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Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

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Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#801

Post by johnmw »

Java applets. Back in the mid 90's Java was at the peak of its hype cycle and was the darling language. I thought the idea of writing an app in a 'modern advanced' language, compiling it down to a bytecode, and running it in your browser was the future of the web. And if someone had told me back then that Javascript would be the language of the web I would have spat my coffee out laughing.

Unfortunately speed, security, and the need to install a seperate run-time/plugin layer were too much for people at the time.

But hey, now 20 years later we are finally starting to see that vision in Web Assembly. ;-)

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#802

Post by malyk »

philipodonnell wrote: post #796
turc1656 wrote: post #791

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but in PayPal's case, they were all MasterCard numbers. And keep in mind that since one of the primary uses was to be able to Pay secretly with PayPal on a site that doesn't support it, the number would have to validate through the merchant's existing CC system. MasterCard was clearly on board with the process.

> MasterCard was clearly on board with the process. They might have been when it started, but clearly something changed. If it was desirable, the moment PayPal decided not to continue, MasterCard would have started looking for alternatives. Since they didn't (and haven't), its pretty reasonable to assume they decided intentionally not to pursue it. The two other functioning alternatives listed in this thread, getfina…

My mastercard had the same feature sometime along the way that they advertised strongly to me on the website. I think I might have used it once, but it was too much of a hassle to log in to my account, generate the number, go back to the website that I was purchasing from, etc.

Hell, i just looked it up and they still have it: https://www.cardbenefits.citi.com/Products/Virtual-Account-N...

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#803

Post by 3chelon »

fsloth wrote: post #102
kobeya wrote: post #39

The general-purpose computer. It's a dinosaur on the verge of extinction at the hands of walled-garden app stores on phones and tablets. I never, ever expected that to happen.

Uh oh, I think I'm about to rant. Scuse me. Given how cheap even powerful general purpose computers are I don't think they ever will be prized beyond availability. Aficionados, internet stores, arm, Linux, market forces, etc. To some part, good riddance. Software engineers and product designers are the reason the PC is effectively broken by design in UX. Because they are inexcusably slow. There is 0 reason anything I…

>I don't know who started with the idea that it's smarter to buy more hardware than to spend resources on programming

It was the CFO's idea. Software is expensive, and hardware is _incredibly cheap_.

Moreover, if you're in the business of selling hardware, be it PCs, mobile phones, white goods, whatever, it is in your power to throw cheap hardware at the problem, because software development will always be one of your highest costs. You will never be able to just drop readymade code into your new hardware design. And you can more easily recoup the cost of hardware development because you can mark up the price of anything with a faster CPU or more memory accordingly; you can't so easily charge for software features.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#804

Post by jrs95 »

grandalf wrote: post #781

It's fascinating to read everyone's responses. Mine are: - mobile devices with extremely long battery life (weeks) - mobile devices that can be put into a dishwasher and do not need to be treated gently. - HashCash - non-ai personal assistant/concierge services - Theranos-like tech - Teledildonics

I dunno about that last one. It seems like most consumer tech is trending towards teledildonics, metaphorically speaking ;)

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#805

Post by cjsuk »

jetti wrote: post #759
cjsuk wrote: post #329

Windows Phone 7 :(

I really liked aspects of my Windows Phone but there were other things that just drove me crazy. It would lock up when I was on a call and I wouldn't be able to do anything. I'd have to pull the battery in order to get it back to a usable state. The speakers were terribly soft too, I couldn't hear my phone ring if it fell under the couch. I absolutely loved the live tiles though.

Yes that was always the problem. If it worked properly it would have been amazing. But it didn't. My daughter has a Lumia 650 and it's a buggy pile of crap. That's SOP from MSFT mobile products.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#806

Post by dethos »

turc1656 wrote: post #694

Paypal used to have this feature that allowed you to install a browser add-on and you could generate a CC number on the fly that was good for either one time use or recurring use (for subscription services). This feature served two primary purposes: 1) to be able to pay using PayPal on sites that didn't support it 2) to help prevent against fraud which was becoming a massive problem at the time. If the number was sto…

In Portugal we have a company that provides a service that is very similar to what you described (creation of virtual CCs which can only be used 1 time, or X times by one retailer, for subscriptions). The service is called MBway (previously MBnet) and it works very well.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#807

Post by abainbridge »

baldfat wrote: post #559
IshKebab wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not surprised DVD-Audio and co failed. Their quality is indistinguishable from CDs despite what audiophiles would have you believe, and by the time they came out MP3 was clearly the future.

> Their quality is indistinguishable from CDs despite what audiophiles would have you believe Well I blame the system. You needed upgraded headphones or speakers. I have $2000 studio monitors when I was an audio engineer and well I can 100% tell you in a blind test I can tell the difference. 95% of the reason why is people don't care about quality audio. It's something about human brains. MP3 sound horrible compared…

> Well I blame the system. You needed upgraded headphones or speakers. I have $2000 studio monitors when I was an audio engineer and well I can 100% tell you in a blind test I can tell the difference.

Do you have an explanation of how that is possible? On the face of it, CD seems to have more SNR and frequency response than necessary. I've got intelligent friends on both sides of the debate, but I've never heard a plausible explanation from the "I promise I can tell the difference" friends. I tend to believe Monty Montgomery (of Ogg Vorbis fame). After watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qFjdQP7Ep0 there's little obvious room for doing better than CD. The best explanation I've heard is that CD mastering is generally aimed at mainstream equipment, and therefore isn't optimal for good equipment.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#808

Post by Al-Khwarizmi »

greggman wrote: post #688
senatorobama wrote: post #657

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention.. dick picks.

That's actually a good point in the sense that when ICQ was popular most people didn't have a digital camera in their pocket with instant upload capability so sending a dick pic would have been way more trouble. Maybe the fact that pretty much everyone has a digital camera in their pocket now means the world has changed into a world where ICQ as the OP described it just can't exist anymore

Definitely, the context changes and brings new challenges... but I don't think that's unsolvable. I can think of low-tech solutions (allowing only text, not pictures, until the other person explicitly allows pictures) and high-tech solutions (dick recognition via neural networks).

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#809

Post by bwanab »

sjs382 wrote: post #776
arfrank wrote: post #758

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d suggest you look at what we built at Final. Getfinal.com We took a hard deep look at a massive stagnant industry (credit cards) and use experience and features as differentiators

Too bad it requires an invite code. Do you have one for us? :) I use privacy.com for something similar, but it's a debit card (so it just connects to your bank account) rather than a credit card and doesn't offer any rewards.

They don't even seem to have a way to apply for an invite.

Re: Ask HN: What tech were you convinced would take the world by storm but didn't?

#810

Post by allthing »

mncolinlee wrote: post #672

Near-field communication (NFC). It came out in 2010 for Android and Microsoft phones, but has been hamstrung by Apple for most of its development. I had several startup ideas which required NFC market penetration on phones, but which even today are impractical due to Apple's chokehold on NFC APIs for fear of a payments competitor. In order to even find "tap to pair" devices, you often need to seek out the one manufac…

We use it in products at work and it always works seamlessly. It could be a quick and easy way to pair a phone to a car or connect a phone to WiFi. Just tapping is way more efficient than the current connecting options when you're near the hardware you want to connect with.
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