Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#1

Post by mcrider » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 12:56 AM UTC

Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada
cantada.ca

Re: Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#2

Post by Maciek416 » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 1:15 AM UTC

This is a great idea.

This goes beyond just which digital services you can't get in Canada, but also many other types of products which aren't offered here for whatever reason. Models of automobiles, consumer electronics (TVs in particular, with sparser ranges of models), etc.

Our currency routinely reaches or exceeds par with the US dollar, and yet many products are dramatically more expensive than you'd expect to be explained simply by currency differences alone (I guess there are a lot of other issues at play, but it doesn't help the widespread impression that we're getting screwed).

It would be awesome of your project also tracked how much more expensive products and/or services are in Canada than in the US.

Re: Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#3

Post by cmer » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 1:15 AM UTC

To be fair, Skype is available in Canada. Only Skype-in numbers aren't.

Re: Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#4

Post by marcc » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 1:18 AM UTC

cmer wrote: post #3

To be fair, Skype is available in Canada. Only Skype-in numbers aren't.

Thanks for clarifying that. That was the only one which really surprised me to see on that list.

Re: Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#5

Post by Skalman » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 1:22 AM UTC

A little design feedback: With my 15.4 inch screen I could only see the first service, so I initially assumed that you were for some reason having ads for amazon cloud drive, and I also noticed an empty site forum (which I now believe is the forum specific to that service). It took me a great while to understand that I should be scrolling down - the page looked sort of complete as it was.

You really need a more compact layout: If you want me to know what's not available in Canada, why can't I have the whole list at once? (I realize you might want the forum and news stuff - but perhaps cut a lot of the unnecessary whitespace (while still trying to keep the design spacious! :-) ).

Re: Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#6

Post by dcosson » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 1:22 AM UTC

Are copyright laws more strict in Canada? Or are royalties a lot higher? There seem to be primarily music/video content services on the list.

Re: Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#7

Post by Mark_B » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 1:22 AM UTC

Granted, I'm not in Canada, but I'd be curious to see why a particular service isn't available.

Re: Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#8

Post by nolanw » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 1:23 AM UTC

Great idea!

Minor note: the "Think something should be here? Contact us about it." link text was very hard to read (Chrome 10, OS X). Maybe it's too small for that font and weight.

Re: Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#9

Post by mtw » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 1:24 AM UTC

there are more: Google checkout is not available for sellers, zappos (they just closed their canadian store), unlimited internet etc.

Re: Show HN: My weekend project, tracking the services you can't have in Canada

#10

Post by mcrider » Mon, Apr 04, 2011, 1:25 AM UTC

cmer wrote: post #3

To be fair, Skype is available in Canada. Only Skype-in numbers aren't.

Thanks -- I couldn't find a SkypeIn logo, so I should've clarified the text. I've just updated it.