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Deploying meteor.js apps to e-paper

29 points by luka-birsa 13y ago

mark_l_watson 13y ago
That was interesting! I have spent a lot of time with Meteor.js and it is cool to see it used on a different kind of device. A little off topic, but: from my experience, Meteor.js hits a sweet spot for web apps with shared state between multiple users. It is also reasonable for a single user rich client. Because of issues like needing sticky sessions I don't think it is good at all for simpler content sites.
- Swizec 13y ago
  > It is also reasonable for a single user rich client. Because of issues like needing sticky sessions I don't think it is good at all for simpler content sites. I don't think it is meant at all for simple content sites. The whole point is live-refreshing between server and other clients and that whole trick where you do something on device A and it automagically updates the view on device B as well. Content sites need none of that. But it brings a smile every time I see an "app" site do that. Even though I know exactly how it works and I've done that stuff by hand from scratch. I just can't get over the "Wow, this is magic" feeling :)
- davedx 13y ago
  > Because of issues like needing sticky sessions I don't think it is good at all for simpler content sites. Our host, Modulus.io, takes care of the session load balancing for us. No problem!
Void_ 13y ago
240€ seriously?
- jedahan 13y ago
  Barnes and Noble nook / Kindle paperwhite is ~$120. Those two manufacturers make way more than the expected $120 on content sales. I scoffed at the initial price too but it actually is competitive. Of course, the older Nook was $80, and this could definitely drop down to under $200...
- JanezStupar 13y ago
  1. You sould know that Nooks and Kindles can afford for the hardware to be loss leaders. 2. Try getting your webapp on Kindle (there's a real application stack behind V Device). 3. Try sticking kindle into a bath tub and tell me how it goes. 4. Try dropping kindle from your hands a couple of times and tell me how it went.
jedahan 13y ago
I work for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and this would be perfect for multilingual labels, and a few other things. This is exactly what I needed - I've been experimenting with rooting Nooks and making epub's for applications (which are just html/cc/js) but the browsers are not that great and rooting has its own issues. The 200% premium over a nook may seem a bit high but could probably be attributed to a) much smaller manufacturing run, and b) not expecting to make money off of content sales.
- JanezStupar 13y ago
  Don't forget that with this platform you will spend way less time fiddling with each piece of hardware.
brunolazzaro 13y ago
I'm not gonna argue this is cool, but an iPad Mini is 249€ and you have larger support of "apps" (web or native). Sure, it's not waterproof and you have to have it connected most of the times, but you get a color screen and better touch capabilities.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
gales 13y ago
Interesting article. Also, I'd not heard of the e-paper based V-tablet before; seems like a good device to experiment with, so will probably order one the future. Region redraw is included in the forthcoming Meteor UI [1], which uses the new spacebars engine, so that might negate the requirement to use the Visionect plugin. 1: http://www.meteorpedia.com/read/Meteor_UI http://www.meteorpedia.com/read/Meteor_UI
Rok_Zalar 13y ago
For anyone interested, online documentation is available at: docs.visionect.si

29 points by luka-birsa 13y ago

That was interesting! I have spent a lot of time with Meteor.js and it is cool to see it used on a different kind of device. A little off topic, but: from my experience, Meteor.js hits a sweet spot for web apps with shared state between multiple users. It is also reasonable for a single user rich client. Because of issues like needing sticky sessions I don't think it is good at all for simpler content sites.

Swizec 13y ago
> It is also reasonable for a single user rich client. Because of issues like needing sticky sessions I don't think it is good at all for simpler content sites. I don't think it is meant at all for simple content sites. The whole point is live-refreshing between server and other clients and that whole trick where you do something on device A and it automagically updates the view on device B as well. Content sites need none of that. But it brings a smile every time I see an "app" site do that. Even though I know exactly how it works and I've done that stuff by hand from scratch. I just can't get over the "Wow, this is magic" feeling :)
davedx 13y ago
> Because of issues like needing sticky sessions I don't think it is good at all for simpler content sites. Our host, Modulus.io, takes care of the session load balancing for us. No problem!

Void_ 13y ago

240€ seriously?

jedahan 13y ago
Barnes and Noble nook / Kindle paperwhite is ~$120. Those two manufacturers make way more than the expected $120 on content sales. I scoffed at the initial price too but it actually is competitive. Of course, the older Nook was $80, and this could definitely drop down to under $200...
JanezStupar 13y ago
1. You sould know that Nooks and Kindles can afford for the hardware to be loss leaders. 2. Try getting your webapp on Kindle (there's a real application stack behind V Device). 3. Try sticking kindle into a bath tub and tell me how it goes. 4. Try dropping kindle from your hands a couple of times and tell me how it went.

jedahan 13y ago

I work for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and this would be perfect for multilingual labels, and a few other things. This is exactly what I needed - I've been experimenting with rooting Nooks and making epub's for applications (which are just html/cc/js) but the browsers are not that great and rooting has its own issues. The 200% premium over a nook may seem a bit high but could probably be attributed to a) much smaller manufacturing run, and b) not expecting to make money off of content sales.

JanezStupar 13y ago
Don't forget that with this platform you will spend way less time fiddling with each piece of hardware.

brunolazzaro 13y ago

I'm not gonna argue this is cool, but an iPad Mini is 249€ and you have larger support of "apps" (web or native). Sure, it's not waterproof and you have to have it connected most of the times, but you get a color screen and better touch capabilities.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

gales 13y ago

Interesting article. Also, I'd not heard of the e-paper based V-tablet before; seems like a good device to experiment with, so will probably order one the future. Region redraw is included in the forthcoming Meteor UI [1], which uses the new spacebars engine, so that might negate the requirement to use the Visionect plugin. 1: http://www.meteorpedia.com/read/Meteor_UI http://www.meteorpedia.com/read/Meteor_UI

Rok_Zalar 13y ago

For anyone interested, online documentation is available at: docs.visionect.si