
Quora is already “Google Useful” - jasonlbaptiste
http://jasonlbaptiste.com/startups/quora-is-already-google-useful/
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sanj
This is a little too close to JWZ's great truth:

 _So I said, narrow the focus. Your "use case" should be, there's a 22 year
old college student living in the dorms. How will this software get him laid?_

from: <http://www.jwz.org/doc/groupware.html>

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jasonlbaptiste
Wow, ive never seen that article before, but it makes sense. I mean Quora's
goal isn't to get me laid, but it can certainly pass that litmus test ie-
advice from women, how to find a wingwoman,etc.

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watty
What does Quora solve that other existing solutions don't?

<http://www.mahalo.com/>

<http://www.formspring.me>

<http://vark.com/>

<http://answers.yahoo.com/>

<http://www.chacha.com/>

...

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schleyfox
It's invite only. It is more useful than the others because of its high SNR.
It's useful for members of the Silicon Valley echo chamber because it's
entirely populated by members of the Silicon Valley echo chamber.

They seem to also have good usability and cool tech that helps keep thing even
more relevant, but the challenge will come when it is opened to the "How is
babby formed?" Yahoo Answers public.

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rdrimmie
<http://ask.metafilter.com> prevents eternal september by intentionally making
the sign-up process slightly difficult. Rough interface and a $5 fee for new
accounts.

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mbrubeck
And extremely active moderators who are themselves respected, accessible
community members, and who will actually help new users understand why their
posts or comments were deleted and how to act within the social norms.

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paulgb
I think it will be interesting to see whether the answer quality can stay the
same as the userbase expands. Right now it works well because they have a good
set of smart users who contribute answers as well as asking questions. If the
site gets flooded by people who only ask questions, the number of answers per
question will decrease.

Quora actually reminds me a lot of Yahoo Answers back when it first came out.
The community there was smart and quality of answers was high. But they used a
game mechanic to ensure that people answered questions, and so the site became
flooded with bad answers to the point that it is now useless. I really hope
Quora can avoid going this route, as it's a really useful resource as Jason
says.

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mmelin
So, does anyone have a spare invite for those of us who aren't a part of the
Silicon Valley echo chamber?

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mikexstudios
Just sent you an invite to your gmail address.

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sjs382
Anyone else then? :)

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almost
Just sent you one.

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sjs382
Thanks!

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cmelbye
I see that two people have already asked, but does anyone else have an invite?
charles.melbye at gmail

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almost
Sure, sent.

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cmelbye
I didn't receive it, are they backed up right now?

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almost
Check your spam folder, they say they're having delivery problems.

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ElbertF
I have invites, reply with your e-mail address if you want one or e-mail me at
info@elbertf.com.

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jclemenson
Anyone else have a spare invite?

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thinker
I've got a few invites - message me with your email for one

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albemuth
me please, [hn username] at gmail

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ElbertF
I sent you one.

