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That end game seems very wasteful and Rube Goldbergian. Why use an 1800s technology as the transport layer when salons, yoga studios, and more already use thing
by seanp2k2 8y ago
That end game seems very wasteful and Rube Goldbergian. Why use an 1800s technology as the transport layer when salons, yoga studios, and more already use things like MindBody, which already has an appointments API? I’d honestly be way more interested if this integrated with MindBody, OpenTable, DMV websites, car dealer appointment systems, medical office scheduling systems — all of which already have APIs or at least web pages. But then, saying that you wrote and will maintain some WWW mechanize stuff that posts forms is way less marketable to the general population who see this as magic.
Also, they’ll discontinue it after a year once it gets enough negative press about how it doesn’t work well and loses business for businesses.
- pscsbs 8y agoLikely it'll be a transition technology for businesses still using phone appointments as their primary API, and eventually it'll ease the path for more direct integration.
- PascLeRasc 8y agoBecause businesses can offer Duplex for customers to call and speak to after hours if they still want to keep a human phone assistant. It's modular, not Rube Goldbergian.
- DannyBee 8y agoYou also seem to completely miss that outside of silicon valley, large portions of the population actually want to interact with things by phone. That's changing for sure, but the demand for phone based services is still very high.
- fantispug 8y agoBecause there are lots of businesses that don't have a booking API and don't see the need for one, or can't afford one. This kind of technology allows interaction with them, because it's easier to interact on a common transport protocol than to expect everyone to change to your preferred one. That being said I feel like it won't be long until this tech is used for scamming, phishing and pranks.
- dominotw 8y agoHumans can't speak api
- s73v3r_ 8y agoIt's specifically for the salons, yoga studios, restaurants, etc that don't use any kind of online booking system.
- tim333 8y agoIn the second example they ask what's the line likely to be like on Wednesday. Show me one API that does that. English is richer than APIs.
- nathan_f77 8y agoGoogle does provide that information when you look up a restaurant, under "Popular times": https://imgur.com/a/ssdHxn3 https://imgur.com/a/ssdHxn3