4 ms·

Please review our startup Favetop.com - Internet Desktop

29 points by rooshdi 16y ago

j_baker 16y ago
Well, the first thing I would ask is why do I need a web desktop? I hardly use the non-web desktop I already have. Secondly, (and this is based on playing with the site for 5 seconds) what are you providing that my browser's bookmarks bar isn't?
- jeromec 16y ago
  On average people visit the same 8 sites over and over. We feel this kind of interface is more efficient, because it's meant to be set as a home page. This way going from site to site only involves clicking the Home button and each site. We also think it fits well with the trend toward touch screens on devices like the iPad.
  - blang 16y ago
    What benefit does your site have over Safari's top sites or Firefox's fast-dial?
    - rooshdi 16y ago
      You can also directly search sites using Favetop with just one click of a site icon.
  - stevejalim 16y ago
    My gut reaction was: why would I bother going here rather than the Top Sites (or equivalent) pane in Safari or Chrome or FF, which shows the sites I visit most and doesn't require me to have another account elsewhere? Don't get me wrong - I really applaud everyone who gets an idea out there to market, but I just can't see the use-case for this being common enough. (Thinks more Unless you're going for IE users, perhaps?)
    - jeromec 16y ago
      The best answer I can give that is we feel a browser based solution is best, because your favorite content can be accessed from any computer.
      - stevejalim 16y ago
        That is a fair point. I guess because I'm a laptop user, I almost entirely use my own machine for the web, rather than a work box and a home box, or access from an internet cafe etc, but there are still plenty of people out there who would benefit. I think adriand's point about it being great for young kids is really strong, too. Best of luck with it!
captaincrunch 16y ago
I prefer bookmarks, and google is more useful as my homepage.
niyazpk 16y ago
You are doing a great job of telling me what the site is about, but you should also show how it actually looks/works. I see that it is a website to save/share stuff and I am not sure whether to sign up or not because I don't know what the actual inner pages are going to look like. Is it as simple as the home page etc or will it get more complicated and difficult to use? There are a lot of sites that does this same thing and why should someone sign up for this site? Some screenshots or video demo would be helpful in this case. But again, my biggest problem with the site is that I still don't understand what problem it solves.
- jeromec 16y ago
  Thanks for the helpful feedback. Communicating how our site works in a quick way remains a big challenge for us, and we will certainly keep working to improve that. As for the problem it solves, we think it solves a few, but one example would be the ability to hold on to videos that might be watched more than once.
Kilimanjaro 16y ago
Interesting... Bookmarklets can help a lot in saving videos, pics, read-later links, etc
arpitnext 16y ago
I would certainly use favetop for aggregating videos and music. This feature is just awesome. I agree with others - bookmarks are best for launching links and webapps, specially when you are using ONE computer and only ONE browser. Well, a question to site owners: do you track my clicks on links?? ;)
- jeromec 16y ago
  We don't track individual user activity. We're huge believers in privacy. Profiles and content are also private by default.
JesseAldridge 16y ago
Why not put everything on one page? I'd rather scroll then click tabs.
- jeromec 16y ago
  That had never occurred to us. However, we consider ourselves an Internet Desktop, so like a PC we want to allow users some customization (possibly including their own design themes). Under the Settings we may include that as an option if there is enough demand for it, but we also believe in fast loading pages, so that would be one drawback.
  - nfnaaron 16y ago
    "but we also believe in fast loading pages" Is that for your benefit, or your users? Either way is a good answer, I just think you should know the answer. The word "believe" prompted this comment. If you have icons 1-10 on tab A, and icons 11-20 on tab B, then tab B loads really, really slow, i.e. never until you click it. So you have fast access to icons 1-10 and really slow access to icons 11-20. An option in the Settings would (eventually) be good.
mikedmiked 16y ago
I actually want a new homepage something a bit like this. I currently use either iGoogle (as it has lots of widgets which I can quickly use - e.g. GPS phone locator) or chrome default homepage (I like the big icons showing what the page actually looks like rather than a websites logo - helps you find the site faster). I will usually only use the homepage when I first open the browser, as after that I can click bookmarks. I want the homepage to probably have a few rss feeds and some big buttons to click on and go to a new site. Specific to your site: I wont ever use the video, games, photos, music tabs - and would like the choices to remove those tabs. My homepage must have no information that I do not need. I want it to be more streamlined and slick than a skinned rabbit covered in grease. I didnt want most of the default links on the web tab - and removing them individually was a pain as it took so long There is a bit too much space at the top of the page. the distance between the top bar and the search bar and the "tabs" bar should be decreased imo. "Feedback" on bottom of page is misspelt :) So currently I would choose iGoogle. But I would try it for a while if there were choices on icon sizes, rss feeds, and a few optional widgets e.g. calculators, and there are options to hide all features which I dont want to see in settings.
- jeromec 16y ago
  That's great feedback. We may eventually have that kind of customization under Settings. In fact, we've actually discussed exactly those things (and a lot more!), but we wanted to start with a core set of features and evolve from there.
  - mikedmiked 16y ago
    Great, Ill keep checking back. thanks!
apphacker 16y ago
If I refresh this page after creating an account it continuously doubles all of the icons on that page (first time one amazon icon, one Facebook icon, one of all the other icons, second time two of each, next time four, etc until it gets ridiculous): http://www.favetop.com/index.php?actn=re http://www.favetop.com/index.php?actn=re
