7 ms·

Early screenshots of Twitter ('06), Facebook ('05), and Tumblr ('07)

100 points by panabee 13y ago

panabee 13y ago
Initially, it doesn't matter how your product looks if people want it. It would be cool to see early screenshots of other popular services like LinkedIn and Dropbox. Proper credit goes to reddit user, cmdrNacho, as the link was found here: http://www.reddit.com/r/startups/comments/1y1f3n/if_you_could_give_yourself_one_piece_of_advice/ http://www.reddit.com/r/startups/comments/1y1f3n/if_you_coul...
patio11 13y ago
On the more prosaic end of the scale: Bingo Card Creator, circa early 2007: http://www.bingocardcreator.com/old-site/index.htm http://www.bingocardcreator.com/old-site/index.htm It doesn't exactly scream "This will certainly sell a quarter million of software, allow you to quit your day job, and fund your software business." You'd find similar things floating around if you were to look at the early history of most companies which are widely idolized in our space. Nobody ships perfection on day 1. Luckily, customers are happy to pay for imperfect things.
- jhh 13y ago
  has Bingo Card Creator in fact sold 250,000 pcs.?
  - patio11 13y ago
    I meant that quote to read as "dollars." My bad. It's at somewhere north of $250k lifetime -- you can probably find it here http://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats/sales-by-month http://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats/sales-by-month . (I don't keep tabs on it very often anymore.)
    - patrickyeon 13y ago
      For those wondering, the relevant line: "All time $277,447.49" While glancing at the data though, it appears something must have shifted about 12 months ago and you're on track to make a lot less than you had up through 2012.
      - mithras 13y ago
        Saturation maybe?
        thematt 13y ago
        Search engine ranking changes is more like it. Mostly due to Google algorithm changes.
- nakkiel 13y ago
  Honestly, BCC is kind of a mistery around here.
  - naterator 13y ago
    Old people, man. And the people who take care of old people. I know it's not typically HN target demographic, but old people need improvements in their lives, too.
    - ams6110 13y ago
      I thought BCC was aimed at teachers? Various implementations of bingo are commonly used as teaching aids, test review games, etc. Though I agree I'm amazed at its success. It's one of those ideas I'd have dismissed as "you could never make money doing that."
    - tptacek 13y ago
      Not old people. Teachers. The distinction is vitally important. BCC solves a professional problem that teachers will pay money for. It's not about entertainment.
- scoot 13y ago
  "sell a quarter million [dollars] of software [over 7 years], allow you to quit your day job, and fund your software business" Glad for you that your product has given you that freedom, but I don't think there are many devs who would be comfortable quitting a day job for circa $35K gross ARR... Edit to say: I see from the link elsewhere that you publish your numbers (kudos), and that gross mean ARR for the last 4 years is $51K, which is a passive income I wouldn't say no to! Doesn't change my position on quitting the day job however.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
brador 13y ago
I regret not taking a screenshot of http://skimfeed.com http://skimfeed.com at the start. Then I made some DB changes and now I can't remember the colors I used. So it's all weird and orange. Tip for startups: save! And get that DB right first time.
- trentmb 13y ago
  Do you not use version control?
  - brador 13y ago
    I started using version control later in the process. First few iterations, were live coding/happy-hacking.
    - agumonkey 13y ago
      yeah I'm starting to think that mkdir should be 'mkdir + cd + git init'
      - ygra 13y ago
        Why not just make mkdir an alias for git init?
        agumonkey 13y ago
        Because I never read the manual and thus never used git init without being in a fresh dir, so you're right. alias mkdir='git init' # or mkprj, mkp, mkdirp ... ?
- jaredsohn 13y ago
  archive.org can help with this, too. The earliest for your site is: https://web.archive.org/web/20120908180933/http://skimfeed.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20120908180933/http://skimfeed.c..., which is within a day of when your twitter account was created. (although this might not be early enough and generally people shouldn't rely on archive.org caching their site.)
nostrademons 13y ago
Google, circa 1998 (I think it was actually mid-1999): http://www.google.com/search?q=google+in+1998 http://www.google.com/search?q=google+in+1998
kosei 13y ago
Note the prominence of the Invite button on each. On Twitter it's in bright red in the header, Facebook also in the header and for Tumblr it's right below the profile.
pgsandstrom 13y ago
Personally I really enjoy reading the first entry on wikipedia for now famous sites. Especially I think facebooks first entry is charming. Facebook: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Facebook&oldid=3388273 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Facebook&oldid=338... Twitter: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twitter&oldid=107487409 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twitter&oldid=1074... Tumblr: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tumblr&oldid=278328098 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tumblr&oldid=27832...
- cpach 13y ago
  Thank you, those posts are awesome!
- christiangenco 13y ago
  Oh whoa, I didn't realize Facebook let you see other students in your classes. I wrote a program to do that my freshmen year for your Facebook friends.
photorized 13y ago
Two observations: 1. How's simple (one could say crude) these looked back in the day - yet that didn't prevent people from signing up. 2. How quickly things age online - it only takes a few years for your UI to look ancient.

