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Author here. The original inspiration for this came from working remotely for 7 years and feeling occasionally lonely and isolated. I wanted to create a frictio

Author here. The original inspiration for this came from working remotely for 7 years and feeling occasionally lonely and isolated. I wanted to create a frictionless, always-on video room for your team to hang out in while you work. But I've found that so far most teams use it for stand-ups. Feedback is much appreciated!

awinder 7y ago
I would totally play into “frictionless standups” and specialize the hell out of experience. For one, I think it avoids a lot of “creep factor” that other commenters keyed into. Second, companies are paying for non-slack standup conferencing software and it’s all godawful and cumbersome, especially for the tech leads/managers. This would be a no-brainer for standups in every org that I’ve been in. Godspeed to you, I think you’re onto something.
mikece 7y ago
Having done remote work I completely get what you’re trying to achieve. It’s not the tool which is causing a cautious(?) reaction but knowing how unscrupulous micro-managers might demand this be used. I’m sure we all have stories of bosses acting like fools because we turned off the company’s instant distraction app so we could concentrate and get something done. I totally understand both sides: the tool looks awesome and I could see it being abused by management to impede progress and degrade morale.
juandazapata 7y ago
We used an always-on-video solution (the now dead Sqwiggle) in a past startup. It all went relatively well until one day, the wife of one of your coworkers, walked naked in the background. His webcam/laptop froze at that moment and a picture of his naked wife stayed up for about 5 mins. That was the last time we used that app. Just something to take into account.
- fouc 7y ago
  minor typo: "your" vs "our" coworkers. I guess it would be handy to have some way of hiding everything except maybe the face. Would be annoying to have to dress up
  - jdironman 7y ago
    At that point why not just use a snapchat-esque bitmoji.
- jimktrains2 7y ago
  It would be ironic if he shut is laptop to kill the video stream and that ended up causing the system to freeze on that last frame of video.
- shantly 7y ago
  Always-on video staring at people's faces is weird in the best circumstances. It's a bizarre view to have passively, rather than during active conversation.
  - t34543 7y ago
    I think it’s creepy.
lightedman 7y ago
Go look at Camfrog. Make a web version that does what they do. You will have much better success.

awinder 7y ago

I would totally play into “frictionless standups” and specialize the hell out of experience. For one, I think it avoids a lot of “creep factor” that other commenters keyed into. Second, companies are paying for non-slack standup conferencing software and it’s all godawful and cumbersome, especially for the tech leads/managers. This would be a no-brainer for standups in every org that I’ve been in. Godspeed to you, I think you’re onto something.

mikece 7y ago

Having done remote work I completely get what you’re trying to achieve. It’s not the tool which is causing a cautious(?) reaction but knowing how unscrupulous micro-managers might demand this be used. I’m sure we all have stories of bosses acting like fools because we turned off the company’s instant distraction app so we could concentrate and get something done. I totally understand both sides: the tool looks awesome and I could see it being abused by management to impede progress and degrade morale.

juandazapata 7y ago

We used an always-on-video solution (the now dead Sqwiggle) in a past startup. It all went relatively well until one day, the wife of one of your coworkers, walked naked in the background. His webcam/laptop froze at that moment and a picture of his naked wife stayed up for about 5 mins. That was the last time we used that app. Just something to take into account.

fouc 7y ago
minor typo: "your" vs "our" coworkers. I guess it would be handy to have some way of hiding everything except maybe the face. Would be annoying to have to dress up
- jdironman 7y ago
  At that point why not just use a snapchat-esque bitmoji.
jimktrains2 7y ago
It would be ironic if he shut is laptop to kill the video stream and that ended up causing the system to freeze on that last frame of video.
shantly 7y ago
Always-on video staring at people's faces is weird in the best circumstances. It's a bizarre view to have passively, rather than during active conversation.
- t34543 7y ago
  I think it’s creepy.

lightedman 7y ago

Go look at Camfrog. Make a web version that does what they do. You will have much better success.