
Show HN: Whimsical – Get anything done, via SMS - jameshk
https://whimsical.io/index.html
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ComputerGuru
I am sorry for being so blunt, but makers of things like this are the very
dregs of startup society.

Cloning an idea concept-for-concept screenshot-for-screenshot that was posted
just a month ago and went viral just hoping to capitalize on a previous
company's success is pathetic. It might be successful (i.e. given that this
includes zero original effort, any amount of income could be termed
"success"), but it is despicable and should not be encouraged or even
condoned.

Taking an existing service and cloning it for a different userbase (e.g.
making Twitter for China or Facebook for Jordan) are pretty lame and rank
near-zero on the scales of creativity and respect. But something like this,
that makes absolutely zero effort to differentiate itself in any way, shape,
or form, hoping to only take leftovers from an existing (and original)
service, and maybe someday overtake them via sheer brute force or persistence,
are shameless and insulting.

But I think most of all, what irks me is that the OP has the gall to post this
as "Show HN" which has traditionally been the "let me show you something COOL
or INSPIRING that I did" \- do you really think no one here will catch that
this is an exact clone of Magic and there's absolutely zero substance to it?
It's insulting.

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shawabawa3
How many search engines were there before google? Social networks before
Facebook?

All startups are a copy in 1 form or another. Afaik Magic had major problems
that essentially made it a non-service. If this one actually works, and people
want it, whats the problem?

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minimaxir
> _All startups are a copy in 1 form or another. Afaik Magic had major
> problems that essentially made it a non-service. If this one actually works,
> and people want it, whats the problem?_

That's all the more reason to be skeptical, since the service does not provide
any information as to how it would avoid Magic's pitfalls.

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vishaldpatel
I don't understand all this hate. Unlike US-only offerings, Whimsical is a
service that's trying to open up to readers of Hacker News from other
countries.

As some have already pointed out, it is not easy to go International.

On top of that, I'm sure by now you've realized that HackerNews has many
international readers and they'd be very happy to see services that were
previously only in the US with no plans of going international have some
International competition.

I'm sorry that some of you are not entertained, but for the rest of us,
HackerNews is a great place to Show and talk about what we're working on and
get advice on how we could do it better!

~~~
jameshk
Thank you for your constructive criticism. I never intended for this to offend
or anger anyone. I just wanted to build a service, that people who lived in
Canada could use.

I'm sorry if this has angered anyone.

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oliv__
Sorry to say this but I hate to see services that just pop up to clone
something existing (and that barely even started) without adding any value.

"Oh that's a good idea, lemme just change the name real quick, whip out the
same website with a stock nyc image and post a link on HN"

~~~
Raphmedia
That's the market for you.

If we are lucky, things will get less expensive and quality will go up for
both products.

~~~
minimaxir
The problem is that there'a an explicit floor to the price: it can't be less
than what the service pays to subcontract the request, or the service will
lose money on the transaction.

The little margins present will be eaten away. (Unless subsidized by venture
capital like all the other startups with similar models)

~~~
noir_lord
If there are multiple players in the market such that you can't make a profit
then you leave the market as will others until either a) the market stabilizes
(or a clear brand winner emerges) b) disappears because it's fundamentally
unprofitable.

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minimaxir
I'm pretty sure b) is already the case (Magic said they break even on
transactions, which means they are losing money due to cost of human capital)

~~~
avalaunch
I don't think that means it's fundamentally unprofitable. It's a pretty
standard strategy to grow the market by subsidizing early adopters. They can
try to raise prices over time or benefit from economics of scale. Perhaps, for
example, when they get to a certain size, they'll have enough clout to get
discounts on the various services they utilize.

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jstanley
Is this a Magic clone?

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avalaunch
Was Magic a Jarvis clone?

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minimaxir
No; the value proposition of Magic is that it's accountless and can be done on
an _ad hoc_ basis. Jarvis bills monthly:
[https://jarv.co/plans](https://jarv.co/plans)

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devonoel
Yeah, I thought Magic was pretty cool too.

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jwcrux
How is this any different than Magic?

~~~
minimaxir
Apparently, because it's Canada/US/UK instead of US only.

...which I'm not sure is actually an advantage, because it would make customer
support 100x as difficult if something goes wrong in _another country._

~~~
smacleod
> Apparently, because it's Canada/US/UK instead of US only.

...which I'm extremely happy about. I've emailed magic several times asking if
they will ever support Canada, or if I could use it in Canada with my US
credit card - I've received 0 responses.

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asenna
At first,I was like "oh, the magic team did some rebranding."

And then I realized this was actually a complete clone, right to the
screenshot.

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frakkingcylons
It's easier to read the phone number and dial if you format it like
(###)-###-#### instead of ##########.

~~~
jameshk
Yeah, I pull the number in via a JS api, and just changed it last minute. It
used to be like that, I'll get on it. Thanks!

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humanarity
It's like an API aggregator for the real world. Wow. Like Magic. I think
Quintessentially has something similar, tho Whimsical (and Magic) seem to have
democratised concierge (possibly with rational pricing.) Cool.

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downandout
So now I guess I need to build a service that compares prices for what you
request between these two, and the next hundred knockoffs. I'll call it
Witchcraft.

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jameshk
You pay via an SSL link to a page with a Stripe payment form, for those want
to know.

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vishaldpatel
It's great to see that this is going to support Canada! =)

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beachwood23
What is the advantage of your service vs Magic?

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jameshk
I'll update the screenshots, ASAP. Thanks!

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nekinie
Whats the UK number?

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jameshk
Give me a minute.

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nekinie
any news?

~~~
jameshk
Really sorry, we're having some issues!

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hammeiam
Well done!

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jameshk
Thanks, if that was not sarcasm.

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hammeiam
It wasn't, though it seems to have been downvoted like it was.

~~~
jameshk
Ah, thank you for the kind words.

