[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":427},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-2506627":3},{"id":4,"name":5,"line":6,"line_source":7,"title":8,"url":9,"domain":9,"maker":10,"posted_at":11,"year":12,"points":13,"comments":14,"rank_in_year":15,"shown_in_year":16,"top":17,"tier":18,"category":19,"subcategory":20,"format":21,"keywords":22,"reception":27,"sentiment":28,"stance_mix":29,"scored_comments":34,"aspects":35,"strip":46,"post_text":48,"what":49,"said":110,"maker_in_thread":202,"shape":214,"grid":218,"attempts":387,"same_week":388,"maker_shows":47,"maker_hidden":418,"reader_version":419,"card":420},"2506627","Ambur","Restaurant POS system built completely on iOS","title","Show HN: Restaurant POS system built completely on iOS",null,"refulgentis",1304350945,2011,51,62,240,1097,22,"notable","web_saas","restaurant point of sale","mobile_app",[23,24,25,26],"restaurant pos","ios point of sale","bonjour","restaurant software","roasted",-0.418,{"positive":30,"neutral":31,"mixed":32,"critical":33},5,9,0,18,32,{"execution":36,"design":37,"docs":39,"pricing":41,"idea":43,"privacy":45},{"positive":32,"critical":30},{"positive":32,"critical":38},4,{"positive":32,"critical":40},7,{"positive":32,"critical":42},2,{"positive":44,"critical":32},3,{"positive":32,"critical":32},[47,32,47,47,44,47,47,44,44,47,47,32,32,32,47,32,30,47,47,30,32,44,47,47,32,47,47,44,32,44,44,30,47,47,32,32,47,44,30,32],1,"Hi guys,\nI've spent the last 18 months building a restaurant POS app that can run completely and reliably on iOS. Along the way, we've really pushed the devices to their limits and have something special that doesn't rely on the cloud for service, doesn't copy old and crappy \"100 buttons on a screen\" POS interfaces, and is still just as efficient and much more usable. Combining Bonjour (Apple's implementation of zeroconf) with the excellent Cocoa APIs also made it a relatively magical experience - you can literally watch on an iPad as a waiter takes an order on a iPod connected to the iPad.\n\nT",{"problem":50,"audience":62,"pricing":66,"motivation":74,"time_to_build":78,"stack":82,"openness":107,"stage":108,"team_size":109},{"value":51,"source":52,"evidence":53},"Restaurant POS systems are expensive and clunky; this offers a cheaper, cloud-free iOS alternative","maker",[54,56,59],{"id":55},"post",{"id":57,"by":10,"text":58},"2508026","I'm not. The app has multiuser functionality. Instead of paying $1000-$2000 per terminal, I'm asking them to pay $1500 ($1000 for the app; $500 for the iPad), and $500 for any…",{"id":60,"by":10,"text":61},"2507923","Re: expensive products. Micros charges about $3000 for a terminal, we're charging $1500 for the first one ($999 for our app + $500 iPad) and $500 (per iPad) apiece after. Not to…",{"value":63,"source":52,"evidence":64},"Restaurants and their waitstaff",[65],{"id":55},{"value":67,"source":52,"evidence":68},"Free trial; $999 app plus $500 per iPad terminal",[69,70,71],{"id":55},{"id":60,"by":10,"text":61},{"id":72,"by":10,"text":73},"2508017","Most terminals cost ~$3000, while the first terminal for us is $1500 - $500 for the iPad, $1000 for the app. After that, new terminals are just $500 since you bought the app…",{"value":75,"source":52,"evidence":76},"Maker's first entrepreneurial venture, bootstrapping from Buffalo, NY",[77],{"id":55},{"value":79,"source":52,"evidence":80},"18 months",[81],{"id":55},[83,93,99,103],{"value":84,"source":52,"evidence":85},"iOS (UIKit)",[86,90],{"id":87,"by":88,"text":89},"2507421","flyosity","I'd highly suggest paying a professional user interface designer to take a look at every screen of your app and offer suggestions and\u002For redesigned mockups. It looks like you're…",{"id":91,"by":10,"text":92},"2508082","Yes, and yes! Core Data + Bonjour + KVO are absolutely magical, it's a truly distributed system, you always can see whats going on accurately.",{"value":94,"source":52,"evidence":95},"Core Data",[96],{"id":97,"by":10,"text":98},"2508114","The magic of the app (from