

Reminder to HN: Think "how will this software get my users laid?" - YuriNiyazov
http://www.jwz.org/doc/groupware.html

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icey
This is old advice, users now know how to use the internet to get laid. The
next trick: How can they make their crazy exes stop finding them when the
internet is forever?

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tokenadult
There is more than one human biological drive. The behaviors driven by
evolutionarily prompted tendencies to reproduce are well-liked behaviors, on
which one can build a profitable business model, but even celibate people have
to eat and sleep. A product that reliably brings about a good night's sleep
(either before or after sex) would still be a killer product, even if if had
no direct effect on the user's love life.

~~~
jrockway
But as jwz notes, nobody actually wants checking a checkbox to be approved by
multiple committees. It _sounds_ like a good idea when you're writing the spec
(what if a dumb employee checks a checkbox he shouldn't!!!!111!!!), but no
real person fantasizes about having this sort of feature available in
software.

In reality, people check things that affect them even if there is no explicit
approval flow. "Why did you order that extra monitor" at budget time is a lot
less work that having 6 bosses sign a form every time someone needs a pencil.
Not on paper, but in real life.

~~~
wladimir
I fully agree. The problem is that these kinds of systems are generally pushed
by IT and upper management in large companies. That's where the money is. And
they don't really have a grasp how things work in the lower echelons, they
must have some twisted idea that employees get more productive by clicking
checkboxes and workflow buttons all day.

~~~
neutronicus
I think the real attraction to upper management is blame management. Job
security probably motivates the obsession with checkboxes, etc. more than any
desire to see the lower echelons more productive.

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bigtones
This is a very insightful piece considering it's from 6 years ago.

"Social software" is about making it easy for people to do other things that
make them happy: meeting, communicating, and hooking up.

Wow, thats basically a Facebook manifesto, albeit 6 months after TheFacebook
was launched (but when it was still very small and relatively unknown).

Pretty insightful stuff from JWZ.

~~~
cookiecaper
Facebook has replaced Evite, but it really doesn't do calendaring in any
meaningful way. JWZ seems to be talking about software that make serendipitous
real-life interaction easier and better; Facebook seems to mostly have the
effect of isolating people all day, replacing parties and Monopoly for wall
posts and Cityville. There's still a lot of room to improve.

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ericxtang
There are plenty of successful enterprise software providers and there always
will be. It really depends on the expertise of the founding team. The product
just has to make sense. Some companies stop at the point when the purchase
decision make likes the product and stops innovating (or they call move
towards scaling, i.e. devote all resources to sales), and that's when they
lose their edge.

~~~
pavel_lishin
> The product just has to make sense.

Or have a really really really good marketing team, and be really really
really hard to migrate away from.

Lock in enough people, and you're a success!

~~~
pdaviesa
You must work for Oracle, the best sales & marketing organization in the
world.

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forkandwait
Facebook didn't invent social software (AOL was in the business of helping an
earlier nerdy generation hook up), they just (at first) made it exclusive.

(But now my 60 y/o aunt from Ohio -- literally -- is on Facebook. So much for
that ...)

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BrandonM
Ohio is a big place. There are even cool people here.

~~~
forkandwait
Why-Oh-Why-Oh-Why-Oh? ;)

... I would happily move back (I have a Cleveland birth cert and I lived in
Cinci for a while). Sorry to be a flip coastal snob ...

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bigiain
" ... and I came back here and told the other guys what you had said, and they
were all, `Oh, fuck. He's right.'"

I suspect JWZ hears that quite often...

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usaar333
"My software will realize huge cost savings for your company, resulting in a
huge bonus for you and a very happy wife at home".

... pitch in progress

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ladon86
> Your "use case" should be, there's a 22 year old college student living in
> the dorms. How will this software get him laid?

Awesome, I think I've done this. My software lets the student pay to sit with
a girl he likes at dinner, anonymously.

I posted a link, but have removed it so as not to hijack the more general
point of the thread.

~~~
PebblesRox
I liked the movie, but it seemed to cut off suddenly before it was quite
finished. I also wished there was a way to make it fullscreen.

~~~
ladon86
Oh! I think it's because I'm using the 'chromeless' YouTube player, not very
usable. Double click for full screen, single click for play and pause. I'll
fix that, thanks for the heads up.

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johnnyjustice
I am disheartened by my lone attitude in this but I really love this idea.
This a awesome way to think about developing software or really any product.
This is an amazing mindset to have. How will my product, service, or software
make my consumer more of a bad ass? I love it

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mkramlich
I'm helping one startup currently that in some way can help with this. Not
directly/explicitly, but close.

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joe6pack
Get them made, paid, or laid, that is.

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cletus
> 15-Feb-2005 (tue); 8:21 PM

This should really have (2005) in the title.

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Charuru
I guess I'm in trouble. My software does the opposite of helping people get
laid. It's related to anime.

