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Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

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Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#21

Post by sho »

davidw wrote: post #11
sho wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, more power to you I suppose. I just see it as laziness on the part of the founder, and I can't overlook it. edit: you can mod me down all you like, swombat, but I'm just stating what I think, and I doubt I am alone.

He actually can't downmod your original comment, because he submitted the story. I don't much care for the name either, but in the long run, I don't think it matters much. "Google" doesn't sound very serious, "Yahoo" speaks for itself. "Micro" "soft" has been the butt of jokes for a while. Unix is a pretty awful name in its own right. And so on and so forth...

"Unix" sounds freaking awesome compared to "Woobius". As do the others. Microsoft is a fantastic name, what are you talking about?

I think more than a few founders here are in denial about their companies' ridiculous names, but whatever, it's not my fight. Hey guys, if modding down my (polite, reasonable) comments makes you feel better about naming your company something a 3-year-old would laugh at, have at it.

[edit: the having-at-it has commenced all right, but are people really defending these crappy names? I might come across as an asshole but I am actually serious here - I think these names are awful! I think they are costing otherwise good companies customers! What is wrong with telling the founder community to try harder?]

Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#22

Post by DannoHung »

joel_feather wrote: post #19
stcredzero wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Niche market? The construction related part of the economy is huge! I think their pricing is just right. By charging more for additional storage space, they have an ideal "try before you buy" situation. Mobile clients might be very useful. Missed collaboration in construction often results in stuff that cost money to put there and more money to correct. The ability for those in the field to get clarification quickly…

Mobile is a waste of time. Mobile apps are too cheap, people can just call each other. And the construction industry is a niche, because we're talking about the intersect of construction and web apps here. The web designer industry is a niche in the overall economy, but it's one of the largest in the web based economiy. The reverse is true for the construction industry. I have experience in selling B2B. Their pricing…

The guy who started this would have been a customer. Maybe he knows a bit more about what customers want the pricing to be.

Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#23

Post by joubert »

sho wrote: post #21
davidw wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He actually can't downmod your original comment, because he submitted the story. I don't much care for the name either, but in the long run, I don't think it matters much. "Google" doesn't sound very serious, "Yahoo" speaks for itself. "Micro" "soft" has been the butt of jokes for a while. Unix is a pretty awful name in its own right. And so on and so forth...

"Unix" sounds freaking awesome compared to "Woobius". As do the others. Microsoft is a fantastic name, what are you talking about? I think more than a few founders here are in denial about their companies' ridiculous names, but whatever, it's not my fight. Hey guys, if modding down my (polite, reasonable) comments makes you feel better about naming your company something a 3-year-old would laugh at, have at it. [edit…

Chill.

Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#24

Post by menloparkbum »

sho wrote: post #21
davidw wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He actually can't downmod your original comment, because he submitted the story. I don't much care for the name either, but in the long run, I don't think it matters much. "Google" doesn't sound very serious, "Yahoo" speaks for itself. "Micro" "soft" has been the butt of jokes for a while. Unix is a pretty awful name in its own right. And so on and so forth...

"Unix" sounds freaking awesome compared to "Woobius". As do the others. Microsoft is a fantastic name, what are you talking about? I think more than a few founders here are in denial about their companies' ridiculous names, but whatever, it's not my fight. Hey guys, if modding down my (polite, reasonable) comments makes you feel better about naming your company something a 3-year-old would laugh at, have at it. [edit…

if modding down my (polite, reasonable) comments

Your initial comment said it would be a "cold day in hell" before you used Woobius and that the name was "utterly stupid." That's an interesting interpretation of polite and reasonable.

Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#25

Post by sho »

menloparkbum wrote: post #24
sho wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Unix" sounds freaking awesome compared to "Woobius". As do the others. Microsoft is a fantastic name, what are you talking about? I think more than a few founders here are in denial about their companies' ridiculous names, but whatever, it's not my fight. Hey guys, if modding down my (polite, reasonable) comments makes you feel better about naming your company something a 3-year-old would laugh at, have at it. [edit…

if modding down my (polite, reasonable) comments Your initial comment said it would be a "cold day in hell" before you used Woobius and that the name was "utterly stupid." That's an interesting interpretation of polite and reasonable.

