3 ms·

What desktop utility do you have in mind? I haven't paid for desktop software in ages and I doubt I ever will. Everything I use is either cloud based or has a c

by memexy 6y ago

What desktop utility do you have in mind? I haven't paid for desktop software in ages and I doubt I ever will. Everything I use is either cloud based or has a cloud component for backup or some other type of processing. I doubt desktop software is coming back. If you can make it a website and accessible over the web then that will always beat desktop software. The only exception I can imagine is something like multimedia editing which requires access to actual hardware for crunching numbers (coding and decoding audio and video). Everything else can run in the browser these days.

westoncb 6y ago
You can see what I have so far at https://diskatlas.com https://diskatlas.com I’m thinking of charging something like 5 to 10 dollars per copy. Then maybe in a year or so releasing a much enhanced version 2 that would have to be purchased separately.
- memexy 6y ago
  Looks interesting but I have 3TB SSD or something close to it. How would this help me? I guess I'm trying to say space is not a problem for me. When I run out of space I move my documents to another drive. More specifically, my storage needs are modest and I organize everything into Downloads, Pictures, Videos, Code and all my space is usually taken up by one of those folders. Reducing the need for any kind of space analysis. I can see this being useful for some people that want to re-organize how they use their disk space but you'd need to add some heuristics to the software to make it useful for such use cases. For example, if you group all images together and suggest to automatically move them to a single folder or a set of sub-folders in another folder I can see that being useful.
  - westoncb 6y ago
    It’s not for everyone, but as an example, DaisyDisk was the number one app in the Mac App Store last year under the utilities category. There is a demand for this kind of thing—not clear whether there is for my particular implementation of course ;)
    - memexy 6y ago
      Yes. I guess I'm not the target demographic for this. I suspect many people on HN aren't either. You'd need to figure out how to market this to the people that would want/need it. If it is for Windows I'd look into putting it in their app store if you haven't already.
      - westoncb 6y ago
        That's definitely my target market. Ideal scenario would be to get Microsoft to feature it in Utilities in the Microsoft store—but that's somewhat of a moonshot of course. Without that, or some other super effective marketing ploy, it seems unlikely to earn a non-trivial amount. I've been thinking about targeting gamers also—the aesthetic I've arrived at (somewhat by accident) seems like they might be into it, and often times they need a lot of HD space.
        memexy 6y ago
        Sounds like a reasonable plan.
        GFischer 6y ago
        Honestly, I don't think it's that much of a moonshot :) , they're probably starving for things to showcase in the store. You probably need to contact some evangelists and maybe they'll point you in the right track! They also like to send "success stories" on e-mails and such, aim for something like that!.
        westoncb 6y ago
        I was kinda hoping that. I mean the offerings were pretty bare when I last looked. Then again, the process of getting Microsoft’s attention remains very mysterious to me at this point. Could you say more on what you mean by an “evangelist”? One thing I thought of doing is talking to websites and youtubers who do app reviews, figuring if it got enough attention someone from the Microsoft store might take notice.
- GFischer 6y ago
  I use TreeSize for this problem, which does use the business model you're mentioning. https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free I have not paid for it, but I probably could have been convinced to pay for it AFTER using it, with the right psychological appeal (and not during the current crisis unfortunately, I'm on furlough).

by memexy 6y ago

westoncb 6y ago

You can see what I have so far at https://diskatlas.com https://diskatlas.com I’m thinking of charging something like 5 to 10 dollars per copy. Then maybe in a year or so releasing a much enhanced version 2 that would have to be purchased separately.

memexy 6y ago
Looks interesting but I have 3TB SSD or something close to it. How would this help me? I guess I'm trying to say space is not a problem for me. When I run out of space I move my documents to another drive. More specifically, my storage needs are modest and I organize everything into Downloads, Pictures, Videos, Code and all my space is usually taken up by one of those folders. Reducing the need for any kind of space analysis. I can see this being useful for some people that want to re-organize how they use their disk space but you'd need to add some heuristics to the software to make it useful for such use cases. For example, if you group all images together and suggest to automatically move them to a single folder or a set of sub-folders in another folder I can see that being useful.
- westoncb 6y ago
  It’s not for everyone, but as an example, DaisyDisk was the number one app in the Mac App Store last year under the utilities category. There is a demand for this kind of thing—not clear whether there is for my particular implementation of course ;)
  - memexy 6y ago
    Yes. I guess I'm not the target demographic for this. I suspect many people on HN aren't either. You'd need to figure out how to market this to the people that would want/need it. If it is for Windows I'd look into putting it in their app store if you haven't already.
    - westoncb 6y ago
      That's definitely my target market. Ideal scenario would be to get Microsoft to feature it in Utilities in the Microsoft store—but that's somewhat of a moonshot of course. Without that, or some other super effective marketing ploy, it seems unlikely to earn a non-trivial amount. I've been thinking about targeting gamers also—the aesthetic I've arrived at (somewhat by accident) seems like they might be into it, and often times they need a lot of HD space.
      - memexy 6y ago
        Sounds like a reasonable plan.
      - GFischer 6y ago
        Honestly, I don't think it's that much of a moonshot :) , they're probably starving for things to showcase in the store. You probably need to contact some evangelists and maybe they'll point you in the right track! They also like to send "success stories" on e-mails and such, aim for something like that!.
        westoncb 6y ago
        I was kinda hoping that. I mean the offerings were pretty bare when I last looked. Then again, the process of getting Microsoft’s attention remains very mysterious to me at this point. Could you say more on what you mean by an “evangelist”? One thing I thought of doing is talking to websites and youtubers who do app reviews, figuring if it got enough attention someone from the Microsoft store might take notice.
GFischer 6y ago
I use TreeSize for this problem, which does use the business model you're mentioning. https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free I have not paid for it, but I probably could have been convinced to pay for it AFTER using it, with the right psychological appeal (and not during the current crisis unfortunately, I'm on furlough).