3 ms·
Ask HN: Has someone already built ShowMeNow?
So, I recently ran into a frustration with Google Maps. I was looking for a specific store that was far out of my way, so I wanted to know if the store was still there and open. StreetView could show me a picture of the storefront from about a year ago, but that was too old. What I needed was a snapshot of that address right now.
Has someone already built a service that delivers this? Between smartphones with cameras and GPS on the one hand and data centers on the other, I don't see any insuperable technical hurdle.
I did some searching and couldn't find anything that seemed quite right.
- jontas 10y agoCould you not just call the store? I don't see how this could possibly work, even with smartphones, cameras, GPS, and data centers.
- iKnowKungFoo 10y agoOr maybe call a business on the same street? Next door?
- sharemywin 10y agoYou could do it with task rabbit. You could pay someone $10-$20 to run where you need an see if they're open.
- forgingahead 10y agoThis is the right answer.
- jeffmould 10y agoYelp is actually fairly good at keeping up to date on the status of whether stores are still open or not, especially if the store has been open for some time. But aside from that, why not just call and ask like someone else said.