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Things I still can't do in November 2014

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Re: Things I still can't do in November 2014

#21

Post by S4M »

> 6. Get somebody to come to my house, pick up my dry cleaning and drop it back off the next day (Amazon "Clean").

Isn't this what HomeJoy is doing? If not, I have a friend who tried that, but failed. I'd be happy to forward his details.

> 9. Send $10,000 to my caretaker in France and have her get the cash and withdraw it from an ATM that same day.

Within Europe, you can.

> 10. Get investors for my startup by advertising the stock offering on the web and selling shares directly.

Isn't that what KickStarter does?

> 11. Get a quick, binding divorce online.

I think it's better that you can't divorce that way.

Re: Things I still can't do in November 2014

#22

Post by M2Ys4U »

ntietz wrote: post #10
octatone2 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just dumb ideas. Call the police from an app? Your phone is still a phone ...

While it's easy to call emergency services by 911, it's more difficult to call, say, the local sheriff's office for something that's not an emergency especially when you're traveling. An app could help solve that and resolve the best non-emergency number for you in your current location.

Establishing a non-emergency number is not hard. Dial 101 in the UK and you're put through to your local police force: http://www.police.uk/contact/101/

Re: Things I still can't do in November 2014

#24

Post by antr »

irremediable wrote: post #20
antr wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 31. Be able to get a $100 MRI. It can be done for this price. > 32. Be able to get into an ER for under $100. It's ridicoulous that a mere 15 min consultation can cost somebody (the system) $1000+. A good number are Silicon Valley (or US) problems, the $100 MRI is pretty much the cost of an MRI in Europe, but then, it's free for the patient. Same goes for the ER.

> A good number are Silicon Valley (or US) problems, the $100 MRI is pretty the cost of an MRI in Europe, but then, it's free for the patient. Same goes for the ER. FWIW, while the patient-facing cost is about that, I think the actual cost (after accounting for taxes, charitable donations, the radiographer's time, etc) is quite a bit higher.

In the EU, the supply of medical services generally qualifies for exemption from VAT, among other taxes. Same applies with charitable donations... that is pretty much a US thing too. The $100 number is an all-in cost. I know this as I come from a family of doctors, unfortunately I'm not one.

Re: Things I still can't do in November 2014

#25

Post by M2Ys4U »

tomblomfield wrote: post #12
dasil003 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure this is to enable an acceptable level of fraud protection. Within some countries (UK) it is more or less instant most of the time.

Since 2008 the UK, the Faster Payments Service[1] on infrastructure run by Vocalink[2] enable bank-to-bank payments that usually clear in a couple of seconds. This should work 24/7, depending on the sending and receiving bank. Many banks will "soft post" the payment during the day in a mirror ledger, and then run overnight batch processes to "hard post". Of course, their batches only run on business days. Because the…

The latency still isn't good enough with FPS. I still have to wait until COB the next working day to transfer money from my building society to my bank account :(

Re: Things I still can't do in November 2014

#26

Post by jacquesm »

Osmium wrote: post #15
jokoon wrote: post #3

first world problems of somebody living in the silicon valley ? sorry but most of those things either stems from politics or lack of market development.

I found it a little bizarre too, e.g. > 11. Get a quick, binding divorce online. This makes absolutely no sense to me, in so many ways. Presumably a divorce should be a rare enough occurrence that doing it in person is not a burden?

Besides that divorces tend to involve such little details as children and the division of a large amount of property and it should be regarded as a good thing that one spouse can't pressure another into a 'quick and binding divorce' without at least a little bit of outside vetting.

Lawyers tend to make divorces harder for everybody and seem to be very good at lining their own pockets so I'm sure there is room for improvement but 'quick and binding online divorces' seem to me to be a dangerous road to go down on.

Just like you can't quickly and easily marry online.

Re: Things I still can't do in November 2014

#27

Post by ntietz »

M2Ys4U wrote: post #22
ntietz wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it's easy to call emergency services by 911, it's more difficult to call, say, the local sheriff's office for something that's not an emergency especially when you're traveling. An app could help solve that and resolve the best non-emergency number for you in your current location.

Establishing a non-emergency number is not hard. Dial 101 in the UK and you're put through to your local police force: http://www.police.uk/contact/101/

In the US and Canada, apparently you can also call 311 for non-emergency calls (whereas 911 is for emergencies).

Re: Things I still can't do in November 2014

#28

Post by gordaco »

Honestly, I find some of these points quite disturbing. And a lot of them are not a matter of technology.

13. Keep track of where everybody in my team is physically right now. I don't want to work with you, ever. 40 hours a week are for the team, sure, but during the remaining 128 you don't have any business in my life. What you propose is creepy.

25. Be able to take a course online and get graded -- and get a diploma that means something. Education is really ripe for disruption: Coursera is OK, but we need to invent Stanford 2.0 For a diploma to mean something, what you need is not to make the courses better, or harder to pass, or whatever you're thinking; what you need is to convince your employer that you have the required skills for your job. The diploma may or may not have something to do with it, but in any case it's your employer's criterion. What you want may happen over time, but it's definitely not a matter of technology.

26. Be able to sell my advice online. It's worth something and I should have some way to monetize it. Again, it's other people, not you, who will judge whether your advice is valuable. Aside from that, it's not like it's difficult to become some kind of consultant.

30. Get a discount from the federal government for being healthy. Fat people should pay more taxes because they cost society more. This means some approved weigh in and testing centers. What.

31. Be able to get a $100 MRI. It can be done for this price. There are a LOT of things that will cost you far, far, far more than what they cost [EDIT: to clarify, that I mean is: far than what they cost to your provider]. This is pretty basic economy, IMHO. Also you may get it for free when you actually need it, if you live in a place with a sane health system (i.e., not the USA).

But yeah, as jokoon said in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8648325, most of those "problems" arise from politics and economy. I suspect that a few of them have actually been tried, and either they're doing fine but in a local scale, or they failed.

Re: Things I still can't do in November 2014

#29

Post by Gygash »

Osmium wrote: post #15
jokoon wrote: post #3

first world problems of somebody living in the silicon valley ? sorry but most of those things either stems from politics or lack of market development.

I found it a little bizarre too, e.g. > 11. Get a quick, binding divorce online. This makes absolutely no sense to me, in so many ways. Presumably a divorce should be a rare enough occurrence that doing it in person is not a burden?

Uncommon as they may be, I imagine getting a divorce is currently a complicated, expensive process, even if the couple are in agreement about terms. Sounds like a good pain point to solve, though I have reservations about trying to automate complex legal, financial and emotional decisions like this.

Re: Things I still can't do in November 2014

#30

Post by ElectricMonk79 »

> 30. Get a discount from the federal government for being healthy. Fat people should pay more taxes because they cost society more. This means some approved weigh in and testing centers

Perpetuating the myth that unhealthy people are a financial and social burden. That's wrong because....

* MIND QUAKE: Fat people are 'on average' healthier!! *

Why? Because they clutch their heart and die in an instant. 'Healthy people' drag their boney carcasses from care home to care home for decades. Do the world a favour - grab yourself a beer, a burger and some cigarettes. Knock yourself out; literally.

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