4 ms·

Ask HN: What are some solutions that are looking for a problem?

fridif 5y ago
8k resolution, Go, Rust, c++, exotic cars, abstract classes, and MattressFirm are all things that come to mind.
- ErikVandeWater 5y ago
  Disagree with exotic cars. Perhaps an overly expensive solution to the problem of boredom, but an effective solution nonetheless.
  - fridif 5y ago
    Hehehe, at least you got my point :) For me, the novelty with cars is extracting value for them very efficiently, but I must concede that others do not care at all about price/enjoyment ratio at all, or at least have very different enjoyment calculations compared to my brain's
    - ErikVandeWater 5y ago
      I personally don't plan on buying a car in the near future, but https://youtube.com/c/ScottyKilmermechanic https://youtube.com/c/ScottyKilmermechanic has given me very strong opinions about car purchases. I think you and I share quite similar views :)
- logicslave 5y ago
  haha. Abstract classes are the solution to being bored at work and needing stimulation. My boss looks the other way when I create a stratified framework, long as it works.
  - fridif 5y ago
    Same with me for unit tests :)
ErikVandeWater 5y ago
Giving electric cars extremely long range. It would be much more sensible to make substantially cheaper electric cars that have ~75 mi of range, and combine that with a program that gives free rental credits for any hybrid/PZEV car to owners of that car. Then you can have a cheap eletric car but get access to fuel-based cars when you go on a trip.
- giantg2 5y ago
  Do you have any sort of estimates on how much cheaper? I can't wait for a basic electric work truck that's affordable. But I also need the longer range or faster charge (super caps) for trips (they happen pretty often). It feels like it's taking forever for the tech to meaningfully advance. I know it's not the complete picture, but it seems like there's a lot of focus on the tech and luxury more than basic functionality. I'll be 80 by the time I find one I really want.
  - ErikVandeWater 5y ago
    Around 30 percent of the cost of an electric car is the battery: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/electric-cars-are-about-to-be-as-cheap-as-gas-powered-models#:~:text=The%20battery%20pack%20is%20the,the%20total%20cost%20to%20consumers https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/electric-.... But having free rental as an option could make the car cheaper in other ways. For example, if it's free to rent a car, people would opt for 2WD instead of AWD in many cases since they can rent a truly capable AWD car when they want to go up to the mountains. AWD is substantially more expensive and requires much more maintenance than 2WD.
    - giantg2 5y ago
      I get that AWD or 4x4 is more expensive, even for ICE vehicles. Even the 2WD is expensive for EVs. I grew up driving a RWD car in the mountains (out east... I get it's a bit different) and never had any real problems. I bought a truck and went with RWD and it does fine too (although I rarely go through snowy mountains anymore). So if we're cutting the battery in half, we save about 15% - going from about $35k to $30k using the Model 3 as an example. This is still expensive for me - my truck suits me better and was close to $10k lower. This is mostly because I don't want all the tech that's in it. I would rather have switches, sliders, and buttons like my old 80s caprice (the buttons in the work truck are fine too) instead of a giant screen. The cabin space and use of a bed is nice as well since I am on the larger side, do a lot of work myself, and tow a trailer at times.
codegeek 5y ago
Bitcoin. In my opinion.
gregjor 5y ago
I think blockchain is the poster child for this category. Citizen “militias.” NoSQL databases.
stocknoob 5y ago
Consumer VR. iPad pros with M1 chips (ridiculous processing power, not many scenarios demand it). Alexa (besides timers and starting music).
ivars 5y ago
This is more of a humor (obviously), but * Blockchain - this is usually the first that comes to mind. * Rust - "hmm, where would I use it now?" is the question you'll ask if you just learned Rust but knew C++ already. * Vulkan / Direct3d12 - yes, you now have the ability to recreate your own driver from scratch, but who has time for that? Even Microsoft Flight Simulator uses Direct3d 11. GPU ray-tracing will force you to use one of those though anyway. * WebAssembly - at least in it's current state.