- jeromec 16y ago
  That bug is fixed. Thanks.
petervandijck 16y ago
Trying to become the starting page. This has been done since the 90s (see http://www.startpagina.nl/ http://www.startpagina.nl/ etc). I don't see the need for it, and I don't see how you'll ever compete against the likes of google, yahoo etc. Not gonna work, sorry.
kyrai 16y ago
The site's UI is way to boring. Even if its suppose to be simple. Also being a programmer in my own right, I was looking at the source and using tables with spacers? I mean come on, its 2010.. Also another thing I am noticing is, is every bit of your application all in one directory? I am seeing files like indexg.php, gamesg.php. I may be wrong but that might make it really hard to pick up any more developers or investors who are a little tech savvy. Just my 2 cents. Good luck though.
- jeromec 16y ago
  Yes, our own designer complained about that too, but because our app is meant to be used across a wide range of users and computer configurations we opted to go with a more consistent set up, since it's the same from the user perspective. And the scripts make use of includes ;)
  - kyrai 16y ago
    When you say a more consistent setup, I hope you are not referring to the fact tables are used, because changing the theme for a certain user is MUCH easier to do in css. Okay since you mentioned includes, your obviously a lower end developer. Have you ever heard of OOP or MVC? But I guess if it works, why question it.
    - jeromec 16y ago
      Yes, I agree, and that may be what we use in the future, but to meet our early goals, which is getting something stable out the door that's the plan we used. My primary objective isn't programming/architecture debates (or prizes) it's simply getting satisfied users. It's like you say, we're focused on what works.
  - kyrai 16y ago
    Also even large scale sites use CSS/XHTML.. So failing to make it look the same across all browsers is on you, not the technology.
sjsivak 16y ago
I think the idea is a great one, just not for this audience. Hackers use the desktop as little as possible, but my mother clutters her desktop with EVERYTHING. Personally, I think you are on a good path. After using it briefly it felt pretty good. The biggest problem you will have is getting traction (as others have mentioned), and I do not really have any good ideas on how to solve that.
- spking 16y ago
  I agree with this sentiment. It's difficult to gauge broader market appeal on a site like HN if your app is better suited for the "average" person. We all tend to look at stuff through our developer/hacker/designer/startup lenses and lose sight of the fact that 99% of people will evaluate what you've built in a far different light than this crowd. At your next family reunion, see how many people have heard of Dropbox, Basecamp or Xobni. My advice to the creator(s): Don't get discouraged. This is a cool idea and most importantly, you've shipped something. Keep going.
  - jeromec 16y ago
    I also agree, but I still think the HN community is great for getting feedback. It's true that we're not really aimed at hackers. However, a similar site to us AllMyFaves.com just hit 100M page views (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6U_mVE_qOVoJ:ns1.allmyfaves.com/index.php+allmyfaves+million&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6U_mVE_...), and I doubt HN users would use them either. Thanks for the encouragement!
secret 16y ago
I like it. I use to have something like the web tab that I had made for myself, but this is obviously more complete. I think the delete function should be more obvious (maybe something like how the iphone deletes apps) and when I add sites, it would be nice to see a list of icons for at least the most popular options.
jackqu7 16y ago
Why do I have to sign up to start using this? I think people would be more likely to try it if they didn't have to cross that barrier. You should have it so using it on one machine just works and requires no signup, then have an option to add a user/pass at a later stage.
- pedalpete 16y ago
  agreed. you could use a cookie/ip or something initially to set the user account
adriand 16y ago
I've actually been thinking of building a simple homepage like this for a while for my son, who is two. He has trouble with the bookmarks tab right now (although I just started teaching him to use it, so he'll probably get better quickly!) But I think a homepage with icons would be helpful for him. And I think that spinning it as child-friendly could be a good route for you. Question: is there a way to eliminate the tabs and just have all of your content, whether it's games, videos, whatever, piled up on one page? I realize I could answer the question myself, however, I don't really like your privacy policy. If that policy is one you just lifted from somewhere else, you may want to customize it further. I would like to see somewhere in there that you will not transfer my data to third parties.
- jeromec 16y ago
  We are looking at giving users customization options under Settings. As heavy Internet users ourselves, we're on the user's side when it comes to privacy. We never monitor user activity or transfer data to third policies. We do need to update our privacy policy.
daeken 16y ago
While I don't think I'm at all within the target market (as has been discussed elsewhere in the thread), but I had to give you kudos for the way you present it to the user. It very quickly shows you why they should use your service and what they may be able to get out of it. Good job.
nizzay 16y ago
Was this site coded in 1992? Viewing the source code it sure seems like it.. Spacer images? No thanks Favetop!
- theoneill 16y ago
  If you had to view source before you were sure, then it can't be a real problem, can it?
- kyrai 16y ago
  Thats what I was saying. I wonder how serious they take security 0_0
edkennedy 16y ago
I tried using an internet wallpaper, http://fav4.org http://fav4.org and it does this in a prettier way. Additionally, it's engaging and simpler. I still switched back to Safari's homepage and don't think I could be moved away from it.
_ivan 16y ago
I like it. It's simple and clean and I can access my favorites from anywhere. Put your browser's bookmarks bar in your a.. and show me your work

