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HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

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Re: HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

#81

Post by jeffool »

I'd like to see a home server. A central computer hooked to everything shouldn't be a pipedream. It should be hooked to the media center, handheld devices, thermostat and security.

Why shouldn't cable tv go to my computer, which then controls my dvr for the home, and also incoming video/video/audio calls through the media venter, or handhelds, as preferences determine.

Stream a desktop or any media to any hardware you have or buy with a login and password.

(The deaf community already uses third party set top boxes for video calls. I bet there's room for a platform agnostic solution there alone. Maybe a good open source project for someone.)

Re: HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

#82

Post by Zikes »

the_watcher wrote: post #11

When I'm in the grocery store, looking for an obscure item (cheese cloth is the one that made me think of this). Build me a mobile app to search and get info on where in the store the item is.

This is a particularly difficult problem, one that I actually happen to be involved with at the moment.

The short answer is that crowdsourcing is thus far ineffective, as there is as yet no suitable reward for tracking down where every single obscure product is in each store (and it will vary from store to store, even within the same chains). This means it's up to each individual chain to create their own item locator system.

Walmart is currently working on this.

Re: HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

#83

Post by Zikes »

reddit_clone wrote: post #60
the_watcher wrote: post #11

When I'm in the grocery store, looking for an obscure item (cheese cloth is the one that made me think of this). Build me a mobile app to search and get info on where in the store the item is.

How about asking one of the store employees lurking about? (Your idea is indeed pretty cool. It would be nice if your smartphone walked you up to the item you are looking for. But I don't see a positive cost/benefit factor. It will be needed only on rare occasions.) I can see this being useful in large libraries too.

Some of the positive cost/benefit factors will arise as a result of the data necessary to create such a system.

By knowing where every single item is in a store, you can create efficient routes through that store to make your shopping trip only as long as is necessary.

Also, in some big-box stores an employee may not be familiar with items outside of their assigned area. They may only be able to direct you to the general vicinity, or have to call in some additional help.

Re: HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

#84

Post by JonLim »

Zikes wrote: post #82
the_watcher wrote: post #11

When I'm in the grocery store, looking for an obscure item (cheese cloth is the one that made me think of this). Build me a mobile app to search and get info on where in the store the item is.

This is a particularly difficult problem, one that I actually happen to be involved with at the moment. The short answer is that crowdsourcing is thus far ineffective, as there is as yet no suitable reward for tracking down where every single obscure product is in each store (and it will vary from store to store, even within the same chains). This means it's up to each individual chain to create their own item locato…

Curious: are you involved with Walmart in the creation of the problem?

If so, are you guys using that RFID system that was being used for keeping tabs on stock levels at all times?

Re: HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

#85

Post by JonLim »

Suan wrote: post #52

A controllable, smartphone-based car entertainment system. Any smartphone could be plugged in via a USB-like cable which transfers I/O, audio and power. The car's up/down/left/right "radio" buttons would then control like/dislike/next/previous for Pandora-like apps running on the phone. Throw in another 2 buttons or so for other functions. There would be an open "key-mapping" standard which would be implemented in th…

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you would be looking for, but this popped up on Kickstarter a while ago and it's a good start.

Dash: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/devium/dash-the-smart-ph...

Re: HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

#86

Post by trbecker »

Mystalic wrote: post #44
waterlesscloud wrote: post #15

Substantially increased battery life. Seems to be one of the major factors holding back energy solutions and a true explosion of mobile device use.

I think wireless power -- rather than more efficient batteries -- is the long-term solution.

Graphene seems promising too.

Re: HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

#88

Post by jasonlotito »

designlatte wrote: post #39
jasonlotito wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On this note, as someone who just moved from Canada with a special-needs child, and let me tell you, the US is light-years ahead of Canada. You mentioned you are healthy, so I can only assume your experience is fairly limited. Myself, and mostly my wife, have experienced both of these systems (coming back to the US just last year), and she absolutely loves the American system. Having seen the results myself, I can't…

Hi there :) I wanted to clarify, I'm not talking about the quality of care. I'm talking about just the act of choosing which health care you should get and then keeping up with all the paperwork once you're sick. I've been outside of Canada for the past 12 years, but when I've gone to the doctor in the states for something as simple as stitches or a bad cold, I've always been amazed at how complicated it is in terms…

Gotcha. =) I have a knee-jerk reaction when someone starts promoting Canada over US healthcare. I blame Canada for that, not the person.

As for the health care in the US, a lot of that is based on your carrier. Shop around! You aren't stuck with a single health care provider, and you can choose your doctors. My wife was amazed that after she went to one doctor, she was asked if she wanted to continue to see that doctor, or wanted to try someone else.

She's the one that deals with this on a day to day basis, so I trust her in this department. She also mentioned that here, people are so much more willing to help with any paperwork that might arise. And considering all the paperwork she's done to get my son the care he needs, she knows what she's talking about.

That's not to say things couldn't be easier.

> I was just totally blind as I was choosing which insurance to get.

So many choices! Yep. It can be overwhelming. My wife abused the help line of our insurance provider, and our companies rep the first few months. She'd call at least once a week with questions. However, she found that generally, they were more than willing to walk her through everything, and in some cases, did it right over the phone on her behalf.

Re: HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

#89

Post by Zikes »

JonLim wrote: post #84
Zikes wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a particularly difficult problem, one that I actually happen to be involved with at the moment. The short answer is that crowdsourcing is thus far ineffective, as there is as yet no suitable reward for tracking down where every single obscure product is in each store (and it will vary from store to store, even within the same chains). This means it's up to each individual chain to create their own item locato…

Curious: are you involved with Walmart in the creation of the problem? If so, are you guys using that RFID system that was being used for keeping tabs on stock levels at all times?

I'm in the department that handles the layout of the store's major hardware fixtures. Not quite merchandise-level, but some of our projects overlap projects that deal with this from time to time.

I know we've researched the RFID solution extensively, and last I heard it would require installation of high-powered RFID readers throughout all the stores, as well as buy-in from all our suppliers to include RFID in their product packaging, so it wasn't quite viable.

I think currently the plan is to "number" all the aisles (departments other than grocery get letter-number labels) and then have the store employees scan in all the items for each aisle. Last time I was in Store 100 in Bentonville they seemed to be piloting that.

Re: HN: Name a problem, any problem, you'd like to see someone solve

#90

Post by ZenSurfer »

Facebook filter:

Situation: I have over 1,000 friends and ff several hundred twitter feeds. I end up seeing too much bs (spam ads, useless topics, and miss out on important info. Good events, interesting posts) I want something that can sort out my twitter feeds and facebook feeds and show me whats important while de-emphasizing od even junking the rest. Sort of like a spam filter for facebook and twitter

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