
New seat alert app for pregnant commuters - samwillis
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38690811
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mosselman
My pregnant wife has a similar app, it is called 'her mouth'. It is
revolutionary: you go up to people and you simply state 'Hello, I am sorry,
would you mind letting me sit here? I am pregnant.'

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kome
what's her business plan? how will she monetize?

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robjan
More to the point, how will she integrate this with the latest NoSQL GraphQL
SaaS written in Go lang?

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test1235
What industry is she trying disrupt? Who are the early adopters? How many
months to series A or angel investment, or will this be a crowdfunded
innovation? Are we aiming for a possible unicorn/narwhal/decacorn here?

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Waterluvian
How will she ever fit into silicon valley culture without all these things ?!

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vanattab
When did HN become reddit?

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Y201K
When Uber for pets became "seat alert app for pregnant commuters"

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mulrian
I don't get it. The whole concept only works if there are people who have
deliberately installed the free version so that they actually get the
notifications. Seems like a whole lot of work and £3.99 for a very small
chance of anyone actually noticing.

If you're pregnant and want my seat then just ask me - I'll always happily
give it up.

~~~
onion2k
I don't think it's reasonable to assume that the company behind this app did
_no_ research into the problem. It's possible that they didn't, but it's also
possible that they asked pregnant women what problems they faced and
discovered that actually getting a seat by asking people doesn't work as often
as we'd like to think. That would be a really interesting discovery - on the
face of it the problem _shouldn 't_ exist, but maybe it actually does, and
it's a big problem. Maybe women have found they've asked people and been
verbally abused in response, so they're reticent about asking again in the
future.

The lesson here for me, as a man who will never face the problem of not
finding a seat when I'm pregnant, is that there are huge problem spaces that I
have _no_ insight in to.

This is an minimum viable product for a problem that I don't understand or
have knowledge of. It won't work in every situation, and there are some huge
problems to resolve in getting enough traction for it to be genuinely useful,
but if this problem exists (and I'm willing to accept that it does) then I see
this as a positive step forwards.

~~~
problems
I doubt you have absolutely no insight into it - you've probably given up your
seat a few times. I have at least, and usually without a single word being
spoken. I've witnessed it and done it dozens of times, yet I've never seen
anyone get belligerent about it.

~~~
onion2k
I've seen a pregnant woman ask for someone to give up their seat _maybe_ 20
times in my life. A pregnant woman probably has more experience of that
situation in a week. So, while I can't think of an occasion where I've
witnessed a woman asking for a seat being denied one, I have such a small
amount of experience of the problem that my input is worthless.

This is a really common situation with most startup ideas. If you ask people
who have no information about the problem what they think you'll get feedback
that isn't worth anything. This is one of the reasons why getting good
feedback is hard.

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mnkypete
Not to be that guy, but what happened to being a decent human being and just
getting up for pregnant women and elderly people? Do we really need an app for
that now?

As a founder I really do see lot's of value in technology to drive our society
forwards, but I just can't wrap my head around some stuff..

~~~
jgrahamc
I have literally once offered my seat to a pregnant woman on the Tube in
London and it turned out that she was just overweight round the middle and not
pregnant. It was extremely embarrassing for both of us.

I greatly appreciate the women who wear these badges:
[https://tfl.gov.uk/forms/23479.aspx](https://tfl.gov.uk/forms/23479.aspx)
because it makes it unambiguous. It can honestly be hard on a packed London
underground train to tell the difference between a pregnant woman and someone
who is simply overweight.

~~~
supergreg
That happens to me and elderly people. I never know when they are elderly
enough to offer my seat.

~~~
colanderman
My rule is, if they use a cane or walker, are visibly hunched, are steadying
themselves with both hands, or seem to be actively looking for a seat, I get
up. Otherwise no. (The older population in Boston is pretty fit; if I offered
my seat to everyone with grey hair I think I'd insult quite a few perfectly
hale people.)

Also, pregnant women tend to hold their bellies. Overweight people don't. And
if you accidentally offer your seat to someone who's chubby and has
indigestion, well just tell them they looked like they had indigestion.

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noja
The kind of person who will install this app (as a non-pregnant person) is the
kind of person who will give up their seat without being asked.

Edit: having said that, if they are looking at their phone or reading then
maybe this app _would_ work.

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dcre
The fact that a human reporter can write this article without including a
single note of skepticism is truly sad.

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stpe
You could discuss the viability of how and if the app would work in a real
setting. But maybe the app already set out to do what it was meant to do - to
raise awareness about pregnant commuters (check - they got covered by the
BBC), or (cynical, but more realistic) - the innovation agency got to show off
how innovative they are and can use some nice "featured by the BBC" in their
marketing communication.

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roesel
I read "New seat alert app for pregnant computers" and was disapointed after
following the link. Such clickbait. So wow.

(Also, I don't get why you'd spend 4 pounds and hope for other people who are
not pregnant to have done so as well, even though the same can be achieved by
speaking. Not everything needs an app.)

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donmatito
I like how everybody here would of course, no problem, don't-even-ask give
their seat to pregnant women.

And then when pregnant women ask for seats out of exhaustion and embarassment,
they hear "no, that's my seat", and it's the elderly lady two rows farther who
gets up.

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nns
In London, Transport for London (TFL), who run the Underground Network (and
some other train lines), already provide a 'Baby on Board' batch:

[https://tfl.gov.uk/forms/23479.aspx](https://tfl.gov.uk/forms/23479.aspx)

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richieb
You need an app to give your seat up to a pregnant woman?! WTF? What happened
to manners?

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mtw
I'm not sure it will work. Did the BBC even test the app? A few pregnant women
might know about the app, but the rest of passenger in a bus or on a subway
won't likely have it. Or they have it because they are pregnant.

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zerohm
This app is just a fine publicity gimmick on the part of the developers. This
happens a lot! Will get loads of news stories, Facebook shares and likes but
make not a joy of difference to anything.

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gaius
Giving profits to charity... It would be good to know what that actually is,
it could be 1p per download when the accountants are done. The article has
conflicting claims in it!

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swingbridge
This seems like technology in search of a problem, and they've chosen a
problem that already has a solution--just ask. God forbid we speak to each
other.

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Dowwie
Social decency apps? Has the whole world gone crazy!?

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miguelrochefort
Every time a new app is released, I die a little inside. There are too many,
this is crazy. Does anyone truly believe this model can scale?

This app is a perfect example.

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ljk
too passive-aggressive for my taste