29 points by rooshdi 16y ago

Well, the first thing I would ask is why do I need a web desktop? I hardly use the non-web desktop I already have. Secondly, (and this is based on playing with the site for 5 seconds) what are you providing that my browser's bookmarks bar isn't?

jeromec 16y ago
On average people visit the same 8 sites over and over. We feel this kind of interface is more efficient, because it's meant to be set as a home page. This way going from site to site only involves clicking the Home button and each site. We also think it fits well with the trend toward touch screens on devices like the iPad.
- blang 16y ago
  What benefit does your site have over Safari's top sites or Firefox's fast-dial?
  - rooshdi 16y ago
    You can also directly search sites using Favetop with just one click of a site icon.
- stevejalim 16y ago
  My gut reaction was: why would I bother going here rather than the Top Sites (or equivalent) pane in Safari or Chrome or FF, which shows the sites I visit most and doesn't require me to have another account elsewhere? Don't get me wrong - I really applaud everyone who gets an idea out there to market, but I just can't see the use-case for this being common enough. (Thinks more Unless you're going for IE users, perhaps?)
  - jeromec 16y ago
    The best answer I can give that is we feel a browser based solution is best, because your favorite content can be accessed from any computer.
    - stevejalim 16y ago
      That is a fair point. I guess because I'm a laptop user, I almost entirely use my own machine for the web, rather than a work box and a home box, or access from an internet cafe etc, but there are still plenty of people out there who would benefit. I think adriand's point about it being great for young kids is really strong, too. Best of luck with it!

captaincrunch 16y ago

I prefer bookmarks, and google is more useful as my homepage.

niyazpk 16y ago

You are doing a great job of telling me what the site is about, but you should also show how it actually looks/works. I see that it is a website to save/share stuff and I am not sure whether to sign up or not because I don't know what the actual inner pages are going to look like. Is it as simple as the home page etc or will it get more complicated and difficult to use? There are a lot of sites that does this same thing and why should someone sign up for this site? Some screenshots or video demo would be helpful in this case. But again, my biggest problem with the site is that I still don't understand what problem it solves.

jeromec 16y ago
Thanks for the helpful feedback. Communicating how our site works in a quick way remains a big challenge for us, and we will certainly keep working to improve that. As for the problem it solves, we think it solves a few, but one example would be the ability to hold on to videos that might be watched more than once.

