11–20 of 28 posts
There are some of us HNers that develop the Terminal software/infrastructure (or used to)... so if there's ever anything you were dying to ask, AMAA. :)
Could you set up your own stock dashboard or application with just that API, or do you need to subscribe to get database access as well?
There are some of us HNers that develop the Terminal software/infrastructure (or used to)... so if there's ever anything you were dying to ask, AMAA. :)
I see the API is open source: http://static.bloomberglabs.com/api/java/doc/3.8/ Could you set up your own stock dashboard or application with just that API, or do you need to subscribe to get database access as well?
An example is OpenGamma -- http://www.opengamma.com/ -- it is an open-source app that ships with the BLPAPI and if you run it on the same PC as your Bloomberg Terminal install, it will just work and pull data from the Terminal API end-point.
The incentive is for apps to support Terminals / Bloomberg data natively from the get-go and it makes it easier for these startups/smaller players/open-source apps to have a chance of selling into firms without lengthy custom development efforts to adapt other data sources.
One of the most interesting things about the Bloomberg terminal that never seems to get mentioned in all the coverage and commenting is that its UI is optimized for users who actually take the time to go through training. In particular, everything is designed so that you never have to touch the mouse. If there are 20 choices onscreen, they'll all be numbered, and you type the number of the choice you want and press e…
If being launched today, just like back then, it'd be designed to provide both as shallow as possible a learning curve for new users and power and speed for experts. In the 1980s that meant full-screen UI with numeric menus, Go codes, and custom hardware; today, that'd mean a discoverable point-and-click self-teaching GUI for the newbies, backed up by keyboard shortcuts, scripting, and a command bar for power users.
One of the most interesting things about the Bloomberg terminal that never seems to get mentioned in all the coverage and commenting is that its UI is optimized for users who actually take the time to go through training. In particular, everything is designed so that you never have to touch the mouse. If there are 20 choices onscreen, they'll all be numbered, and you type the number of the choice you want and press e…
So for instance you type "Google" and it shows a bunch of Google-related stock ticker, you click one, then type "earnings" and it shows you some tools that allow you to learn about earnings, graph, project them, etc.
It doesn't look like you can do much better UI-wise even for beginners.
It seems substantially better than Google/Yahoo Finance though, so there could be a market for building a (ad-supported?) website that offers the most common tools with the same quality of the Bloomberg terminal.
One of the most interesting things about the Bloomberg terminal that never seems to get mentioned in all the coverage and commenting is that its UI is optimized for users who actually take the time to go through training. In particular, everything is designed so that you never have to touch the mouse. If there are 20 choices onscreen, they'll all be numbered, and you type the number of the choice you want and press e…
Looking at a video on YouTube of it, it seems it actually has a very modern search-based UI where you type something and it autocompletes/searches commands, and things are clickable by mouse too. So for instance you type "Google" and it shows a bunch of Google-related stock ticker, you click one, then type "earnings" and it shows you some tools that allow you to learn about earnings, graph, project them, etc. It does…
The Bloomberg terminal is awesome! By now its been iterated to a point where it's like the Microsoft Office of Finance. It does everything and there is no way for one person to understand everything it can do. It also has the nice lock in feature of the 20% of features that each person needs is different. This is probably the biggest reason why no one is yet encroaching on their territory. it you trade debt, it has y…
One of the most interesting things about the Bloomberg terminal that never seems to get mentioned in all the coverage and commenting is that its UI is optimized for users who actually take the time to go through training. In particular, everything is designed so that you never have to touch the mouse. If there are 20 choices onscreen, they'll all be numbered, and you type the number of the choice you want and press e…
Well, the Terminal's UI when introduced in the early 1980s was cutting edge, but that meant text mode and keyboards - no GUIs or mice back then. If being launched today, just like back then, it'd be designed to provide both as shallow as possible a learning curve for new users and power and speed for experts. In the 1980s that meant full-screen UI with numeric menus, Go codes, and custom hardware; today, that'd mean…
One of the most interesting things about the Bloomberg terminal that never seems to get mentioned in all the coverage and commenting is that its UI is optimized for users who actually take the time to go through training. In particular, everything is designed so that you never have to touch the mouse. If there are 20 choices onscreen, they'll all be numbered, and you type the number of the choice you want and press e…
Well, the Terminal's UI when introduced in the early 1980s was cutting edge, but that meant text mode and keyboards - no GUIs or mice back then. If being launched today, just like back then, it'd be designed to provide both as shallow as possible a learning curve for new users and power and speed for experts. In the 1980s that meant full-screen UI with numeric menus, Go codes, and custom hardware; today, that'd mean…
Much like Excel.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/podcast-wall-streets-just... - Bloomberg Terminal discussion starts around 5:30.
There are some of us HNers that develop the Terminal software/infrastructure (or used to)... so if there's ever anything you were dying to ask, AMAA. :)
So I imagine Bloomberg must negotiate for access to this data, and that's what I'm really paying for? The actual terminal application is secondary.