least have something out there.

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish someone would build?

#336
post #236

An operating system built around IPFS. This would make the browser/native dichotomy irrelevant by offering the best of both worlds and then some. AFAIK the reason web apps have become so popular is because they load quickly and don't require the user to manage installation and updating. IPFS would achieve the speed through caching and the installing/updating process with its namespaces feature.

How is this better than an OS based on http, besides privacy and democracy? I'm very interested in this idea, I just don't know if "normal" people care enough about P2P for something like this to receive mainstream adoption.

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish someone would build?

#339
A great-looking, affordable, modular home kit. We did it 100 years ago with the Sears houses -- imagine what we could do nowadays with mass production and 3-d printing? Imagine if you could order a home kit and save half of what a traditional builder would charge you? How would that change opportunities for the middle class?

In a similar, Maslow's-Hierarchy-of-Needs vein, it would be great to have an app that crowdsources data about healthcare costs and other data points in your city. I'd like to know which hospital charges least for an M.R.I., which hospital has the highest rate of MRSA infections, which doctors are highest-rated by their patients, which insurance policy is the best in my location. Right now there's little-to-no transparency and, just like in Vegas, the House always wins.

In general, I would love to see tech take on disruption and increased affordability in the areas of true life needs -- affordable education, housing, medical care, healthy food -- and focus less on gaining tiny efficiencies in tools and workflows.

TL;DR -- I need an affordable home, not a refrigerator that sends text messages to my blender.

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