
Show HN: Mead – how I'm pushing back against Medium - callahanrts
https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.meadapp.com&#x2F;<p>TLDR; Mead is a special case static site generator that automates the process of compiling and uploading to <i>your</i> S3 account.<p>Mead is a desktop application that combines the flexibility of static site generators (Jekyll, Hugo, etc) with Medium&#x27;s ease of publishing. I created Mead because I wanted to write more and the present options put up too many obstacles.<p>Like many others, I don&#x27;t like the experience Medium offers to readers. Modals and banners distract the user from engaging with the content and in some cases, prevents them entirely.<p>Static site generators are great in terms of their flexibility. They&#x27;re the only way we can fully control what trackers and advertisements readers are exposed to.  However, the writing process is a bit cumbersome. I often forget the commands I need to run, and I&#x27;d like to not have to run 3 git commands every time I notice a typo.<p>Mead, at its core, prioritizes simplicity. It was made so I could easily open up an app on my computer, write some text, add an image (automatically uploading to S3), paste in a code snippet, click a button, and have the whole thing public without any other effort.<p>Mead is also an experiment in creating a product that does not need advertisements or trackers to continue existing. My goal here is to fully respect the privacy of others. If I&#x27;m failing in some way, please gently point it out and I will make the necessary corrections.<p>If you have any comments, feedback, or feature requests, please feel free to reach out. My email is [my username] at gmail
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dandigangi
I don't understand pricing models that limit the amount of posts you can make.
That literally stops the user from doing the thing that was the whole point of
doing the thing.

(Yes, wrote that like that on purpose)

Cool that you launched and want to build a business 100% but reconsider your
features vs cost design and the value you want to deliver. You'll have a lot
better chance at building a solid platform to push back on the monetary
building tactics Medium has been pushing the hard the past couple years.

Limit on things like custom domains, customization, or tack on features that
aid in growth or marketing if you want to wrap cost up in gained
features/value by paying.

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callahanrts
Admittedly, limiting the free plan by posts was the laziest way I could keep
from giving everything away for free. As the app matures, I'll be adjusting
plan features and pricing to match what the market desires.

Thanks for your honest feedback and letting me know which features you find
value in.

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weego
You need 'oh damn I didn't know I needed that' features to be able price
something, that people can get elsewhere, in a way that makes a viable
business. The market desires everything for nothing and always will so waiting
on the market to inform you pricing structure is super risky.

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timwis
I agree with your sentiment and congrats on the launch. I have a few questions
for feedback:

1\. Why S3 rather than an entirely free service like netlify, github pages, or
surge?

2\. Isn't one of the main advantages of medium the discovery element? As a
reader of medium, I get connected to articles from new authors based on my
interests. As an author, readers are connected to me who may not have
otherwise heard of me.

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callahanrts
Thank you! These are great questions

> Why S3 rather than an entirely free service like netlify, github pages, or
> surge?

I wanted to start with something that was simple and scalable. At one point I
tried using github for hosting, but managing commits got a bit complicated.
There are also some limitations on repository size. Although it wouldn't
become an issue for a long time if images were uploaded to S3 and the content
to github, I would have had to integrate with multiple platforms.

I am open to adding additional hosting solutions, but I wanted to launch to
get a pulse on what folks would like those options to be.

> Isn't one of the main advantages of medium the discovery element?

This is definitely one of the main values that Medium has to offer. It's also
not the only reason people want to share their thoughts. I wanted to offer the
flexibility to own your content and not be locked in to a platform (All HTML
files for your site remain in your control). There are a lot of ways to
promote your content, if Medium happens to work best for some folks, It could
be a good idea to cross post on Medium.

As Mead evolves, I'm open to making promotion of your content on other
services easier and in as many cases as possible, automated.

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ad404b8a372f2b9
I was interested in trying it out as I already use Hugo + S3 for hosting with
my own scripts but the added value is just not worth the cost and the free
tier is not viable at all. By that I mean other online services that offer a
free tier generally make it so it's a viable option with fewer features. Your
free tier might as well be non-existent, none of your tech-focused audience is
going to use a blogging service that allows them only 5 posts and no access to
CSS.

I hope I don't sound too harsh, seems like a good idea overall.

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quickthrower2
I’d replace the word “Free” with “Try it out” because it looks more like a
tier to make sure it’s worth paying for rather than something you’d
perpetually use. That way the plan can be kept tight.

That said, I’d consider opening up the free tier to be almost the same
features as pro except you need to include the a “get Mead” banner on the
site.