an engineering perspective) is really Core Data + KVO + Bonjour. Sometimes it feels more bubblegum and sticks than anything, but it really is magical…",{"value":100,"source":52,"evidence":101},"Bonjour",[102],{"id":55},{"value":104,"source":52,"evidence":105},"Key-Value Observing (KVO)",[106],{"id":91,"by":10,"text":92},"freemium","launched","team",{"praise":111,"objections":117,"requests":152,"questions":168,"alternatives":183},[112],{"value":113,"source":52,"evidence":114},"Speed of Bonjour and Core Data syncing between devices feels magical",[115,116],{"id":55},{"id":91,"by":10,"text":92},[118,126,137,144,148],{"value":119,"source":120,"evidence":121},"Order entry login is too slow for busy servers","commenter",[122],{"id":123,"by":124,"text":125},"2507185","christopherslee","The app looks good, but from the video I think, wow it would take me a long time to put in an order. I was a bartender at a downtown Chicago restaurant using Aloha for more than…",{"value":127,"source":120,"evidence":128},"Video does a poor job explaining the product",[129,133],{"id":130,"by":131,"text":132},"2507331","ihumanable","Some constructive criticism. The video does a really poor job selling this. Here are a few things I've learned from building software over the years. No matter what the end user…",{"id":134,"by":135,"text":136},"2507517","getsat","From the FAQ: > Is there a demo video of Ambur? > Yes! Please click here to see a real demo of Ambur. There's no link anywhere near this text.",{"value":138,"source":120,"evidence":139},"Requires expensive Apple hardware rather than cheaper PCs",[140],{"id":141,"by":142,"text":143},"2507015","wtvanhest","By programming in iOS you are requiring companies to purchase expensive mac products to run your POS rather than inexpensive PC products. You need to go to as many restaurants in…",{"value":145,"source":120,"evidence":146},"Stock UIKit interface looks generic",[147],{"id":87,"by":88,"text":89},{"value":149,"source":120,"evidence":150},"Free pricing signals low quality",[151],{"id":141,"by":142,"text":143},[153,160,164],{"value":154,"source":120,"evidence":155},"Integrate with Square",[156],{"id":157,"by":158,"text":159},"2507151","jcnnghm","You should move the video to the home page. It took me a while to find it. You may consider having a professional voice actor narrate the video, it's not as expensive as you…",{"value":161,"source":120,"evidence":162},"Bundle hardware packages",[163],{"id":157,"by":158,"text":159},{"value":165,"source":120,"evidence":166},"Simplify permissions setup",[167],{"id":130,"by":131,"text":132},[169,176],{"value":170,"source":120,"evidence":171},"How many restaurants have signed up?",[172],{"id":173,"by":174,"text":175},"2507154","Killah911","This is a really cool idea! How many restaurants do you have signed up? The proof is in the pudding, so the more restaurants that use this, the more likely it is for your to work…",{"value":177,"source":120,"evidence":178},"What happens if a server spills a drink on the device?",[179],{"id":180,"by":181,"text":182},"2506761","tbgvi","My startup is in point-of-sale as well (retail, not hospitality). I'm curious as to why you chose to go with iOS? I'm not saying it's a good or bad choice, but it definitely is…",[184,191,195],{"value":185,"source":120,"evidence":186},"Micros POS",[187,188],{"id":60,"by":10,"text":61},{"id":189,"by":10,"text":190},"2508152","1) Fair, but to a restaurant owner who is staring at Micros package X that is $15K for a basic two terminal + a few printers set up, we look pretty darn good. 2) Not reasonably…",{"value":192,"source":120,"evidence":193},"Aloha",[194],{"id":123,"by":124,"text":125},{"value":196,"source":120,"evidence":197},"Square",[198,199],{"id":157,"by":158,"text":159},{"id":200,"by":10,"text":201},"2507979","True, we'll have to see where we can fit it. You're right on the domain thing too. Square is great for what it is, but there rates are way, way, too high for restaurants and…",{"comments":17,"answered":203,"key":204},15,[205,208,211],{"id":206,"text":207},"2507999","This