Groupchat summaries
Catching up with groupchats is a real problem. Provide time and/or topic-based summaries generated by GPT. Simple as "summarise the conversation between 10am and 1pm".
Then answer questions about the conversation ("what did Mr. Appleseed think of X?") while linking to the relevant message. Maybe fetch the messages with highest entropy, idk.
I have no doubt that the major messaging apps will add something like this within the next couple of years. You could do this now with a Telegram or Discord bot if you wanted to.
Markdown was invented to write HTML without writing HTML. But I think it should do more.
Truly personal timetables
A plan that sync to your actual waking hours. Starts when you wake up, not at arbitary hour marks.
rotime claims to be a version of this.
Local web apps
Almost nobody can put together a native app froms cratch themselves, and the web has too many apps that depend on some else running a server and database for you.
Create web apps that depend only on localstorage and whatever bundlers/framework/libraries you like, let people clone the repo and run them in their browser. Use IndexedDB or a bundled sqlite file for persistent storage.
Web Publishing
Most people do not want to update a bunch of Markdown files on their computer and then "git acp" to publish, assuming they even know what Git is. Any publishing platform needs either a rich text editor or a preview pane.
We should have more things that are like books on the web. Even the basic ability to include dynamic media on screen-based books is underrated.
Subject lines for phone calls
Exactly what it sounds like, a small line of text added to incoming call screens.
*add image here*
Human-scale maps
Use accelerometers and motion sensors to get highly accurate positional data, and use it to record the paths a person has taken.
The hard part will probably be combining this with GPS to place it on an actual map.
A Digital Workbench
This makes more sense in AR, but I would like one in 2D too. Let me arrange folders on a canvas, with icons that open the folder in Finder when clicked on. Let me place things over or under other things, let me stack trash in a corner.
Maps for the internet
What is space? What is direction?
What about pixel-art based maps as the first version? There's already one built in Google Sheets.
"You could build a Chrome extension that acts as a little hovering map down in the bottom-right corner of any window. Like in an RPG, it could show your current location on the map and what's nearby, with the ability to teleport to any location, or just walk around. The owners of domain names could choose where on the map their domain is placed."
AI Product Ideas
I'm not very interested in the current wave of hype, but here's some things I would make if I was:
- Font-creating tools
- Midjourney-based PDF cover generator
Word limits for emails
Emails are difficult for me, and they used to be even worse. Having a word limit is nice because you can just say the thing you need to say instead of spending time thinking about style and form.
Personal Dashboards
I'll have to start with myself. Think about layouts, customizability. Then find general abstractions over data that let people put together their own thing. Will need to standardize APIs.
Hugo themes
For poetry: (serif, highlighted lines, show next line on arrow press)
For books: (table of contents sidebar, pages as chapters, excellent typography)
Making websites as easy as paper.
From xh, comes the idea of a new standard for webpages, an internet canvas. A digital medium with the expressive ease of paper.
Ideal: ability to export the entire file as a single .html. Don’t invent a new set of protocols. Rely on web technologies: imperfect, but inertial.
You guys need to just like, give me money for making things for the internet.
Things I want to create:
- A Practical Typography-caliber guide to CSS.
- A textbook on rizz.
- A webring.
- Cute little iOS apps.
What if I design a hundred personal websites?
They'll have to be demos, not entire sites, but it'll be good to have an outlet for all the gimmicks and themes I have in my head.
This is one of those UI patterns that I think ought be more popular.
What if I hooked up GPT to a Codepen? And then connected that to my own Spring '83 server?
What if I ignored the spec and just hosted a public collection of boards from whoever wants to add one?
Update: Working on Twilight lol.
A utility library for app-making
Provide methods for practical details like username validation, notification pop-ups, undo functionality, keyboard event handling, etc.
Weather for websites
“What if each page had changing weather and climates?”
I use snowfall.css to add snowflakes, and it can be modified for rain, hail, and falling leaves. But how do you represent summer?
Runnning list of stolen ideas
Stolen from Justin Duke.
A MicroSaaS that takes a repository of issues (Linear, GitHub Issues, etc.) and turns them into an easily printable PDF of index cards for triaging.
A simple app that hooks into your GitHub repository, parses your Pipfile/Gemfile/etc, and emails you periodically with information about new major and minor releases that are of interest to you.
A productivity app aping the concept of "daily quests" as popularized by MMOs.
A dedicated comparison site for infrastructure providers.
Locket.camera, but for sharing your calendar with someone.
Get an email/slack whenever code changes/PRs match a regex, similar to Github File Watcher.