Kilimanjaro 16y ago

Interesting... Bookmarklets can help a lot in saving videos, pics, read-later links, etc

arpitnext 16y ago

I would certainly use favetop for aggregating videos and music. This feature is just awesome. I agree with others - bookmarks are best for launching links and webapps, specially when you are using ONE computer and only ONE browser. Well, a question to site owners: do you track my clicks on links?? ;)

jeromec 16y ago
We don't track individual user activity. We're huge believers in privacy. Profiles and content are also private by default.

JesseAldridge 16y ago

Why not put everything on one page? I'd rather scroll then click tabs.

jeromec 16y ago
That had never occurred to us. However, we consider ourselves an Internet Desktop, so like a PC we want to allow users some customization (possibly including their own design themes). Under the Settings we may include that as an option if there is enough demand for it, but we also believe in fast loading pages, so that would be one drawback.
- nfnaaron 16y ago
  "but we also believe in fast loading pages" Is that for your benefit, or your users? Either way is a good answer, I just think you should know the answer. The word "believe" prompted this comment. If you have icons 1-10 on tab A, and icons 11-20 on tab B, then tab B loads really, really slow, i.e. never until you click it. So you have fast access to icons 1-10 and really slow access to icons 11-20. An option in the Settings would (eventually) be good.

mikedmiked 16y ago

I actually want a new homepage something a bit like this. I currently use either iGoogle (as it has lots of widgets which I can quickly use - e.g. GPS phone locator) or chrome default homepage (I like the big icons showing what the page actually looks like rather than a websites logo - helps you find the site faster). I will usually only use the homepage when I first open the browser, as after that I can click bookmarks. I want the homepage to probably have a few rss feeds and some big buttons to click on and go to a new site. Specific to your site: I wont ever use the video, games, photos, music tabs - and would like the choices to remove those tabs. My homepage must have no information that I do not need. I want it to be more streamlined and slick than a skinned rabbit covered in grease. I didnt want most of the default links on the web tab - and removing them individually was a pain as it took so long There is a bit too much space at the top of the page. the distance between the top bar and the search bar and the "tabs" bar should be decreased imo. "Feedback" on bottom of page is misspelt :) So currently I would choose iGoogle. But I would try it for a while if there were choices on icon sizes, rss feeds, and a few optional widgets e.g. calculators, and there are options to hide all features which I dont want to see in settings.

jeromec 16y ago
That's great feedback. We may eventually have that kind of customization under Settings. In fact, we've actually discussed exactly those things (and a lot more!), but we wanted to start with a core set of features and evolve from there.
- mikedmiked 16y ago
  Great, Ill keep checking back. thanks!

apphacker 16y ago

If I refresh this page after creating an account it continuously doubles all of the icons on that page (first time one amazon icon, one Facebook icon, one of all the other icons, second time two of each, next time four, etc until it gets ridiculous): http://www.favetop.com/index.php?actn=re http://www.favetop.com/index.php?actn=re

jeromec 16y ago
That bug is fixed. Thanks.

petervandijck 16y ago

Trying to become the starting page. This has been done since the 90s (see http://www.startpagina.nl/ http://www.startpagina.nl/ etc). I don't see the need for it, and I don't see how you'll ever compete against the likes of google, yahoo etc. Not gonna work, sorry.

kyrai 16y ago

The site's UI is way to boring. Even if its suppose to be simple. Also being a programmer in my own right, I was looking at the source and using tables with spacers? I mean come on, its 2010.. Also another thing I am noticing is, is every bit of your application all in one directory? I am seeing files like indexg.php, gamesg.php. I may be wrong but that might make it really hard to pick up any more developers or investors who are a little tech savvy. Just my 2 cents. Good luck though.

