Just a tip: when I clicked on the video, I assumed it had loaded a new page and then clicked back in my browser (ending up back on HN). Maybe make the overlay fade in or be partially transparent?
A web-based Excel/database hybrid
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Re: A web-based Excel/database hybrid
#12Just a tip: when I clicked on the video, I assumed it had loaded a new page and then clicked back in my browser (ending up back on HN). Maybe make the overlay fade in or be partially transparent?
Great tip! Thanks! We'll do that.
Re: A web-based Excel/database hybrid
#13Nice. I accept everything that decreases the chances I'll have to work with http://quickbase.intuit.com/ again in the future.
Kind of curious what kind of trouble that you ran into when using Quickbase. You can e-mail me if you don't feel like posting it here. (jeff@ragic.com)
Re: A web-based Excel/database hybrid
#14Just a tip: when I clicked on the video, I assumed it had loaded a new page and then clicked back in my browser (ending up back on HN). Maybe make the overlay fade in or be partially transparent?
[deleted]
Re: A web-based Excel/database hybrid
#15Just some hopefully constructive feedback here: for Excel power users, you're not just competing with Excel, you're competing with Excel+ODBC+SQL+Workbench which is basically an Excel/DB hybrid, just not web based.
I read your "how this is different than a spreadsheet" blog, and none of the examples struck me as compelling, even though I use my Excel/SQL toolchain every day. Given how strong the ecosystems are around those tools, I think it would be very challenging to convert power users without some really obvious hook.
That one hook COULD be a good mobile client. For example, I have a dashboard built in Excel with an ODBC connection to a few of my company's DBs. However, I obviously can't see this on my phone, since no mobile Excel client supports ODBC (not to mention the macros I have built in).
I could maybe see a "disruption" angle, where you provide 75% of the functionality of Excel+ODBC+SQL+Workbench in one easier to use package, but I wonder how large the market is for people who want to work with that level of data but don't want power tools. I guess that's one area where you'd have to trust your market research/gut.
Re: A web-based Excel/database hybrid
#16clone of Excel for web, bullshit
Re: A web-based Excel/database hybrid
#17Great idea.
The logo is not showing up for me, or for that matter, neither are any of the images on your Features or Pricing pages.
On your home page, what is your primary call to action? Do you want people to watch the video? Could you have people try something out? How about making the applications clickable to show more details or have people play with the applications? Have your video proofread for grammar. Good luck!
Re: A web-based Excel/database hybrid
#18This is very pendantic I know but in your demo video the line 'They all have tons of features that Emily don't need, all she needed the most is a CRM with attendance records' would be more correct English if it read: 'They all have tons of features that Emily doesn't need, all she needs is a CRM with attendance records'. In any case, the concept sounds good and is otherwise well presented.
Hey thanks! I really appreciate this, my English is not all that good.
Ragic Builder features page has a few mistakes in the feature banner. Fixes in [] below:
DB Apps. Exactly [what] you need. Now. Businesses don't need hundreds of unneeded* fields and functions that [are] suppose[d] to cover the need[s] of every company. Ragic delivers your DB apps exactly [the] way you want, fast.
* unneeded isn't required here since it's already implied that these fields and functions are unneeded when you say "Businesses don't need.."
Re: A web-based Excel/database hybrid
#19Please don't end up like DabbleDB.
Re: A web-based Excel/database hybrid
#20Just some hopefully constructive feedback here: for Excel power users, you're not just competing with Excel, you're competing with Excel+ODBC+SQL+Workbench which is basically an Excel/DB hybrid, just not web based. I read your "how this is different than a spreadsheet" blog, and none of the examples struck me as compelling, even though I use my Excel/SQL toolchain every day. Given how strong the ecosystems are around…
One big point that we forgot to mention in that blog post is that Excel is hard to work with when multiple users are involved.
It would be quite a bit of trouble if Excel users want to implement access control on whether some users can read or write certain entries.