4 ms·

What I don't understand about this is - What makes Wimdu a clone of AirBnB, but AirBnB not a clone of Homeaway/VRBO? I'm not trying to be flippant, really wond

by pitdesi 15y ago

What I don't understand about this is - What makes Wimdu a clone of AirBnB, but AirBnB not a clone of Homeaway/VRBO? I'm not trying to be flippant, really wondering what is new about AirBnB (other than a much better interface)

hvs 15y ago
From the article, it sounds like these new sites are literally clones. They are scraping Airbnb listings and posting them on their own sites. They aren't just using the idea of Airbnb, they are using the content. That's just what I can glean from the article.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- pbreit 15y ago
  I didn't see any mention of scraping.
danilocampos 15y ago
> I'm not trying to be flippant, really wondering what is new about AirBnB (other than a much better interface) I think you might have answered a decent chunk of the question in your parentheses, there.
- spb 15y ago
  To elaborate with an excerpt from http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html: "It's worth trying very, very hard to make technology easy to use. Hackers are so used to computers that they have no idea how horrifying software seems to normal people. Stephen Hawking's editor told him that every equation he included in his book would cut sales in half. When you work on making technology easier to use, you're riding that curve up instead of down. A 10% improvement in ease of use doesn't just increase your sales 10%. It's more likely to double your sales."
tptacek 15y ago
Does VRBO do partial apartment rentals? I've used both (Airbnb for the first time this week), liked both, but have the impression VRBO is entirely whole-house rental --- and significantly more expensive.
bradly 15y ago
Check out both sites: http://www.wimdu.com http://www.wimdu.com and http://www.airbnb.com http://www.airbnb.com The designs are very, very similar. Blatantly so, imho. Even the logos are in the same style.
- benatkin 15y ago
  Wow, that is quite similar. The steps to change one to the other would be pretty simple. For example: switch the color on the logo with the color on the List your space button. I must say that the AirBnb slideshow is way better. It shows each slide for a longer period of time, and the transition is slower. Relaxing to view, as it should be.
deleted 15y ago
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by pitdesi 15y ago

hvs 15y ago

From the article, it sounds like these new sites are literally clones. They are scraping Airbnb listings and posting them on their own sites. They aren't just using the idea of Airbnb, they are using the content. That's just what I can glean from the article.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
pbreit 15y ago
I didn't see any mention of scraping.

danilocampos 15y ago

> I'm not trying to be flippant, really wondering what is new about AirBnB (other than a much better interface) I think you might have answered a decent chunk of the question in your parentheses, there.

spb 15y ago
To elaborate with an excerpt from http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html: "It's worth trying very, very hard to make technology easy to use. Hackers are so used to computers that they have no idea how horrifying software seems to normal people. Stephen Hawking's editor told him that every equation he included in his book would cut sales in half. When you work on making technology easier to use, you're riding that curve up instead of down. A 10% improvement in ease of use doesn't just increase your sales 10%. It's more likely to double your sales."

tptacek 15y ago

Does VRBO do partial apartment rentals? I've used both (Airbnb for the first time this week), liked both, but have the impression VRBO is entirely whole-house rental --- and significantly more expensive.

bradly 15y ago

Check out both sites: http://www.wimdu.com http://www.wimdu.com and http://www.airbnb.com http://www.airbnb.com The designs are very, very similar. Blatantly so, imho. Even the logos are in the same style.

benatkin 15y ago
Wow, that is quite similar. The steps to change one to the other would be pretty simple. For example: switch the color on the logo with the color on the List your space button. I must say that the AirBnb slideshow is way better. It shows each slide for a longer period of time, and the transition is slower. Relaxing to view, as it should be.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]