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That's excellent feedback, many thanks. I think that you're right that the average user won't get any benefits from Dirigible -- it only really helps power use

by gpjt 16y ago

That's excellent feedback, many thanks. I think that you're right that the average user won't get any benefits from Dirigible -- it only really helps power users, so it sounds like we need to be crystal-clear on that, and then make it clear how it can benefit those power users: - maintainability (which is the real advantage of the whole objects-in-the-grid thing) - calculation speed (through parallelism and big-iron servers on the backend) - potentially, larger spreadsheets (we'll need to work to implement that but in theory we should be able to support vast datasets) Would that improve the pitch, do you think?

todayiamme 16y ago
There isn't any need to thank me. I actually like doing this. Yes, but the thing is that why can't I just run this locally without having to worry about network lag? If you target quants then most of the serious ones already have their own setup to crunch numbers. So, why should they use something like that? Or why shouldn't they just write a python script on EC2? And download a raw text file or something instead? I think that the core of your product is wonderful and it has many, many uses, but I'm afraid that as a market the entire spreadsheet business isn't the best one to be in. I might be wrong as I hardly have any experience other than reading stuff, but the thing is that it seems to me no one will have the, um, otaku in this field to make your product a success (as Seth Godin would say). I just hope that I'm wrong.
- gpjt 16y ago
  I hope you're wrong too, but it's a very good point. The advantage we think we have over writing their own Python (or Hadoop, or...) on EC2 is that it's just easier to put these things together in a spreadsheet environment. But we clearly need proof points for that, and perhaps we should be focusing as much as possible on finding someone who can champion it. One thought -- as lazylland suggested elsewhere in this thread, perhaps we should consider downplaying the spreadsheet aspect? Ultimately, what we're trying to do is provide an easy-to-use way for people to access large-scale computing resources. It just so happens that a spreadsheet-like interface turns out to be a great way of doing that, but that doesn't mean we need to bill ourselves immediately as "a spreadsheet". (Also -- it sounds like we should be promoting the option of running the app on local server farms more heavily.)
  - todayiamme 16y ago
    You know something why don't you take the core of your service (the ability to handle large datasets) and just make something that's essentially Quantitative Analysis for dummies. Or a HFT fund for dummies? There are tons of, um for the lack of a better word, amateur would be stock brokers who like to play the market, but they really don't have the knowledge neither the access to tools like this. So, if you offer this to them then the sky is the limit to what you can make. Essentially leverage all of your abilities to help amateurs to professionals work in the cloud and handle datasets. Moreover, replace python by your own query language that has an english like syntax that will appeal to such people. If you see this then can you email me to continue this conversation? This is an interesting problem.
    - gpjt 16y ago
      Only just saw this! I'll drop you a line now.

by gpjt 16y ago

todayiamme 16y ago

There isn't any need to thank me. I actually like doing this. Yes, but the thing is that why can't I just run this locally without having to worry about network lag? If you target quants then most of the serious ones already have their own setup to crunch numbers. So, why should they use something like that? Or why shouldn't they just write a python script on EC2? And download a raw text file or something instead? I think that the core of your product is wonderful and it has many, many uses, but I'm afraid that as a market the entire spreadsheet business isn't the best one to be in. I might be wrong as I hardly have any experience other than reading stuff, but the thing is that it seems to me no one will have the, um, otaku in this field to make your product a success (as Seth Godin would say). I just hope that I'm wrong.

gpjt 16y ago
I hope you're wrong too, but it's a very good point. The advantage we think we have over writing their own Python (or Hadoop, or...) on EC2 is that it's just easier to put these things together in a spreadsheet environment. But we clearly need proof points for that, and perhaps we should be focusing as much as possible on finding someone who can champion it. One thought -- as lazylland suggested elsewhere in this thread, perhaps we should consider downplaying the spreadsheet aspect? Ultimately, what we're trying to do is provide an easy-to-use way for people to access large-scale computing resources. It just so happens that a spreadsheet-like interface turns out to be a great way of doing that, but that doesn't mean we need to bill ourselves immediately as "a spreadsheet". (Also -- it sounds like we should be promoting the option of running the app on local server farms more heavily.)
- todayiamme 16y ago
  You know something why don't you take the core of your service (the ability to handle large datasets) and just make something that's essentially Quantitative Analysis for dummies. Or a HFT fund for dummies? There are tons of, um for the lack of a better word, amateur would be stock brokers who like to play the market, but they really don't have the knowledge neither the access to tools like this. So, if you offer this to them then the sky is the limit to what you can make. Essentially leverage all of your abilities to help amateurs to professionals work in the cloud and handle datasets. Moreover, replace python by your own query language that has an english like syntax that will appeal to such people. If you see this then can you email me to continue this conversation? This is an interesting problem.
  - gpjt 16y ago
    Only just saw this! I'll drop you a line now.