Hacker News Reader

Comment by dmvaldman | Hacker News Reader

This is one of those great concepts that has a "this needs to happen" feeling, and it's a matter of who's going to do a great job with it. Looks like Ninja Blocks is on the right track.

However, as I think about the concept more, I'm having a difficult time finding a useful case for the concept. I think it's just because I'm not creative enough. So what would you, Hacker News reader, use Ninja Blocks for?

View on HN

I'm just picturing all the contraptions from Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Automatic pet feeding, for one.

On a more useful note, my uncle is a quadriplegic. He was fortunate, in a sense, that he was working when he had his accident, so he has 24 hr attendants. Most wouldn't be able to afford that. There are expensive, proprietary systems that allow him to open doors, turn off lights, etc with a remote, but you could jury-rig something with NinjaBox to get the job done much cheaper.

yes, exactly. there are a heap of markets that are expensive to target because they're so small - we're in talks with research labs to do experiment automation,for instance, and their equipment is usually priced in the hundreds of thousands. We're aiming at being the glue: geeks have always hacked their own stuff, this just makes it possible for everyone else to do the same.

The attraction for me is that although I've always been able to hack electronics and stuff (and did quite a bit when I was younger), I just don't have the time.

I'm a software hacker through and through, and that's where I want to spend my most limited resource. Having some hardware that takes care of most of the heavy lifting in that space is very appealling.

Monitoring of hydroponics setups.

Yup, a pH sensor based off (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10972) is certainly on the cards.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com