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Brainstorm HN: Outlandish Startup Ideas Pool

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Brainstorm HN: Outlandish Startup Ideas Pool

#11

Post by amichail »

Build an iphone app to alleviate OCD:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=601648

In particular, such an app would help alleviate problems with repeated checking. The user would use the app to take a photo/video of something instead of checking it repeatedly (e.g., you locking the front door).

The photo/video would be tagged with the time and place.

To actually try to cure OCD, one might introduce a probability that the photo/video will not be taken. One can have this probability increase over time as the user's condition improves.

Another possibility is to delete the photo/video automatically after some time interval, which decreases as the user's condition improves.

This is something that I might actually consider building if there is sufficient demand.

Re: Brainstorm HN: Outlandish Startup Ideas Pool

#12

Post by raquo »

makeee wrote: post #6

Hire a bunch of people to walk around large markets in other countries, such as India, with wireless webcams attached to their heads. Shoppers can then direct these people to various stands, barter, and purchase stuff through a web interface.

that doesn't really sound unrealistic though! :)

Re: Brainstorm HN: Outlandish Startup Ideas Pool

#13

Post by anigbrowl »

vaksel wrote: post #9

A washer/dryer combo that works as a single unit, so that you don't have to move things manually from one to the other. I see it as a 2 story contraption, washer on top, dryer on the bottom. After the washer is done, a trap door opens and the clothes fall into the dryer, which then auto-starts. As you can guess, I was doing laundry recently

Already exists. These are the norm in Europe, I have no idea why they're not popular in the US. We Europeans enjoy mocking antiquated American home appliances and can't believe you still use stovetop kettles and blenders from the 1950s. http://www.gelighting.com/apo/products/appliances/clothes_ca...

It looks like a regular washing machine, you just put your clothes in the front, set the buttons, and 2 hours later they're clean and dry. It's awesome.

Re: Brainstorm HN: Outlandish Startup Ideas Pool

#14

Post by callmeed »

A Woot.com for travel Unlike other last min travel sites, this would offer just 1 product per day with 0 or 1 options Example: "2 nights at the Edgewater Seattle 6/1-6/3 for $179 total" OR "2 RT tix LAXVegas + 2 nights at Bellagio for $379 total 6/1-6/3"

Just need to find some travel companies who are willing to work with you. They just need to agree to block off X number of rooms/flights for that date.

If the site picks up steam, maybe offer products for diff regions each day (west coast, east coast, midwest, south)

Re: Brainstorm HN: Outlandish Startup Ideas Pool

#16

Post by staticshock »

anigbrowl wrote: post #13
vaksel wrote: post #9

A washer/dryer combo that works as a single unit, so that you don't have to move things manually from one to the other. I see it as a 2 story contraption, washer on top, dryer on the bottom. After the washer is done, a trap door opens and the clothes fall into the dryer, which then auto-starts. As you can guess, I was doing laundry recently

Already exists. These are the norm in Europe, I have no idea why they're not popular in the US. We Europeans enjoy mocking antiquated American home appliances and can't believe you still use stovetop kettles and blenders from the 1950s. http://www.gelighting.com/apo/products/appliances/clothes_ca... It looks like a regular washing machine, you just put your clothes in the front, set the buttons, and 2 hours later the…

What kind of kettles and blenders do you guys use in Europe? I want in :(

Re: Brainstorm HN: Outlandish Startup Ideas Pool

#17

Post by diego »

A search engine for your house. Tag every object that you care about with a tiny electronic label (could be an rfid chip). Some objects could come pre-tagged and added to your library the first time they cross your door.

When you can't find something, find the object on your computer and start walking around the house with a wand that beeps louder as you get closer to the object. Would also work when you lose something outdoors and you can more or less retrace your steps.

Re: Brainstorm HN: Outlandish Startup Ideas Pool

#18

Post by anigbrowl »

markessien wrote: post #4

Movie Software that provides stock footage of fixed sets (homes, gardens, etc) and places you in those settings perfectly. Also same with cars and so on - the software should be at a level where you could make a full movie without ever leaving your home.

Sort-of exists: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/y/yitm/ and several others. I'm always into stuff like this as I'm in film/tv production...and things like this are a great excuse for, er, not going out of the house, raising real money, hiring real people. But there's a vaaaaast price vs. quality gap. As in, to look convincing you need a greenscreen studio and a team of professional CG technicians to come to your house :-)

Re: Brainstorm HN: Outlandish Startup Ideas Pool

#20

Post by alex_c »

Set up inexpensive wireless cameras pointed at all street parking spots in the city. (doesn't have to be wireless cameras - pick any method or device that can reliably detect whether a parking spot is empty, cameras are the most flexible). Feed that data to a server, then dish it out to mobile devices (iPhone, etc.) combined with GPS to find the nearest street parking spot. Bonus points for intelligent behavior like not sending two cars to the same spot, or considering which spots are likely to be filled by the time you get there and what other spots are around. Mad bonus points if you work at a high enough level that this feature gets built directly into new cars.

I guess "outlandish" is a bit strong, it feels like it's only a matter of time.

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