

Ask HN: what types of softwares are needed during (this) great depression - newstartup

Assuming we are in a great depression, what kind of websites can we expect people to really need to use during this time?  I can only think of grocery websites that people can use to find the cheapest food.
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jgilliam
Make Me Dinner - a match making service that would connect people who need
meals with people who can make them, presumably in their neighborhood.

So a single working person indicates what kind of food they like, and mom who
cooks for a family of 6 adds a couple extra portions to what she makes that
night and delivers it to a couple neighbors. That pays for her whole family.
Chefs could post updates of what they're cooking that night, and people could
"follow" their favorite chefs and pick from the meals available. Chefs build
reputations, etc. It's like the ebay for food service.

It builds local community, creates opportunity for people to start their own
micro-business, and it works really well in a recession -- people spend less
eating out, and people who need money can make some.

The potential challenges are city/state laws around food inspection, that
would all have to be investigated and figured out. There are lots of caterers
and personal chefs, so I assume there's a way to navigate all of that.

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dbul
My friend Chris at MIT wanted me to make something like this for him and a
dozen of his classmates thinking it would be simple. When we specked it out,
it turns out it is not simple because you need to account for several
circumstances like schedule changes and whether someone is vegetarian. I
decided to build it into part of a larger project I'm working on. I think it
is a great idea. Just cook one meal every week or two and go over a neighbor's
house to enjoy a meal the other days of the week.

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DannoHung
lootr - CRM software for thieves and scrappers.

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HeyLaughingBoy
Do you have _any_ idea what a depression is like?

In a depression, the game is changed to such an extent that you'd be hard
pressed to predict what people would need. Instead, go outside and ask them.
They'll be easy to spot: lying in the gutters, begging for change, an in line
at the soup kitchens.

So we'll need software to manage food usage at those soup kitchens, track
incoming supplies to the homeless shelters, and good disease management tools.
In short, pretty similar to disaster management software!

Good enough answer? Yeah, I know I'm getting snarky in my old age :-)

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shaunxcode
What about ad-hoc collaborative gardening/crop sharing? Skill sharing, car
pooling and generally anything that fosters real community would do well I
should imagine.

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newstartup
i think there are many car pooling websites out there already. But skill
sharing would be cool; post/barter your skills. I can only think of craigslist
as a good place to barter your skills

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noodle
<http://www.timebanks.org/>

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codeodor
It's a great question that we should all be thinking about, especially the
entrepreneurial among us. But -- even given my short time here -- I'm
surprised it didn't get killed due to the liberally editorial headline.

As for "Make Me Dinner" I read recently about doing on one of the "frugal"
blogs that Lifehacker quotes from a lot about doing something like that. I
can't recall if there was a website for it.

When looking for the actual post, I didn't find it, but I did find another one
that I thought might make a nice website, (and which I was going to look for
next), along the same lines of your question: the Swapluck (instead of pot-
luck) [http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/04/start-a-
swapluc...](http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/04/start-a-swapluck-to-
share-the-things-you-make-and-do/)

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markessien
This is not a depression, but an idea that would work is the house listing
idea. Prices are going down, so speculators are going to rush to purchase.

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quoderat
A site listing foreclosed and abandoned homes for squatting?

Or perhaps the same for gardening?

A house trading site so that you can trade houses with someone where your and
their job prospects are better?

A better roommate matching site than any one I've seen so far?

A kid-sitting exchange site?

A more-local Ebay (not like Craig's List), more like the Ebay of old?

Apprenticeships?

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vaksel
an iphone app that tells you where the soup kitchen is

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njoubert
i couldn't help but laugh at this, but actually, mobile apps that can deliver
up-to-date information on where things are, might be really useful. Since a
large part of the great depression is a lack of "things you need"...

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stevejalim
How about an iPhone app for when the oil runs out, that shows you which fuel
stations still have fuel? ;o)

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wlievens
Fuel is abundant right now, that's a symptom of this crisis.

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FiReaNG3L
Common Sense Software, many people who created this mess could use it

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startuprules
lol i hope electroshock interface is mandatory

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andreyf
Well, if Google trends is any indicator of interest:
<http://google.com/trends?q=porn>