8k resolution, Go, Rust, c++, exotic cars, abstract classes, and MattressFirm are all things that come to mind.

ErikVandeWater 5y ago
Disagree with exotic cars. Perhaps an overly expensive solution to the problem of boredom, but an effective solution nonetheless.
- fridif 5y ago
  Hehehe, at least you got my point :) For me, the novelty with cars is extracting value for them very efficiently, but I must concede that others do not care at all about price/enjoyment ratio at all, or at least have very different enjoyment calculations compared to my brain's
  - ErikVandeWater 5y ago
    I personally don't plan on buying a car in the near future, but https://youtube.com/c/ScottyKilmermechanic https://youtube.com/c/ScottyKilmermechanic has given me very strong opinions about car purchases. I think you and I share quite similar views :)
logicslave 5y ago
haha. Abstract classes are the solution to being bored at work and needing stimulation. My boss looks the other way when I create a stratified framework, long as it works.
- fridif 5y ago
  Same with me for unit tests :)

Giving electric cars extremely long range. It would be much more sensible to make substantially cheaper electric cars that have ~75 mi of range, and combine that with a program that gives free rental credits for any hybrid/PZEV car to owners of that car. Then you can have a cheap eletric car but get access to fuel-based cars when you go on a trip.

giantg2 5y ago
Do you have any sort of estimates on how much cheaper? I can't wait for a basic electric work truck that's affordable. But I also need the longer range or faster charge (super caps) for trips (they happen pretty often). It feels like it's taking forever for the tech to meaningfully advance. I know it's not the complete picture, but it seems like there's a lot of focus on the tech and luxury more than basic functionality. I'll be 80 by the time I find one I really want.
- ErikVandeWater 5y ago
  Around 30 percent of the cost of an electric car is the battery: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/electric-cars-are-about-to-be-as-cheap-as-gas-powered-models#:~:text=The%20battery%20pack%20is%20the,the%20total%20cost%20to%20consumers https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/electric-.... But having free rental as an option could make the car cheaper in other ways. For example, if it's free to rent a car, people would opt for 2WD instead of AWD in many cases since they can rent a truly capable AWD car when they want to go up to the mountains. AWD is substantially more expensive and requires much more maintenance than 2WD.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    I get that AWD or 4x4 is more expensive, even for ICE vehicles. Even the 2WD is expensive for EVs. I grew up driving a RWD car in the mountains (out east... I get it's a bit different) and never had any real problems. I bought a truck and went with RWD and it does fine too (although I rarely go through snowy mountains anymore). So if we're cutting the battery in half, we save about 15% - going from about $35k to $30k using the Model 3 as an example. This is still expensive for me - my truck suits me better and was close to $10k lower. This is mostly because I don't want all the tech that's in it. I would rather have switches, sliders, and buttons like my old 80s caprice (the buttons in the work truck are fine too) instead of a giant screen. The cabin space and use of a bed is nice as well since I am on the larger side, do a lot of work myself, and tow a trailer at times.

codegeek 5y ago

Bitcoin. In my opinion.

gregjor 5y ago

I think blockchain is the poster child for this category. Citizen “militias.” NoSQL databases.

stocknoob 5y ago

Consumer VR. iPad pros with M1 chips (ridiculous processing power, not many scenarios demand it). Alexa (besides timers and starting music).

ivars 5y ago

This is more of a humor (obviously), but * Blockchain - this is usually the first that comes to mind. * Rust - "hmm, where would I use it now?" is the question you'll ask if you just learned Rust but knew C++ already. * Vulkan / Direct3d12 - yes, you now have the ability to recreate your own driver from scratch, but who has time for that? Even Microsoft Flight Simulator uses Direct3d 11. GPU ray-tracing will force you to use one of those though anyway. * WebAssembly - at least in it's current state.