

Versal - HTML5 education platform (splash) - nicklovescode
http://versal.com

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simonsarris
At the risk of being rude, this website really couldn't say anything less.

* What is it about? An education platform for who? Without clicking "sign up" I haven't the faintest clue. What am I signing up for? A visualization library? A tutoring system?

Other materials say "The Education OS", and that used to be in the <title>,
but I guess it was scrubbed. (If you'd like to view the older landing page, I
uploaded the image: <http://i.imgur.com/BHYlR.png>)

* HTML5 what? I didn't see anything that wasn't possible before HTML5 on any of the pages, and the only mentions are in biographies. Why put it in the title if only to tease us? That makes it feel like linkbait.

* About: "We'll be ready to share more details next year." Wouldn't it be better if you waited to submit until then?

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ghc
I find it hard to imagine how I could be less impressed with this landing
page, even if it does look pretty nice. In this age of launchrock pages that
usually amount to nothing, I expect more of an HN post than a vacuous mission
statement and email signup button from any serious startup!

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mikebannister
trying playing with the formula on the graph gadget, then dream big!

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nickmain
Are you trying to replicate Geogebra or Desmos ?

~~~
mikebannister
Neither, small sample of bigger dream

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tokenadult
Education reform is the issue that drew me here to Hacker News,

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4728123>

so I am very interested in the new project mentioned in this thread. I'll look
forward to hearing more about it.

AFTER EDIT: I can confirm that a bug I reported on this site by how I first
posted my comment has been fixed. Thanks.

AFTER FURTHER EDIT: I agree with the other comments posted here that the
website developers might as well say as much of what they already know about
their company as possible, the better to satisfy website visitor curiosity.
Not everyone will be as motivated as I am to sign up for information from a
sparse new website. I also wonder if the design is a responsive site design,
as one of my browsers shows a horizontal scrollbar that doesn't appear to be
strictly necessary. Following up on that comment, some HN participants say
they don't see the horizontal scrolling behavior on their browswers. I see it
on Chrome, on the Web-reading monitor in my two-monitor setup, at the default
zoom I usually have set. I see the horizontal scrollbar briefly appear, and
then resolve away, on another browser on my wider monitor (usually used for my
text editor) as I zoom in. Probably the media query needs a bit more tweaking
in the site's CSS.

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pplante
it appears to be responsive for me in chrome on my mac, and my android phone.

but i agree with your point about the site not really containing much
information. its certainly not enough to entice me to sign up. there should be
more of a sales pitch before capturing an email. i guess right now they are
looking for anyone with an email address?

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nicklovescode
We're not releasing too much at this point, but wanted to have something
publicly available. We're working hard, and should have something more visible
in the next few months!

It should be responsive, it works for me on my laptop and phone.

~~~
pplante
not to nit-pick too much, but these splash pages are really getting old quick.
im a huge supporter of customer development. splash pages these days are so
devoid of information that i question their value.

this is a trend amongst so many "stealth mode" startups that i really wish
would just go away. if you're not ready to show the world yet, no problem, but
i have to question the effectiveness of these pages.

on the other hand when meeting with first customers i guess having something
up is better than nothing?

/rantaboutsplashpagesthatihate

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zerovox
Interested to find out what versal is about, but the widget on the homepage
doesn't seem to be working correctly. I'd expect:

    
    
      sin(2x)/2 == sin(2*x)/2
      sin(x) + sin(x) == 2*sin(x) 
      and none of sin(x^2)/2, sin(x*x)/2, sin(x)+cos(x) are correct.

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nobbis
If you want an HTML5 graphing calculator that handles all of these correctly,
try: <https://www.desmos.com/calculator/rcnzvu4zh2>

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winkerVSbecks
This sounds like the BS that "social media" experts say. All fluff and no
meaning. The website gives zero information about what they are doing while
using some key buzzwords. It just reeks of an opportunist salesman trying to
make some money by selling people snake oil.

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fnordfnordfnord
landing page feedback: I thought about signing up. Clicked 'signup' and was
greeted by a dialog that would only allow me to select 'Javascript Developer'
which I am not, nor do I wish to be. I'd like to choose 'Educator' but that
choice was also not avaiable.

~~~
nicklovescode
sorry - it is fixed now.