I don't see what's impolite or unreasonable about that. I really do think the name is stupid, and I really would be prejudiced against a company with a name like that.

I suppose I could have said the name is "suboptimal" or something but why beat about the bush?

Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#26

Post by swombat »

khandekars wrote: post #20

Congratulations. I also read your article about document control, and immediately liked your approach. For example, restricting folders to just one level and not folders-within-folders, seems to have helped you in eliminating gratuitous complexity. Side question out of sheer curiosity: Do you have AutoLISP/ObjectARX plugins that interact with your site?

We don't have such plugins yet, but our system is built with the eventual release of an API in mind (so that any number of clients could connect, not just the Flex client)... if you want to build something that interacts with it, just contact me and I'll see how we can help you.

Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#27

Post by menloparkbum »

sho wrote: post #25
menloparkbum wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if modding down my (polite, reasonable) comments Your initial comment said it would be a "cold day in hell" before you used Woobius and that the name was "utterly stupid." That's an interesting interpretation of polite and reasonable.

I don't see what's impolite or unreasonable about that. I really do think the name is stupid, and I really would be prejudiced against a company with a name like that. I suppose I could have said the name is "suboptimal" or something but why beat about the bush?

Are you my ex-girlfriend?

"You're ugly and stupid!!! I'm not being mean, those are simply the facts!"

Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#28

Post by sho »

menloparkbum wrote: post #27
sho wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see what's impolite or unreasonable about that. I really do think the name is stupid, and I really would be prejudiced against a company with a name like that. I suppose I could have said the name is "suboptimal" or something but why beat about the bush?

Are you my ex-girlfriend? "You're ugly and stupid!!! I'm not being mean, those are simply the facts!"

Never said they were facts, just my opinion.

So, she's free, then ..? :D

Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#29

Post by crowley »

stcredzero wrote: post #16
joel_feather wrote: post #14

The pricing is too low. It's a niche market, people are prepared to pay more for things that work. However, you need to offer desktop clients to upload the files, because I would believe that architects work with pretty large files - uploading using a webform on a website is painful. Also, it's easier to sell an actual piece of software to old school companies than a pure web service. Throw together a 'POST' client i…

Niche market? The construction related part of the economy is huge! I think their pricing is just right. By charging more for additional storage space, they have an ideal "try before you buy" situation. Mobile clients might be very useful. Missed collaboration in construction often results in stuff that cost money to put there and more money to correct. The ability for those in the field to get clarification quickly…

We are looking at the mobile market, but rather than simply adding another interface to access Woobius we are looking at how we can really make mobile technology work for us and our customers. With the inclusion of technology such as GPS receivers, compasses and high speed internet now as standard, we can do much more than mobile voice communication.

Re: Woobius introduces the construction industry to 21st century collaboration

#30

Post by crowley »

joel_feather wrote: post #19
stcredzero wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Niche market? The construction related part of the economy is huge! I think their pricing is just right. By charging more for additional storage space, they have an ideal "try before you buy" situation. Mobile clients might be very useful. Missed collaboration in construction often results in stuff that cost money to put there and more money to correct. The ability for those in the field to get clarification quickly…

Mobile is a waste of time. Mobile apps are too cheap, people can just call each other. And the construction industry is a niche, because we're talking about the intersect of construction and web apps here. The web designer industry is a niche in the overall economy, but it's one of the largest in the web based economiy. The reverse is true for the construction industry. I have experience in selling B2B. Their pricing…

By the same token you could argue that burning CDs and printing out reams of paper to send via couriers is adequate, and that a system of distribution via the internet is a waste of time. Mobile applications aren't necessarily a replacement for voice communication, but rather an enhancement to.

For example, what better way to communicate information that pertains to a particular geographical location than providing a map with the location clearly marked on it? Add photos into the mix, taken on site with their positions marked and even the direction in which the photo was taken and you can save yourself a thousand words.

As for the price of mobile applications, only a small percentage of mobile applications are stand-alone anyway, the majority being integrated with much bigger systems in order to expand, enhance and mobilize the workflow. We don't expect to butter our bread with mobile applications, but we do intend to increase the usability and usefulness of our system.

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