This is beautiful. I thrive on impromptu social interactions during the work day, and would love to have a system that facilitates and encourages it with teammates that are open to it. I love the secondary, single-purpose device approach. It relieves the mental strain of figuring out this set up... happy to pay a premium to be connected with my team on one tap.
Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
201–210 of 234 posts
Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
#202this is obviously a good idea. I was so close to trying to hack something together such as this. the naming could be way better, you missed an opportunity on labeling the feeling you are looking for, you should use presence or something similar
Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
#203Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
#204The way I see it, being "always on" is one of the worst things about office work. Always on is a constant distraction from doing good concentrated work. I think off by default is a far better paradigm for remote communication tools.
Worst case the pointies force everyone to have it on all day to keep an ear on things.
Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
#205Why is everybody in here being such an asshole to this company? Has the HN culture seriously changed this much? Is the lockdown just pickling everybody's minds? They're trying something. If you don't like it, give constructive criticism, but this hostility is unhelpful and unwelcome. >Why is it a Samsung device? I worked on a startup which was a video chat project similar to this with a different target. We also used…
I wasn’t going to say anything but I got triggered by your last paragraph. I don’t come to HN to read glowing reviews of barely launched startups. There’s plenty of that out there if you’re looking for it and it all sounds the same anyway. Success porn crap. I come to HN to see if other people like me think something is a piece of shit or if it’s actually decent, and why. If everything that comes through here got two…
Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
#206I don't feel like being visually "always on" is helpful for employees or employers.
I wish you luck in exploring ways of making people working from home feel more connected, but I'm afraid this aint it.
Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
#207The way I see it, being "always on" is one of the worst things about office work. Always on is a constant distraction from doing good concentrated work. I think off by default is a far better paradigm for remote communication tools.
It's the worst for your personal productivity but are those interruptions an net gain for your team's productivity? Recognizing that inflection point is key to great teams.
Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
#208Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
#209Why is everybody in here being such an asshole to this company? Has the HN culture seriously changed this much? Is the lockdown just pickling everybody's minds? They're trying something. If you don't like it, give constructive criticism, but this hostility is unhelpful and unwelcome. >Why is it a Samsung device? I worked on a startup which was a video chat project similar to this with a different target. We also used…
Agree with you that we should be gentler on people when they are just introducing ideas to the world. I disagree that this is not HN's culture. Example, read the dropbox launch thread, among many others. Usually when I come to HN I expect the top comment to be some pseudo-intellectual takedown of someone else's hard work.
Re: Launch HN: Sidekick (YC S20) – A hardware device to connect remote teams
#210Did you do a trademark search yet? T-Mobile US had a Sidekick device not long ago and may not have abandoned their registration.