5 ms·

Ask HN: Review our startup: Tonido

17 points by codemechanic 17y ago

yan 17y ago
The site is beautiful, but even after reading the blurb, I'm not sure what Tonido is. Is it for users or developers?
- codemechanic 17y ago
  primarily for users. so messaging is the problem
- simonista 17y ago
  Agreed, I don't know what it is either. Also, I'd try shrinking your logo/header so that some actual content shows up in the first screen of content.
  - codemechanic 17y ago
    thanks. good suggestion
  - xsc 17y ago
    Agreed... beautiful FYI, when I see nothing above the fold, it's a bit discouraging. Screen: http://www.imagecabin.com/?view=24423358607dd118227aaef6e http://www.imagecabin.com/?view=24423358607dd118227aaef6e
- thorax 17y ago
  This review very quickly worded things so it was clear what was going on: http://www.webchicklet.com/cool-web-sites/my-vote-for-best-app-of-2009-tonido/ http://www.webchicklet.com/cool-web-sites/my-vote-for-best-a... Ideally they find a way to word the home page in terms like what is used there.
Zarathu 17y ago
Yeah, I'm still clueless in regards to what its actual functionality is.
- codemechanic 17y ago
  it allows you to share, sync files, photos, music and media with your friends and family members without relying on public online services
  - endtwist 17y ago
    That is exactly what it should say in the large blue text at the top of the page, instead of the vague sentence that is currently there. ("Tonido is an open personal web application platform that runs on your desktop which safeguards your privacy and online freedom")
  - codemechanic 17y ago
    actually tonido is also a platform. it comes with a set of applications currently. can build apps on top of it. thats why we are not sure what message is appropriate (platform or functionality or apps)
    - ccc3 17y ago
      This is purely my intuition, but it seems like anyone who would develop for the platform is pretty used to digging around a website for information. The people who are just syncing photos, videos, etc. are more likely to be scared off by the first line on the front page. If it were me I'd put up a simple explanation on the front page then give developers an obvious place to go for more information on the platform.
    - codemechanic 17y ago
      i think your intuition is spot on. thanks
rw 17y ago
Your pitch is good enough that I was really annoyed when I realized that it is closed-source. I do not expect the crypto/privacy aficionados to help you out with this product.
- codemechanic 17y ago
  the platform is open source
  - tptacek 17y ago
    So... uh... where's the source code?
    - codemechanic 17y ago
      if you are interested please sign up in the developer mailing list. we will send the notification.
      - tptacek 17y ago
        Ok. I did. Will you send the notification? Better yet, since you're open source, just post a link here.
michaelawill 17y ago
I'm not sure I expected the site to look that amazing. Awesome job! I really like the idea behind the software to. I can't wait to hear about you in the news down the road :)
codemechanic 17y ago
should the key message target functionality or underlying philosophy of the product?
- ruchi 17y ago
  Both. You should use the philosophy behind the product to distinguish yourself from the other similar apps out there.
- mstjern 17y ago
  Love the product, but yes, the site could use some work. Target functionality in big bold, philosophy on the about page.
- graphene 17y ago
  the philosophy would be the main drawing point for me; it's precisely the reason I still keep all my photos, calndar information, files, etc. on my local machine, even though web-based access would be very nice to have. With you app, I can have both, wich is very appealing, although I'm slightly worried about bandwidth consumption if several people start streaming from my music collection, for example. Related to this (possibly), what exactly about the functionality of your app is p2p (that wasn't clear to me)? Nice job altogether; I will definitely check into using this...
  - codemechanic 17y ago
    the p2p functionality is used in sharing photos and workspaces (similar to backpack app). P2P is not used for jukebox (more like ur own personal music station).
    - graphene 17y ago
      another thought: maybe you could sell this as an app you can install on a (commercial) server of your choice, and so not have this drain your local (presumably home) bandwidth, while still being independent of google, flickr, etc. This would also save you from having to keep your desktop computer on and online all the time..
stuff4ben 17y ago
It took a while for the page to load, look into YSlow or that new Google PageSpeed to optimize it. Also took a couple minutes to grok what it does. Once I did, I immediately wanted to get it but was hesitant about how much it cost. I didn't see any mention of price anywhere. If it's free, be sure to mention that somewhere (preferably in big bold letters). All in all, it looks like you guys have done quite a good job. Good work and I'll be one of your users soon enough (once I get home and can open port forwarding).
anigbrowl 17y ago
Giant graphic obscures your info. I didn't really want to scroll down to find out what. Otherwise home page is good. I'm not sure what it is you're offering that I can't do with, say, OpenOffice. What makes your apps different from/better than existing desktop software?
- codemechanic 17y ago
  You can access the apps from anywhere. It has a p2p built in capability that allows you to sync your workspace, files and photos
icey 17y ago
Has anything changed since the last time you posted this? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=537576 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=537576
huhtenberg 17y ago
Who's your target userbase and how do you plan to make money (assuming this is a business venture and not a non-profit) ? In other words, are you being realistic by hoping to sell "no server dependency" to an average Joe, the Flickr user ?
- codemechanic 17y ago
  plan to sell premium applications. differentiate business and personal apps.
aik 17y ago
Great idea, beautiful site, and the software looks great (haven't tried it yet). What's your business model if you don't mind me asking?
- codemechanic 17y ago
  freemium. but we need to get traction first. plan to sell the domain server for enterprises and create new business apps for SOHO segment.
tonetheman 17y ago
looks nice but i dont know what it does. i read pretty much the entire front page and i cannot tell exactly what it is. looks like a professional site though!
GotToStartup 17y ago
looks very nice. Who designed the site? Graphics? Logo?
tptacek 17y ago
http://www.tonido.com/how.html http://www.tonido.com/how.html You forgot the "Systems Analyst".
tptacek 17y ago
Sketchiness quotient increasing: http://www.tonido.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=44 http://www.tonido.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=44 It doesn't look like you mean the same thing that everyone else means when you say "open source". You want to update this?
paul9290 17y ago
Nice graphics but when I load the page the graphics take up my viewer (1280 by 800) and there is no copy to tell me what it is? I have to scroll down. I would suggest integrate short description into nice design right at the top so when page loads ppl get it right away!
linux-reviewer 17y ago
I have no issues with the Music, files or other documents. Setup has been super easy thus far. I look forward to testing it out on my WinDoze machine next. A userful review may be found at: http://www.linux-magazine.com/issues/2009/105/cloud_9 http://www.linux-magazine.com/issues/2009/105/cloud_9 I agree the tonido website content does the toolset a 'huge' disservice. Tonido is a great environment which is unclearly under-communicated, under-stated, and unclear. Where it does appear there is no mention of its use for small business; which is huge. I was not even able to find mention of it on the Ubuntu Forums site... on the main Ubuntu site it appears once: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/P2PHowTo#Tonido%20-%20Peer-to-Peer%20Personal%20web%20application%20platform https://help.ubuntu.com/community/P2PHowTo#Tonido%20-%20Peer...

