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Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams

#21

Post by gremlinsinc »

arthurwu wrote: post #13
philip1209 wrote: post #2

Not a fan. Seems like an invasion of privacy for companies to put an always-on security camera in your home. Didn't Orwell call them Telescreens?

Definitely understand the privacy concern - we know that our product won't fit every home office setup depending on the living circumstances. It depends on how close and comfortable a team feels with each other. Our teams are already close-knit and miss the feeling of being in the same room together. We're thinking of adding virtual backgrounds to help with this too.

As Joe walks in wearing underwear... (I'm serious, I code in my unders half the time, esp in the summer (no a/c)). That could get awkward.

Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams

#22

Post by achen187 »

easton wrote: post #10

Did you guys consider putting some kind of authentication on the device when unlocking it? It seems to me that the device should check that you are who you say you are before showing you your coworkers (especially if your team works on sensitive/trade secret-y stuff). Or to make sure your kids don’t come stare at your coworkers while they’re in flow ;) Maybe it’s not a problem unless someone breaks in to your home/of…

That's a great point. We actually haven't run into that issue yet, but it seems like it could very easily happen. Thanks for the idea!

Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams

#24

Post by ahstilde »

I think everyone focusing on the "always on" aspect is missing the point.

This is a standalone device which takes care of a major part of the headache in transitioning to remote work -- a second monitor and webcam, a whiteboarding device, and a "who's online for me to talk to" visibility feature.

It's like paying $25 to bring the social experience of an office to your remote work environment without worrying about technical details or availability issues.

"Someone has their camera on? Cool, I can ping them, no worries."

The only feature I'd like to see is a "camera off but still pingable" mode, but honestly, I'd probably put a piece of tape over the camera and it'd work just fine.

Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams

#26

Post by edoceo »

I don't get it.

HWe use an RTC room on existing PC, with an alert and PTT mode. so we have always on listen-audio. Its like a web-based walkie-talkie (remember Nextel?) It's rigged to our Mattermost too

Ours cost like $500 to build - this would cost us over $500 every two months at discount price.

Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams

#27

Post by crusso »

This is a great idea for a product. I have worked remotely for the past ten years and not having easy interactions with team members has always been a problem.

Lately, I've had a laptop in my office's cube with Skype and VNC set up so I can connect any time I want and leave myself virtually present for hours at a time. I like it. I'm sure that a dedicated product could offer more features and efficiencies than I have with my jury-rigged setup.

Best of luck to you.

Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams

#29

Post by achen187 »

codeviking wrote: post #14

This feels like bit of a knee-jerk reaction to the sudden shift towards remote only work. Don't get me wrong, I like the premise as I've definitely felt disconnected from my team recently, but I don't think this quite solves the problem. If it did we'd just sit in a Google Hangout meeting all day. We (and I imagine a lot of others) have already tried this and it didn't work. No one can really put their finger on why,…

We're still really early on, so we're also trying to figure out what that missing "something" is. We're totally in the same boat.

From interviews, our theory is that it's because most of the time, the Hangouts all day solution decays because people have too many experiences being alone in the room.

Again still really early, so we're also figuring it out but thanks for the data point!

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