Introducing Quip

I signup: email, name, password. Sends me a confirmation email. I click on confirmation link. Sends me again to the same signup page, only this time the fields are completed. The only available next step is to click on "Next" again, and the email verification is sent again, sending me to the same completed fields page...

It happens on both web and iOS. I guess I'll have to stick with Google Docs and Pages.

I'm personally not a tablet-typer and connecting a BT keyboard to an iPad with a case is basically a laptop, so I'd rather just use an Air (wouldn't you?)

Quip looks nice, but from reading this thread, their and playing with the app myself I have a few observations. After all, this is a thread where we come to comment, so why not throw five minutes of my life into some writing, using my BT keyboard, on a big heavy iMac.

First, saying that there is "barely a laptop in sight [in the Bay Area]" is just rubbish - there are _plenty_ of laptops in and around the Bay Area, the Valley, Southern California, California, the United States, the world. Startups - your users are not all in San Francisco. It's like Tim Cook saying "there are no Android phones at BJ's Grill."

I appreciate the forward thinking of this app in a very "post-PC" era kind of way, but showing a screen of MacWrite from 1984 in the app page is just ridiculous - there have been _plenty_ of great mobile-based word processing applications in the past few years, in case you have not noticed. From Pages to IAWriter to Textilus to Evernote, the list goes one. Saying the "software that we use to get work done has not evolved over the past thirty years" is just utter nonsense. It has evolved, quite a bit. As much as I don't want to praise Microsoft, they've been improving Word (sure, Office for iOS is terrible) slowly but surely over the years. It's a solid WP and you give credit where credit is due.

With regards to this application, the "thread approach" to document sharing and collaboration is an interesting notion. That is if you share a lot of documents with other social-based users a la FB style, but I highly doubt you're going to see attorneys redlining agreements in a feed - although it would be nice to see people chatting regarding a document, pitch, brief, agreement in real-time - but hey, world doesn't work that way (especially at $500 an hour). I don't think a lot of users "enjoy" word processing. We do it do get work done!

Editing document also appears to be a little strange (although I don't have anyone to collaborate with yet) but the concept of including "documents edits" in the activity feed makes no sense really. WP's such as Word (and WordPerfect in the past) have always been known for a rich set of features, tools for various professionals, the people who use WP's all the time. Formatting options, graphics, tables, charts, margins, etc. These are all very important features for the bulk of users. So while I understand the product and the "modern word processor" buzzword, it's important to define what a "modern word processor" is/should be and how you're going to get the majority of the world (95%) or a small chunk (I get it - it's a social thing, the buzzwords are there, the skeuomorphism is flowing with the manila folders, but Word Processors have in inherent attribute that is tough to rewrite with graphics and sharing and @mentions: it's functionality. And that's all the matters.

Best of luck to you guys.

Edit: I wanted to add that it's important to test, use, and discuss [new] applications with an open mind. This is their first release, so things will undoubtedly improve, user feedback is so important to a new startup/product. Your users are everything - and certainly those outside of SFO (sorry had to). I think Quip can learn a lot from comments here on HN, no matter how long you work on a product and polishes the edges, it takes someone from the outside looking in to really give you some great direction at times.

I have a few suggestions though as someone that not only actively uses Google Docs but practically forces people I work with to do so too.

1. How do I make this appear in my existin Google Docs folder? I really do not want to have another place for my documents.

2. The pricing of Google Docs makes it really hard to beat. How does quip plan to fight that?

3. Still early days but people create different types of docs e.g Spreadsheets and slides for the same projects. How does it work with them without putting one type of doc in a differnt location from another? Especially when they are fr the same project?

4. My biggest issue when using Google Docs is that of formatting. The format does not play well with Word (we have to accept Word I'd boss for now and a monster number of people still use it ). Does the formatting work well with Word?

From my very limited knowledge, I have a few suggestions

1. Be the best at something and come inthrough the flanks. E.g the best way to edit your DropBox documents (I actually thought Dropbox would have launched a document processor by now). Coming through the flanks will remove the weight of expextation and at the same time allow people to

2. integrate you into an existing workflow for a large number of people. Eg. Sync with Google Doc.

3. Understandably, 17million is not a lot these days so you need to start earning money. But consider almost everyone will already have away of processing docs. I would find it hard to pay for something I have already paid to do. And does far much more work for me. You need people to start geting used to you and your pricing will limit adoption

The above is my feedback. I am sure you must have thought of it and more. I wish you all the best.