4 ms·

Oh c'mon, this is brilliant, and solves a huge pain problem for lots of people (myself included). You don't have to have perfect solutions to edge customer case

Oh c'mon, this is brilliant, and solves a huge pain problem for lots of people (myself included). You don't have to have perfect solutions to edge customer cases in order to be successful (e.g. Zipcar, AirBnB, eBay, etc), and you can always iterate on the solutions. The airport/station staff can do the daily cleaning and replenishing. Also, they can give you a grace period of 5 mins to reject the pod if there's a problem with it (smoking, unsanitary, etc).

skue 14y ago
> You don't have to have perfect solutions to edge customer cases and you can always iterate on the solutions. This isn't a high tech startup. These units would be placed in very public places, so initial impressions would have an enormous impact on their subsequent success (or failure). Imagine the worst things someone could do within one of these units and then ask yourself how you would discretely clean that within a public space. The previous poster is right: Given their semi-public/semi-private nature and the fact that they include beds, there's no way in the world these units wouldn't be used by mischievous travelers. The media would have a field day with this - and not just the news: TV sitcoms and certain nighttime dramas would be racing to be the first to be the first to include a pod episode. It's hard to see the units not turn into a running joke that no concourse operator would want to be associated with.
- DanBC 14y ago
  You start by having them only in First class lounges. Then you filter them down through to business class lounges. The cattle will never see them.
  - Qwertious 14y ago
    You think that just because someone can buy first class, they aren't the very embodiment of Loki?
- wpietri 14y ago
  What makes you think non-tech startups don't iterate? If anything, I think they're much better at it. With software, we have to work really hard to see people use our products and talk with them. But for most businesses it's pretty easy, and it's that feedback that really drives innovation. This seems like an easy one to iterate on. You put one box in one airport. You catch every customer as they're coming out (which should be easy as departure will be indicated on booking, and you'll want to go by to clean it anyhow). You ask them what they think. If initial impressions are somehow terrible, then you solve the problems and set your next one up with different branding in a different airport. Then keep iterating.

skue 14y ago

> You don't have to have perfect solutions to edge customer cases and you can always iterate on the solutions. This isn't a high tech startup. These units would be placed in very public places, so initial impressions would have an enormous impact on their subsequent success (or failure). Imagine the worst things someone could do within one of these units and then ask yourself how you would discretely clean that within a public space. The previous poster is right: Given their semi-public/semi-private nature and the fact that they include beds, there's no way in the world these units wouldn't be used by mischievous travelers. The media would have a field day with this - and not just the news: TV sitcoms and certain nighttime dramas would be racing to be the first to be the first to include a pod episode. It's hard to see the units not turn into a running joke that no concourse operator would want to be associated with.

DanBC 14y ago
You start by having them only in First class lounges. Then you filter them down through to business class lounges. The cattle will never see them.
- Qwertious 14y ago
  You think that just because someone can buy first class, they aren't the very embodiment of Loki?
wpietri 14y ago
What makes you think non-tech startups don't iterate? If anything, I think they're much better at it. With software, we have to work really hard to see people use our products and talk with them. But for most businesses it's pretty easy, and it's that feedback that really drives innovation. This seems like an easy one to iterate on. You put one box in one airport. You catch every customer as they're coming out (which should be easy as departure will be indicated on booking, and you'll want to go by to clean it anyhow). You ask them what they think. If initial impressions are somehow terrible, then you solve the problems and set your next one up with different branding in a different airport. Then keep iterating.