4 ms·

I think having “business hours” for websites is an interesting experiment that could help foster a sense of community as people must visit around the same time

by xwdv 4y ago

I think having “business hours” for websites is an interesting experiment that could help foster a sense of community as people must visit around the same time as everyone else. Also saves on server costs. Imagine for instance if Hackernews was only open from 12pm to 11pm on weekdays and until 1 AM on weeekends.

RjQoLCOSwiIKfpm 4y ago
Forcing your sleep rhythm on people who have a different one than you for no reason other than a moral crusade isn't a nice thing to do. Also, you cannot make people feel a sense of community with you by annoying them. Annoying someone will make them dislike you.
- dcow 4y ago
  Well like it or not that's how society works. Name me a community that isn't a <large world city> where things operate 24/7. It annoys me too, but when 97% of everyone observes a normal sleep schedule, who's even around to staff and support the nightlife? Why should my hours be forced upon anybody else?
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    Because we are talking about a server, so the marginal cost of operating is basically electricity. And no one is forcing other bank websites to operate 24/7, it just makes economic sense to provide it since it costs so little. I would not patronize a business that had to regularly shut down their website, I would wonder what kind of weak IT department they have and why I would want to invest in that.
    - jackson1442 4y ago
      Same here. Sometimes I pay my bills at night just because that's convenient for me. If Wells Fargo started locking me out of my account outside of business hours (different from standard maintenance windows) I would immediately run to another bank. Locking bank websites after hours isn't a great proposition for an increasingly cashless society.
- mbreese 4y ago
  Or, it self selects out people who would cost more money in support to the bank. If you’re in their time zone (and awake when they are), the bank could save money by only needing to have support available at certain times. Similarly, they may not want to have you in their community. So, the community they form might be smaller, but more aligned with what they want. They are definitely reducing their pool of customers, but maybe they are still attracting the customers they want. Why not let the market decide if they can find enough customers with this approach. Honestly, the banks I use in the US often do something similar. It’s not as bad as this, and only on their online banking site, not their marketing site. They have maintenance windows late at night (in their time zone), and don’t allow logins during that time. It’s not always every night, but it’s often enough that I’ve noticed (at 3-4am).
  - jackson1442 4y ago
    > the bank could save money by only needing to have support available at certain times. You don't need live support to run a website, you can experience this on most websites that have live support available if you go to their site at 1am local.
    - mbreese 4y ago
      No, but the signal is, “when the website is up, we’re here”. I can’t say I’d call this a smart move, but if they still have enough customers to make it worthwhile, I can’t say it’s a bad move. Now, if they can’t get customers or can’t grow because of this, the market will tell them it’s a bad idea. It’s definitely sub-optimal, from a growth point of view. But so long as it works for them and their customers, why should I care? Are they the only bank for a region? Or is using them required for some purpose?
      - jackson1442 4y ago
        I fail to see how that’s a useful signal. The IRS does this on their site to get an EIN[0]. I don’t know why, but it’s bad UX and restricts the usefulness of the site. [0]: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employe...
- xwdv 4y ago
  People in the optimal time zone will not be annoyed.
- nottorp 4y ago
  Also, which 12 am? Which 1am? Even if the OP thinks everyone is on US time, there are like 3 different time zones even over there...
PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago
> 12pm to 11pm In which timezone?
- xwdv 4y ago
  Probably Pacific time since that’s where ycombinator is based.
- Crosseye_Jack 4y ago
  I nominate KST! Its currently 3:20AM (ish)
wincy 4y ago
B&H Photos (a place that sells far more electronics than just photography stuff) disables their ordering system on their website during Shabbat. Even for Black Friday, which could potentially result in them losing business. I can respect it though.
- akeck 4y ago
  I've come to appreciate this B&H practice. It reminds me that I have to take breaks too. It hasn't affected my use of B&H much because their shipping is remarkably fast for my location in the US (well outside of NYC).
moneywoes 4y ago
How would that work across timezones
- xwdv 4y ago
  It would encourage people who live in certain time zones to use the site more than others.
ctennis1 4y ago
Maybe not quite the same, but https://www.gen-aircraft-hardware.com/ https://www.gen-aircraft-hardware.com/ shuts down every Saturday for observation of the sabbath.
SL61 4y ago
A while back I thought about making a chat room website that only allows entry if it's between midnight and 5am in the user's time zone. I was a night owl at the time and liked the idea of making the middle of the night a bit less lonely. I ended up deciding it would be too much trouble to keep it secure and prevent spam for what amounted to a small idea, but I've been secretly hoping someone else comes up with it someday.
imtringued 4y ago
That is how you get businesses that are only open when people are at work.