17 points by codemechanic 17y ago

yan 17y ago

The site is beautiful, but even after reading the blurb, I'm not sure what Tonido is. Is it for users or developers?

codemechanic 17y ago
primarily for users. so messaging is the problem
simonista 17y ago
Agreed, I don't know what it is either. Also, I'd try shrinking your logo/header so that some actual content shows up in the first screen of content.
- codemechanic 17y ago
  thanks. good suggestion
- xsc 17y ago
  Agreed... beautiful FYI, when I see nothing above the fold, it's a bit discouraging. Screen: http://www.imagecabin.com/?view=24423358607dd118227aaef6e http://www.imagecabin.com/?view=24423358607dd118227aaef6e
thorax 17y ago
This review very quickly worded things so it was clear what was going on: http://www.webchicklet.com/cool-web-sites/my-vote-for-best-app-of-2009-tonido/ http://www.webchicklet.com/cool-web-sites/my-vote-for-best-a... Ideally they find a way to word the home page in terms like what is used there.

Zarathu 17y ago

Yeah, I'm still clueless in regards to what its actual functionality is.

codemechanic 17y ago
it allows you to share, sync files, photos, music and media with your friends and family members without relying on public online services
- endtwist 17y ago
  That is exactly what it should say in the large blue text at the top of the page, instead of the vague sentence that is currently there. ("Tonido is an open personal web application platform that runs on your desktop which safeguards your privacy and online freedom")
- codemechanic 17y ago
  actually tonido is also a platform. it comes with a set of applications currently. can build apps on top of it. thats why we are not sure what message is appropriate (platform or functionality or apps)
  - ccc3 17y ago
    This is purely my intuition, but it seems like anyone who would develop for the platform is pretty used to digging around a website for information. The people who are just syncing photos, videos, etc. are more likely to be scared off by the first line on the front page. If it were me I'd put up a simple explanation on the front page then give developers an obvious place to go for more information on the platform.
  - codemechanic 17y ago
    i think your intuition is spot on. thanks

rw 17y ago

Your pitch is good enough that I was really annoyed when I realized that it is closed-source. I do not expect the crypto/privacy aficionados to help you out with this product.