100 points by panabee 13y ago

Initially, it doesn't matter how your product looks if people want it. It would be cool to see early screenshots of other popular services like LinkedIn and Dropbox. Proper credit goes to reddit user, cmdrNacho, as the link was found here: http://www.reddit.com/r/startups/comments/1y1f3n/if_you_could_give_yourself_one_piece_of_advice/ http://www.reddit.com/r/startups/comments/1y1f3n/if_you_coul...

patio11 13y ago

On the more prosaic end of the scale: Bingo Card Creator, circa early 2007: http://www.bingocardcreator.com/old-site/index.htm http://www.bingocardcreator.com/old-site/index.htm It doesn't exactly scream "This will certainly sell a quarter million of software, allow you to quit your day job, and fund your software business." You'd find similar things floating around if you were to look at the early history of most companies which are widely idolized in our space. Nobody ships perfection on day 1. Luckily, customers are happy to pay for imperfect things.

jhh 13y ago
has Bingo Card Creator in fact sold 250,000 pcs.?
- patio11 13y ago
  I meant that quote to read as "dollars." My bad. It's at somewhere north of $250k lifetime -- you can probably find it here http://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats/sales-by-month http://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats/sales-by-month . (I don't keep tabs on it very often anymore.)
  - patrickyeon 13y ago
    For those wondering, the relevant line: "All time $277,447.49" While glancing at the data though, it appears something must have shifted about 12 months ago and you're on track to make a lot less than you had up through 2012.
    - mithras 13y ago
      Saturation maybe?
      - thematt 13y ago
        Search engine ranking changes is more like it. Mostly due to Google algorithm changes.
nakkiel 13y ago
Honestly, BCC is kind of a mistery around here.
- naterator 13y ago
  Old people, man. And the people who take care of old people. I know it's not typically HN target demographic, but old people need improvements in their lives, too.
  - ams6110 13y ago
    I thought BCC was aimed at teachers? Various implementations of bingo are commonly used as teaching aids, test review games, etc. Though I agree I'm amazed at its success. It's one of those ideas I'd have dismissed as "you could never make money doing that."
  - tptacek 13y ago
    Not old people. Teachers. The distinction is vitally important. BCC solves a professional problem that teachers will pay money for. It's not about entertainment.
scoot 13y ago
"sell a quarter million [dollars] of software [over 7 years], allow you to quit your day job, and fund your software business" Glad for you that your product has given you that freedom, but I don't think there are many devs who would be comfortable quitting a day job for circa $35K gross ARR... Edit to say: I see from the link elsewhere that you publish your numbers (kudos), and that gross mean ARR for the last 4 years is $51K, which is a passive income I wouldn't say no to! Doesn't change my position on quitting the day job however.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

brador 13y ago

I regret not taking a screenshot of http://skimfeed.com http://skimfeed.com at the start. Then I made some DB changes and now I can't remember the colors I used. So it's all weird and orange. Tip for startups: save! And get that DB right first time.

trentmb 13y ago
Do you not use version control?
- brador 13y ago
  I started using version control later in the process. First few iterations, were live coding/happy-hacking.
  - agumonkey 13y ago
    yeah I'm starting to think that mkdir should be 'mkdir + cd + git init'
    - ygra 13y ago
      Why not just make mkdir an alias for git init?
      - agumonkey 13y ago
        Because I never read the manual and thus never used git init without being in a fresh dir, so you're right. alias mkdir='git init' # or mkprj, mkp, mkdirp ... ?
jaredsohn 13y ago
archive.org can help with this, too. The earliest for your site is: https://web.archive.org/web/20120908180933/http://skimfeed.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20120908180933/http://skimfeed.c..., which is within a day of when your twitter account was created. (although this might not be early enough and generally people shouldn't rely on archive.org caching their site.)

nostrademons 13y ago

Google, circa 1998 (I think it was actually mid-1999): http://www.google.com/search?q=google+in+1998 http://www.google.com/search?q=google+in+1998

kosei 13y ago

Note the prominence of the Invite button on each. On Twitter it's in bright red in the header, Facebook also in the header and for Tumblr it's right below the profile.

pgsandstrom 13y ago

Personally I really enjoy reading the first entry on wikipedia for now famous sites. Especially I think facebooks first entry is charming. Facebook: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Facebook&oldid=3388273 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Facebook&oldid=338... Twitter: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twitter&oldid=107487409 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twitter&oldid=1074... Tumblr: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tumblr&oldid=278328098 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tumblr&oldid=27832...

cpach 13y ago
Thank you, those posts are awesome!
christiangenco 13y ago
Oh whoa, I didn't realize Facebook let you see other students in your classes. I wrote a program to do that my freshmen year for your Facebook friends.

photorized 13y ago

Two observations: 1. How's simple (one could say crude) these looked back in the day - yet that didn't prevent people from signing up. 2. How quickly things age online - it only takes a few years for your UI to look ancient.