Business in a Box • Hacker News Board

Re: Business in a Box

#51

Post by obituary_latte » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 5:50 PM UTC

joshdotsmith wrote: post #36

obituary_latte wrote: post #25

Dear everyone: Might you please make use of the noscript functionality provided to you? Many people like myself do not let arbitrary websites run javascript on their machines. Without the use of noscript tags, as is the case here, I am met with an entirely blank page. Had there been something there, something describing what I'm missing and how good it is, I very likely would have enabled js temporarily. But there wa…

There's an awful lot of work involved in graceful degradation, which I'm sure you know. Will a noscript tag that tells you have JavaScript disabled and that you're missing out on a richer web experience really convert you? The problem here is that "many people" is Noscript is really only useful for telling people that they need JavaScript enabled to use the site in case they don't realize they've accidentally disable…

>Will a noscript tag that tells you have JavaScript disabled and that you're missing out on a richer web experience really convert you?

No. But if it tells me what the content is, or the point of, or really any decent info on what I'm missing, I usually do. In the case of HN links, I always do.

I'm not sure where you got the < 1.6% figure -- I won't argue with it -- but for a startup, that might be a huge number of people. Maybe it doesn't matter. I don't know.

Re: Business in a Box

#52

Post by fijal » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 5:51 PM UTC

I would honestly love to have a flag saying [US only, don't bother if you're not from there] on articles (like that one)

EDIT: this is genuinely not a snarky comment, but this this company will likely go bankrupt before I could use it (for example paypal is not universally available, in SA you need to have an account with a specific bank)

Re: Business in a Box

#53

Post by freehunter » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 5:54 PM UTC

obituary_latte wrote: post #25

Dear everyone: Might you please make use of the noscript functionality provided to you? Many people like myself do not let arbitrary websites run javascript on their machines. Without the use of noscript tags, as is the case here, I am met with an entirely blank page. Had there been something there, something describing what I'm missing and how good it is, I very likely would have enabled js temporarily. But there wa…

Dear noscript users:

You chose to break the website. It was designed to be used the way it was written. Javascript is a basic part of the Internet. Their site won't work without HTML enabled either.

Welcome to 1994,

Everyone.

Re: Business in a Box

#54

Post by iharris » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 5:55 PM UTC

drfritznunkie wrote: post #23

I just helped a friend install a iPad POS at his coffee shop this past December using BreadCrumb. We looked at Square Register, but it's rather lackluster feature set ruled it out. Namely, it doesn't support multiple printers or printer queuing (ex. food items get sent to kitchen printer), it doesn't have a modifier system for items (maybe this has changed), and no employee features (clock-in/out) etc.. I would say i…

This made me laugh. I worked for a POS company in Canada and we've seen ant colonies in Epson thermal printers, and the retailers don't realize it because the printers just keep working.

Re: Business in a Box

#55

Post by abstractbill » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 5:55 PM UTC

ravichhabra wrote: post #50

abstractbill wrote: post #40

Mount your stand securely to any surface without drilling. I wonder if "securely" just means my ipad won't fall over, or if it also somehow means customers can't run away with my ipad while my back is turned. That seems pretty important to me, and hard to achieve without drilling.

Securely indeed means "customers can't run away with my ipad while my back is turned" as can be seen in the pictures on the Heckler Design website: http://hecklerdesign.com/windfall/

(that page says the security comes with extra purchases - a Kensington ClickSafe cable lock, and/or an add-on bolt-down kit).

Re: Business in a Box

#56

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 5:57 PM UTC

mmanfrin wrote: post #49

Disclosure : I work for GoPago, a direct competitor in this market. I am approaching this with a lot of built-in bias. Square is pretty late to the game. Their software is pretty, but it has a much smaller featureset than every other tablet-based POS software out there (including our own competitors). Additionally, their prices do not include the cost of the iPad, which is another $500 on top of this 'business in a b…

[deleted]

Re: Business in a Box

#57

Post by sixothree » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 5:57 PM UTC

drfritznunkie wrote: post #23

I just helped a friend install a iPad POS at his coffee shop this past December using BreadCrumb. We looked at Square Register, but it's rather lackluster feature set ruled it out. Namely, it doesn't support multiple printers or printer queuing (ex. food items get sent to kitchen printer), it doesn't have a modifier system for items (maybe this has changed), and no employee features (clock-in/out) etc.. I would say i…

I worked for a small computer company in the early 90's in southwest Louisiana. We build maybe 100 computers for the area school systems and stored them in a the warehouse until it was time to deliver and install them.

On this day, we were installing some in classrooms with children present. I opened one of the boxes and out runs maybe 5 or 10 roaches. I was mortified. The kids, being from sw Louisiana, didn't even flinch. Some just stomp squashed them from their seats when the nasty critters got too close.

Your telling this story made me realize that our warehouse was in a strip mall located next to a chinese restaurant. So maybe this is where they came from.

Re: Business in a Box

#58

Post by HeyLaughingBoy » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 5:57 PM UTC

drfritznunkie wrote: post #23

I just helped a friend install a iPad POS at his coffee shop this past December using BreadCrumb. We looked at Square Register, but it's rather lackluster feature set ruled it out. Namely, it doesn't support multiple printers or printer queuing (ex. food items get sent to kitchen printer), it doesn't have a modifier system for items (maybe this has changed), and no employee features (clock-in/out) etc.. I would say i…

* Every empty space inside the printers was chock full of roach bodies. The circuit boards were caked with roach shit and all the feed mechanisms had ingested and ground up the roaches that got in their way. And ever single one of these printers still works flawlessly.*

Now that's a product I'd be proud to say I designed. Seriously, that's the kind of bulletproof performance I aspire towards.

Re: Business in a Box

#59

Post by HeyLaughingBoy » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 6:01 PM UTC

Simucal wrote: post #29

iamwil wrote: post #6

The design is great. Even though I don't have a brick and mortar store, it kinda makes me want to buy one, inexplicably. I wonder how many other things you can sell like this, an all-in-one box, that doesn't smell cheap, like a 10-in-1 games CD? The best thing I can think of right now is 'gardening in a box'. I wonder what 'startup in a box' looks like.

This isn't exactly the same as a one time "box" but monthly subscription services for "boxes" of different items have been taking off lately. I currently subscribe to Barkbox[0], a monthly subscription to receive dog treats, toys and accessories every month. A few months ago they had over 20,000 subscribers. They based their model off Birchbox[1], which provides a monthly subscription of hand picked beauty products.…

A few years ago my wife gave me a subscription to barbeque sauce-of-the-month club as a birthday present. Every month I got a couple of bbq sauces/rubs in a box.

Best.Gift.Ever!

Re: Business in a Box

#60

Post by toni » Wed, Feb 20, 2013, 6:01 PM UTC

joshdotsmith wrote: post #36

obituary_latte wrote: post #25

Dear everyone: Might you please make use of the noscript functionality provided to you? Many people like myself do not let arbitrary websites run javascript on their machines. Without the use of noscript tags, as is the case here, I am met with an entirely blank page. Had there been something there, something describing what I'm missing and how good it is, I very likely would have enabled js temporarily. But there wa…

There's an awful lot of work involved in graceful degradation, which I'm sure you know. Will a noscript tag that tells you have JavaScript disabled and that you're missing out on a richer web experience really convert you? The problem here is that "many people" is Noscript is really only useful for telling people that they need JavaScript enabled to use the site in case they don't realize they've accidentally disable…

How hard is it to put a static image inside a noscript tag with some candy fluff about the great product I'm missing? If anything, they will have my respect.