Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Sunrise is shutting down

blog.sunrise.am

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 139 posts

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#41

Post by colinbartlett »

harlanlewis wrote: post #7
emdd wrote: post #2

Well, this is disappointing. I was late to the Sunrise party, so I've barely been able to use it. I'm not thrilled about heavily integrating Outlook into my future work, so I guess it's off to find another solution.

It's a bit unexpected, but I've found Outlook to be the best iOS email client these days. It's bloated and has quite a few rendering bugs, but for the basic email-as-task-list workflow pioneered by Mailbox et al I haven't come across any current players that are better. Kind of sad that the explosion of clever email and calendar apps a few years ago has collapsed into a handful that aren't as good as we used to have.

Outlook on iOS is great. It used to be called Acompli until it was acquired by Microsoft. I had long hoped all of the Sunrise features would be incorporated into Outlook before Microsoft shut it down, but no such luck.

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#42

Post by pessimizer »

zeveb wrote: post #25
johnatwork wrote: post #11

This is becoming a tiring pattern. I've just gotten used to the UI. Can anyone commit to building a proper business? Is Sustainability no longer a virtue of creating a service/application?

> Can anyone commit to building a proper business? How about we users commit to building the tools we need, and forget about relying on businesses to do it for us? That's what free software is all about — head on over to the Free Software Foundation and pitch in today!

I honestly don't think that Free software can keep up in the short term without a regular dues-paying membership organization behind it. Instead of concentrating on trying to expand interest in software rights, I think the only way forward is to consolidate the already converted. Also, it gives non-developers and non-technical people the ability to feel fully involved.

I wish the Chicago FSF had two or three offices in town, a local administration, weekly meetings, classes daily, and that I could send them $25 a month to remain in good standing.

In the long term Free software can't help but win, unless Stallman gets hit by a bus. Stallman will eventually be hit by a bus.

edit: and by all that I mean that Free Software needs to build a proper business.

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#43

Post by ericcholis »

colinbartlett wrote: post #40

The best part about Sunrise was Meet, its quick little method of booking meetings with someone: https://sunrise.am/meet You'd choose some available times, it gives you a link which you send to whoever you want to meet with, and the recipient books a time slot with a couple of clicks. It updates in real time so if you book something new, the slot disappears. It even has a little iOS keyboard to generate these links. D…

I've used calendly.com with some success.

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#44

Post by untog »

Mithaldu wrote: post #38
untog wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sunrise walked away with an acquihire, users walked away with several years of free service of an app they liked. I get what you're saying here, but the Sunrise team owe their users nothing.

They owed them the honesty of saying at the start: "We never intend to make this an actual product. This is only here to get us attention and hired. If you use this, be aware we'll kill it as soon as anyone hires us."

But who's to say that's what they intended at the start? They may well have entirely expected to make it a successful startup, only to find themselves unable to make the profit required to do so, so they got acquihired.

If you wanted to use an app with open source and a permanent future you should have installed an open source app. Installing a closed source app created by a business and depending on them open sourcing it when the business closes is folly.

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#45

Post by colinbartlett »

ericcholis wrote: post #43
colinbartlett wrote: post #40

The best part about Sunrise was Meet, its quick little method of booking meetings with someone: https://sunrise.am/meet You'd choose some available times, it gives you a link which you send to whoever you want to meet with, and the recipient books a time slot with a couple of clicks. It updates in real time so if you book something new, the slot disappears. It even has a little iOS keyboard to generate these links. D…

I've used calendly.com with some success.

Nice, thanks! And I can pay for it, that's a comforting change.

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#46

Post by aclimatt »

colinbartlett wrote: post #40

The best part about Sunrise was Meet, its quick little method of booking meetings with someone: https://sunrise.am/meet You'd choose some available times, it gives you a link which you send to whoever you want to meet with, and the recipient books a time slot with a couple of clicks. It updates in real time so if you book something new, the slot disappears. It even has a little iOS keyboard to generate these links. D…

Google Calendar supports this natively with Appointment Slots. Choose a time block on the calendar and click "Appointment Slots" in the pop-up.

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#47

Post by basch »

johnatwork wrote: post #11

This is becoming a tiring pattern. I've just gotten used to the UI. Can anyone commit to building a proper business? Is Sustainability no longer a virtue of creating a service/application?

the other one everyone liked met the same fate

http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/29/salesforce-acquires-tempo/

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#48

Post by Mithaldu »

untog wrote: post #44
Mithaldu wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They owed them the honesty of saying at the start: "We never intend to make this an actual product. This is only here to get us attention and hired. If you use this, be aware we'll kill it as soon as anyone hires us."

But who's to say that's what they intended at the start? They may well have entirely expected to make it a successful startup, only to find themselves unable to make the profit required to do so, so they got acquihired. If you wanted to use an app with open source and a permanent future you should have installed an open source app. Installing a closed source app created by a business and depending on them open sourci…

I don't even use it and keep away from software like this. I just recognize the morality involved. But hey, thanks for going the expected route. :)

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#49

Post by basch »

colinbartlett wrote: post #40

The best part about Sunrise was Meet, its quick little method of booking meetings with someone: https://sunrise.am/meet You'd choose some available times, it gives you a link which you send to whoever you want to meet with, and the recipient books a time slot with a couple of clicks. It updates in real time so if you book something new, the slot disappears. It even has a little iOS keyboard to generate these links. D…

Microsoft makes Invite

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/invite-microsoft-garage-proj...

Re: Sunrise is shutting down

#50

Post by ChuckMcM »

Mithaldu wrote: post #34
ChuckMcM wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a valid question, clearly they weren't making enough money to survive as a proper business. Would you have paid more for their service? And if so enough more that the reduction in users covered the cost of operations? One of the things that that comes up a lot with new ventures is that they don't know the answer to those questions when they start, but they do when they either die or succeed. In this case it seems…

Looking at the landscape of startup "businesses" recently it is becoming more clear that the viability of the product is irrelevant, since the goal is to get noticed as good programmers/designers who made a "real" thing and get hired.

You have to be careful slipping into cynicism, I try to guard against it myself. Shipping something is a better indicator of execution than a degree and it does get people noticed, but it would be an overreach I think to suggest that the majority of businesses start out looking to be bought and acqui-hired. Sometimes the idea is bigger than that, and sometimes it isn't.
Post reply on HN