jeromec 16y ago
Yes, our own designer complained about that too, but because our app is meant to be used across a wide range of users and computer configurations we opted to go with a more consistent set up, since it's the same from the user perspective. And the scripts make use of includes ;)
- kyrai 16y ago
  When you say a more consistent setup, I hope you are not referring to the fact tables are used, because changing the theme for a certain user is MUCH easier to do in css. Okay since you mentioned includes, your obviously a lower end developer. Have you ever heard of OOP or MVC? But I guess if it works, why question it.
  - jeromec 16y ago
    Yes, I agree, and that may be what we use in the future, but to meet our early goals, which is getting something stable out the door that's the plan we used. My primary objective isn't programming/architecture debates (or prizes) it's simply getting satisfied users. It's like you say, we're focused on what works.
- kyrai 16y ago
  Also even large scale sites use CSS/XHTML.. So failing to make it look the same across all browsers is on you, not the technology.

sjsivak 16y ago

I think the idea is a great one, just not for this audience. Hackers use the desktop as little as possible, but my mother clutters her desktop with EVERYTHING. Personally, I think you are on a good path. After using it briefly it felt pretty good. The biggest problem you will have is getting traction (as others have mentioned), and I do not really have any good ideas on how to solve that.

spking 16y ago
I agree with this sentiment. It's difficult to gauge broader market appeal on a site like HN if your app is better suited for the "average" person. We all tend to look at stuff through our developer/hacker/designer/startup lenses and lose sight of the fact that 99% of people will evaluate what you've built in a far different light than this crowd. At your next family reunion, see how many people have heard of Dropbox, Basecamp or Xobni. My advice to the creator(s): Don't get discouraged. This is a cool idea and most importantly, you've shipped something. Keep going.
- jeromec 16y ago
  I also agree, but I still think the HN community is great for getting feedback. It's true that we're not really aimed at hackers. However, a similar site to us AllMyFaves.com just hit 100M page views (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6U_mVE_qOVoJ:ns1.allmyfaves.com/index.php+allmyfaves+million&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6U_mVE_...), and I doubt HN users would use them either. Thanks for the encouragement!

secret 16y ago

I like it. I use to have something like the web tab that I had made for myself, but this is obviously more complete. I think the delete function should be more obvious (maybe something like how the iphone deletes apps) and when I add sites, it would be nice to see a list of icons for at least the most popular options.

jackqu7 16y ago

Why do I have to sign up to start using this? I think people would be more likely to try it if they didn't have to cross that barrier. You should have it so using it on one machine just works and requires no signup, then have an option to add a user/pass at a later stage.

pedalpete 16y ago
agreed. you could use a cookie/ip or something initially to set the user account

adriand 16y ago

I've actually been thinking of building a simple homepage like this for a while for my son, who is two. He has trouble with the bookmarks tab right now (although I just started teaching him to use it, so he'll probably get better quickly!) But I think a homepage with icons would be helpful for him. And I think that spinning it as child-friendly could be a good route for you. Question: is there a way to eliminate the tabs and just have all of your content, whether it's games, videos, whatever, piled up on one page? I realize I could answer the question myself, however, I don't really like your privacy policy. If that policy is one you just lifted from somewhere else, you may want to customize it further. I would like to see somewhere in there that you will not transfer my data to third parties.

jeromec 16y ago
We are looking at giving users customization options under Settings. As heavy Internet users ourselves, we're on the user's side when it comes to privacy. We never monitor user activity or transfer data to third policies. We do need to update our privacy policy.

daeken 16y ago

While I don't think I'm at all within the target market (as has been discussed elsewhere in the thread), but I had to give you kudos for the way you present it to the user. It very quickly shows you why they should use your service and what they may be able to get out of it. Good job.

nizzay 16y ago

Was this site coded in 1992? Viewing the source code it sure seems like it.. Spacer images? No thanks Favetop!

theoneill 16y ago
If you had to view source before you were sure, then it can't be a real problem, can it?
kyrai 16y ago
Thats what I was saying. I wonder how serious they take security 0_0

edkennedy 16y ago

I tried using an internet wallpaper, http://fav4.org http://fav4.org and it does this in a prettier way. Additionally, it's engaging and simpler. I still switched back to Safari's homepage and don't think I could be moved away from it.

_ivan 16y ago

I like it. It's simple and clean and I can access my favorites from anywhere. Put your browser's bookmarks bar in your a.. and show me your work