codemechanic 17y ago
the platform is open source
- tptacek 17y ago
  So... uh... where's the source code?
  - codemechanic 17y ago
    if you are interested please sign up in the developer mailing list. we will send the notification.
    - tptacek 17y ago
      Ok. I did. Will you send the notification? Better yet, since you're open source, just post a link here.

michaelawill 17y ago

I'm not sure I expected the site to look that amazing. Awesome job! I really like the idea behind the software to. I can't wait to hear about you in the news down the road :)

codemechanic 17y ago

should the key message target functionality or underlying philosophy of the product?

ruchi 17y ago
Both. You should use the philosophy behind the product to distinguish yourself from the other similar apps out there.
mstjern 17y ago
Love the product, but yes, the site could use some work. Target functionality in big bold, philosophy on the about page.
graphene 17y ago
the philosophy would be the main drawing point for me; it's precisely the reason I still keep all my photos, calndar information, files, etc. on my local machine, even though web-based access would be very nice to have. With you app, I can have both, wich is very appealing, although I'm slightly worried about bandwidth consumption if several people start streaming from my music collection, for example. Related to this (possibly), what exactly about the functionality of your app is p2p (that wasn't clear to me)? Nice job altogether; I will definitely check into using this...
- codemechanic 17y ago
  the p2p functionality is used in sharing photos and workspaces (similar to backpack app). P2P is not used for jukebox (more like ur own personal music station).
  - graphene 17y ago
    another thought: maybe you could sell this as an app you can install on a (commercial) server of your choice, and so not have this drain your local (presumably home) bandwidth, while still being independent of google, flickr, etc. This would also save you from having to keep your desktop computer on and online all the time..

stuff4ben 17y ago

It took a while for the page to load, look into YSlow or that new Google PageSpeed to optimize it. Also took a couple minutes to grok what it does. Once I did, I immediately wanted to get it but was hesitant about how much it cost. I didn't see any mention of price anywhere. If it's free, be sure to mention that somewhere (preferably in big bold letters). All in all, it looks like you guys have done quite a good job. Good work and I'll be one of your users soon enough (once I get home and can open port forwarding).

anigbrowl 17y ago

Giant graphic obscures your info. I didn't really want to scroll down to find out what. Otherwise home page is good. I'm not sure what it is you're offering that I can't do with, say, OpenOffice. What makes your apps different from/better than existing desktop software?

codemechanic 17y ago
You can access the apps from anywhere. It has a p2p built in capability that allows you to sync your workspace, files and photos

icey 17y ago

Has anything changed since the last time you posted this? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=537576 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=537576

huhtenberg 17y ago

Who's your target userbase and how do you plan to make money (assuming this is a business venture and not a non-profit) ? In other words, are you being realistic by hoping to sell "no server dependency" to an average Joe, the Flickr user ?

codemechanic 17y ago
plan to sell premium applications. differentiate business and personal apps.

aik 17y ago

Great idea, beautiful site, and the software looks great (haven't tried it yet). What's your business model if you don't mind me asking?

codemechanic 17y ago
freemium. but we need to get traction first. plan to sell the domain server for enterprises and create new business apps for SOHO segment.

tonetheman 17y ago

looks nice but i dont know what it does. i read pretty much the entire front page and i cannot tell exactly what it is. looks like a professional site though!

GotToStartup 17y ago

looks very nice. Who designed the site? Graphics? Logo?

tptacek 17y ago

http://www.tonido.com/how.html http://www.tonido.com/how.html You forgot the "Systems Analyst".

tptacek 17y ago

Sketchiness quotient increasing: http://www.tonido.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=44 http://www.tonido.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=44 It doesn't look like you mean the same thing that everyone else means when you say "open source". You want to update this?

paul9290 17y ago

Nice graphics but when I load the page the graphics take up my viewer (1280 by 800) and there is no copy to tell me what it is? I have to scroll down. I would suggest integrate short description into nice design right at the top so when page loads ppl get it right away!

linux-reviewer 17y ago

I have no issues with the Music, files or other documents. Setup has been super easy thus far. I look forward to testing it out on my WinDoze machine next. A userful review may be found at: http://www.linux-magazine.com/issues/2009/105/cloud_9 http://www.linux-magazine.com/issues/2009/105/cloud_9 I agree the tonido website content does the toolset a 'huge' disservice. Tonido is a great environment which is unclearly under-communicated, under-stated, and unclear. Where it does appear there is no mention of its use for small business; which is huge. I was not even able to find mention of it on the Ubuntu Forums site... on the main Ubuntu site it appears once: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/P2PHowTo#Tonido%20-%20Peer-to-Peer%20Personal%20web%20application%20platform https://help.ubuntu.com/community/P2PHowTo#Tonido%20-%20Peer...