by xwdv 4y ago

RjQoLCOSwiIKfpm 4y ago

Forcing your sleep rhythm on people who have a different one than you for no reason other than a moral crusade isn't a nice thing to do. Also, you cannot make people feel a sense of community with you by annoying them. Annoying someone will make them dislike you.

dcow 4y ago
Well like it or not that's how society works. Name me a community that isn't a <large world city> where things operate 24/7. It annoys me too, but when 97% of everyone observes a normal sleep schedule, who's even around to staff and support the nightlife? Why should my hours be forced upon anybody else?
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  Because we are talking about a server, so the marginal cost of operating is basically electricity. And no one is forcing other bank websites to operate 24/7, it just makes economic sense to provide it since it costs so little. I would not patronize a business that had to regularly shut down their website, I would wonder what kind of weak IT department they have and why I would want to invest in that.
  - jackson1442 4y ago
    Same here. Sometimes I pay my bills at night just because that's convenient for me. If Wells Fargo started locking me out of my account outside of business hours (different from standard maintenance windows) I would immediately run to another bank. Locking bank websites after hours isn't a great proposition for an increasingly cashless society.
mbreese 4y ago
Or, it self selects out people who would cost more money in support to the bank. If you’re in their time zone (and awake when they are), the bank could save money by only needing to have support available at certain times. Similarly, they may not want to have you in their community. So, the community they form might be smaller, but more aligned with what they want. They are definitely reducing their pool of customers, but maybe they are still attracting the customers they want. Why not let the market decide if they can find enough customers with this approach. Honestly, the banks I use in the US often do something similar. It’s not as bad as this, and only on their online banking site, not their marketing site. They have maintenance windows late at night (in their time zone), and don’t allow logins during that time. It’s not always every night, but it’s often enough that I’ve noticed (at 3-4am).
- jackson1442 4y ago
  > the bank could save money by only needing to have support available at certain times. You don't need live support to run a website, you can experience this on most websites that have live support available if you go to their site at 1am local.
  - mbreese 4y ago
    No, but the signal is, “when the website is up, we’re here”. I can’t say I’d call this a smart move, but if they still have enough customers to make it worthwhile, I can’t say it’s a bad move. Now, if they can’t get customers or can’t grow because of this, the market will tell them it’s a bad idea. It’s definitely sub-optimal, from a growth point of view. But so long as it works for them and their customers, why should I care? Are they the only bank for a region? Or is using them required for some purpose?
    - jackson1442 4y ago
      I fail to see how that’s a useful signal. The IRS does this on their site to get an EIN[0]. I don’t know why, but it’s bad UX and restricts the usefulness of the site. [0]: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employe...
xwdv 4y ago
People in the optimal time zone will not be annoyed.
nottorp 4y ago
Also, which 12 am? Which 1am? Even if the OP thinks everyone is on US time, there are like 3 different time zones even over there...

PaulDavisThe1st 4y ago

> 12pm to 11pm In which timezone?

xwdv 4y ago
Probably Pacific time since that’s where ycombinator is based.
Crosseye_Jack 4y ago
I nominate KST! Its currently 3:20AM (ish)

wincy 4y ago

B&H Photos (a place that sells far more electronics than just photography stuff) disables their ordering system on their website during Shabbat. Even for Black Friday, which could potentially result in them losing business. I can respect it though.

akeck 4y ago
I've come to appreciate this B&H practice. It reminds me that I have to take breaks too. It hasn't affected my use of B&H much because their shipping is remarkably fast for my location in the US (well outside of NYC).

moneywoes 4y ago

How would that work across timezones

xwdv 4y ago
It would encourage people who live in certain time zones to use the site more than others.

ctennis1 4y ago

Maybe not quite the same, but https://www.gen-aircraft-hardware.com/ https://www.gen-aircraft-hardware.com/ shuts down every Saturday for observation of the sabbath.

SL61 4y ago

A while back I thought about making a chat room website that only allows entry if it's between midnight and 5am in the user's time zone. I was a night owl at the time and liked the idea of making the middle of the night a bit less lonely. I ended up deciding it would be too much trouble to keep it secure and prevent spam for what amounted to a small idea, but I've been secretly hoping someone else comes up with it someday.

imtringued 4y ago

That is how you get businesses that are only open when people are at work.