Well, it really depends on what kind of site you're going to be making.

...free drugs?

I like to think people don't know what they need. If you'd have approached me a few years ago and said "the internets really need a place to host crappy yet humorous home videos" (cough youtube cough) I woulda told you that I'd have no use for it, because I don't and haven't and won't make videos, nor do I know anyone who does/would.

That being said, I think I'd like to see something that combines pixeljoint with facebook's drawing application. Basically, a forum on which you can do digital paintings without opening a program, and a forum in which you wouldn't have to type and could just... handwrite your posts.

And C&C loving, etc.

In other words, an Online MSPaint.

they call it google docs

well, kinda hard to think in something we need. as pixel artist, an aplication as the Online MSpaint suggested above would be great(one that supports multiple users at the same canvas).

or a pixel-friendly image hosting service.

but as a common internet user... quite hard to figure what one would need. i wouldn't say "everything has been made already", but we have tons of youtubes, MMOs, Podcast, Online Application suits, facebooks...

although that's why you're making this survey... now, i believe that we, as a group, have all our needs quite fulfilled. perhaps you should aim your questions to another group(by group i mean by age, social, etc.).

my thoughs about it...

I need a hug. :(

I still don't need Youtube, Myspace, or Facebook. I'd be considerably happier without them. Maybe see if you can get rid of them?

I ne'er said nothin bout pixel art. A forum with no text support and only handwriting/drawing for communicatin' would be cool.

I do have a facebook account, and still don't know why.

I couldn't find you met.

Try looking for my real name.

Metaru Soniku XD

;_; you fail at stalking

:(

ok sorry 117! Didn't mean to contribute to this thread so stupidly, just didn't really know how to respond to this. So I guess I have to write something decent now...D:

I am not 100% sure coming here and asking in a thread is the best way to do this survey . I hope you are asking elsewhere, because simply asking members of a pixel art community isn't going to give you very good perspective on what the entire online community wants. In fact, I think it's not really possible to get consensus on what EVERYONE wants.

First of all you're being extremely vague about what you're asking, if you want relevant information you'd need to hone in on some specific questions and not just some vague statements. One approach would be for you yourself to do some brainstorming and think of some ideas and then ask people what they think of those ideas. Right now, in my opinion, you're asking something that's far too open ended. "What do you want" is harder to answer than "do you want this/ how much do you want this".

Personally I think it's more important to make improvements to current web services. Also as Saboteur said, it's very hard for users to KNOW what they want, especially when we are talking about things that don't actually exist yet.

Anyway, I am sorry to STILL be of no help, but I can't really think of a new service that we really *need*. But if this helps, think about things in real life, pretty much every service or community on the web is in some form a variation of something in real life. So maybe start from there, think of things that are in real life, and think "has this been adapted to the web?", "should it be developed for the web?" etc...

Examples of real life constructs on the web: Facebook - people have been socialising for 1000's of years before facebook, no brainer there, just a new way of doing so. Youtube -  video based communities have been around for ages, years and years ago I used to be part of a film screening group where people would get around and show short films that they had made, so it's not so much a new service as an expansion on old ideas. And Myspace? Well myspace is just crap :P

So once again sorry for not helping much, but I hope I've given you some ideas. Also remember the more people you ask from as many different backgrounds the better. May the powers of Web 2.0 be with you.

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNYWAAAAY back to stalking Metaru ;D


Edited by skamocore - 03 May 2008 at 11:17am

@skamocore: Yes I am asking else where or sure.You are right it is vague so I will clarify. What online service (not already existing) will satisfy one of the common needs of a large group of people (ie a community)? Like you said Youtube was made for the film maker community. My aim is a large community like that of youtube. It is hard for me to ask do you want this because I do not know what to ask about, which is the  reason for this survey, to ask for a need , not to ask people whether they want a specific service or not. So in other words, I am looking for an idea for a product and not asking wether the product satisfies everybody.

@greenraven The site is determined by the need.

I will limit the search to social services ( which seems to be the most active).
What can I do for you to give you a good social environment online.

Things to forget about:
-Facebook like sites
-Youtube like sites
-regular chatting services

A homework helping website would be very nice.

Hmm, they're not exactly fused into one, but cracked.com (pointlesswasteoftime) sortof has what you're looking for Brian.

that sounds like a very good idea, if such thing hasn't been made yet.

:P

Metaru on Facebook, fanboys

Hey Spartan_117,

Just give me a free subscription for all future usage

Since you like the idea I can elaborate on the site since
I have thought about creating it myself, but I like doing
art in my freetime instead!

The point of the site would be that the system is looking
through the plumbers so you don't have to check their schedules
yourself!

This should the system know about the user
Who am I: M.E.
Where am I: My House, My Street on Number in City  

This is what the user will select (maybe from listbox as
the services would be kind of limited -- remember this
isn't an online shop!)

Who do I need: Plumber
For what: Broken Pipe

And the system will check the schedule of all plumbers who
have told that they will service my area AND who have
a running schedule in the system!

In case the service is provided by the supplier (in our case
the plumber) there could be a time-slot for usual broken-pipe
situation. Let us say 2 hour work + transportation time to and from the
house. (In case the schedule of the plumber has information where his
previous location was!)

The user might want to know upfront what it will cost (or an estimate)
Maybe even ability to add it to the search criteria?!?

I wanted to make such a system myself and the
problem is that you have to convince the supplier of
the service to actually update / maintain their schedule!

One solution I have thought is to alert (SMS/E-Mail/Page/
Automatic Call-service) all plumbers in
the area about the request made by an user
and if they had their schedule online it would have been
a job-opportunity for them.  So even if there isn't a
schedule in the system, you might want to trigger the
suppliers to join the system.
In case the user didn't find a service available it would
still be an option to have the request put on some kind
of bulletin board for a service-supplier to be picked up.
(Hence the mailing/sms/paging/automatic call system to
the suppliers in the area of the user.)

In the ideal situation you would charge the supplier
of the service to become a member of the board, but
for the system to work you first need to find suppliers.
So I thought of a one-year free subscription. After that
it will cost them : ...... <- whatever you want :)

Another way of making money is to have this service
made especially for companies that need scheduling.
The way you (the site-owner) can make money is
to get hold of the people who can deliver the service.

I was in the computer education business before and
we had a fulltime scheduler who's job it was to check the
schedules of each contractor who could deliver a specific
course. Check each contractor what he/she was capable
of delivering and match them against the weeks that we
need delivery of certain courses.
The toughest on the job was the ability to re-schedule
an instructor so to make the most effective schedule.
A bit of AI in the on-line system will be possible to do this
as well.

If you want really to make this, I suggest you think
and over-think how to trigger the supplier to actually make
a valid calender /schedule.
The system will fail misserably when the user can't rely
on the information from the on-line system.

If in doubt about the delivery of the service I would suggest
to always allow the user to have his / her request put
on some kind of bulletin board so that the supplier can
reply/react on the request.

Remember: DATE + TIME that is the key issue of the service!
Not just an online database with suppliers, there are enough
'yellow pages' sites in the world!

Kind regards from

M.E.


PS: With a bit of imagination this can work for pixel-artists
as well. Those of us who want to make money with their
skills.
The artist provides a kind of 'service'

Service                                               |  Cost   |  Time to complete
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
32x32px Non-Animated Sprite           | $ 32    |  8 hours

32x32px 8-frame walk animation       | $250   | 7 days


You get the idea .... (maybe get a percentage of the charged
money .. 1 % per deal?)




(edit)PS 2:

For any potential investors reading this:
I can make this system, you just have to hire me!









Edited by M.E. - 04 May 2008 at 12:39pm