5 ms·

Weird valuation. Ok app, had to write it off because of lack of offline support. I'm surprised this isn't a non starter for more people/companies.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
bootlooped 8y ago
What kind of offline support are you looking for in a cloud application? Most cloud services don't work offline at all.
- djtriptych 8y ago
  A lot of the big players do, to wit Google’s office suite.
  - hammerbrostime 8y ago
    Yes, Google has superb offline support for their suite of productivity apps
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  Which is a huge problem with webapps that try to replace desktop software (aka. Service as a Software Substitute). You end up outsourcing maintenance/ops work at a price of vastly reduced featureset, performance and usefulness in real-life conditions.
superfrank 8y ago
I'm curious as to why you feel offline support is such a big deal? Maybe my perspective is warped by living in a major US city, but I'm pretty much connected to the internet all the time. I'm pretty sure the only time I disconnect and have my computer on me is when I'm on a plane. So much of my other work requires the access to the internet and the ability to communicate, I just don't see the need for offline mode. To put it another way, I can't see many situations where I could effectively do my job (outside of some minor tasks) without internet access, even if Airtable was available offline. I do agree that it's a nice to have, but I just don't see it as a deal breaker.
- bonestamp2 8y ago
  > I'm pretty sure the only time I disconnect and have my computer on me is when I'm on a plane. That is changing too. I remember when airline wifi was new and we used to watch netflix (now they block it of course). But now I frequently VPN in from a plane and continue working. Sometimes I get more work done because there are even fewer distractions on the plane.
- hammerbrostime 8y ago
  I work in NYC. The most efficient form of transportation is the subway, and phone signals are not great down there. If you take a train out of the city, there are huge dead zones. There is at least an hour of my day that I am trying to be productive that I do not have good internet connections.
sjy 8y ago
Same here. It’s not just the lack of offline support but the absence of an on-premises offering that kills this product for me. The great thing about Excel and Access is that there are no barriers to using them in a typical enterprise environment – no need to pay for a subscription or ask the security team to approve the use of a new cloud provider to store private data. You can just start building something and share it on your internal network, or even email.
xbeta 8y ago
I wouldn't think this is a product problem, but a low-hanging fruit technical problem that they can just address it if they had enough demand for this. This is also not a new problem in this space. And it has been done in the past.
mikepost001 8y ago
I agree. Cloud only apps aren't enough for me. I'm starting to look for more apps with macOS offerings, and not just ones that cheaply wrap a webview.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

bootlooped 8y ago

What kind of offline support are you looking for in a cloud application? Most cloud services don't work offline at all.

djtriptych 8y ago
A lot of the big players do, to wit Google’s office suite.
- hammerbrostime 8y ago
  Yes, Google has superb offline support for their suite of productivity apps
TeMPOraL 8y ago
Which is a huge problem with webapps that try to replace desktop software (aka. Service as a Software Substitute). You end up outsourcing maintenance/ops work at a price of vastly reduced featureset, performance and usefulness in real-life conditions.

superfrank 8y ago

I'm curious as to why you feel offline support is such a big deal? Maybe my perspective is warped by living in a major US city, but I'm pretty much connected to the internet all the time. I'm pretty sure the only time I disconnect and have my computer on me is when I'm on a plane. So much of my other work requires the access to the internet and the ability to communicate, I just don't see the need for offline mode. To put it another way, I can't see many situations where I could effectively do my job (outside of some minor tasks) without internet access, even if Airtable was available offline. I do agree that it's a nice to have, but I just don't see it as a deal breaker.

bonestamp2 8y ago
> I'm pretty sure the only time I disconnect and have my computer on me is when I'm on a plane. That is changing too. I remember when airline wifi was new and we used to watch netflix (now they block it of course). But now I frequently VPN in from a plane and continue working. Sometimes I get more work done because there are even fewer distractions on the plane.
hammerbrostime 8y ago
I work in NYC. The most efficient form of transportation is the subway, and phone signals are not great down there. If you take a train out of the city, there are huge dead zones. There is at least an hour of my day that I am trying to be productive that I do not have good internet connections.

sjy 8y ago

Same here. It’s not just the lack of offline support but the absence of an on-premises offering that kills this product for me. The great thing about Excel and Access is that there are no barriers to using them in a typical enterprise environment – no need to pay for a subscription or ask the security team to approve the use of a new cloud provider to store private data. You can just start building something and share it on your internal network, or even email.

xbeta 8y ago

I wouldn't think this is a product problem, but a low-hanging fruit technical problem that they can just address it if they had enough demand for this. This is also not a new problem in this space. And it has been done in the past.

mikepost001 8y ago

I agree. Cloud only apps aren't enough for me. I'm starting to look for more apps with macOS offerings, and not just ones that cheaply wrap a webview.