is true...one of the UI things that keeps me up at night is how to optimize that login screen. Passwords are actually important to me because of that, and I'm not sure…",{"id":209,"text":210},"2507949","You're right, we probably need to reshoot the video (it was made under rushed conditions with a version that didn't end up being our final apps, thanks to the vagaries of the App…",{"id":212,"text":213},"2507937","You're absolutely correct – unfortunately, living in Buffalo means there's a dearth of local talent and bootstrapping means we really don't have the means. To be honest I took…",{"commenters":215,"max_depth":38,"maker_replies":17,"first_comment_mins":216,"lifespan_hours":217},30,37,171,[219,221,225,227,231,234,236,240,242,244,247,249,252,254,256,259,261,263,267,271,272,274,275,277,278,281,285,287,290,293,297,298,300,303,306,310,312,313,315,318,319,323,325,329,331,335,337,340,342,344,347,349,353,355,360,363,366,367,372,376,381,384],[123,32,47,220,124,32],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fexecution",[222,32,32,223,224,32],"2507231","commenter\u002Fcritical\u002Fexecution","vandalizeit",[206,32,32,226,10,47],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[228,32,47,229,230,32],"2509084","maker\u002Fcritical\u002Fdesign","pbreit",[232,32,32,233,124,32],"2529822","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fdesign",[130,47,47,235,131,32],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fdocs",[237,47,44,238,239,32],"2507659","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fdesign","pbhjpbhj",[209,47,32,241,10,47],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs",[87,42,47,243,88,32],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fdesign",[245,42,47,243,246,32],"2507440","donohoe",[212,42,32,248,10,47],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fdesign",[250,42,44,251,88,32],"2508268","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[157,44,44,253,158,32],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs",[200,44,32,255,10,47],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing",[257,38,47,243,258,32],"2506940","tnorthcutt",[260,38,32,226,10,47],"2508045",[141,30,47,262,142,32],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fpricing",[264,30,32,265,266,32],"2507237","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing","YooLi",[268,30,32,269,270,32],"2507568","commenter\u002Fcritical\u002Fpricing","wdewind",[57,30,32,255,10,47],[273,30,32,269,266,32],"2510717",[60,30,32,255,10,47],[276,30,47,262,142,32],"2508133",[189,30,32,255,10,47],[180,279,44,280,181,32],6,"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[282,279,30,283,284,32],"2507171","project\u002Fpositive\u002Fidea","danudey",[286,279,47,220,181,32],"2507310",[288,279,47,220,289,32],"2507353","chopsueyar",[291,279,32,292,10,47],"2508064","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[294,279,44,295,296,32],"2512637","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fprivacy","dhughes",[173,40,30,283,174,32],[299,40,32,251,10,47],"2508104",[301,40,47,302,230,32],"2509099","maker\u002Fcritical\u002Fexecution",[304,40,30,305,174,32],"2509646","maker\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[307,308,47,235,309,32],"2507553",8,"abuzzooz",[311,308,32,226,10,47],"2508127",[134,31,47,235,135,32],[314,31,32,241,10,47],"2508001",[316,317,47,220,296,32],"2507653",10,[72,317,32,255,10,47],[320,321,47,235,322,32],"2507708",11,"andos",[324,321,32,241,10,47],"2508043",[326,327,44,253,328,32],"2507012",12,"tealtan",[330,327,32,241,10,47],"2508088",[332,333,44,292,334,32],"2507108",13,"swalkergibson",[91,333,32,336,10,47],"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fexecution",[338,339,44,251,289,32],"2507354",14,[341,339,32,251,10,47],"2508089",[343,339,30,305,289,32],"2509758",[345,203,47,235,346,32],"2506985","glhaynes",[348,203,32,241,10,47],"2508096",[350,351,47,235,352,32],"2507504",16,"ojilles",[354,351,32,241,10,47],"2508036",[356,357,32,358,359,32],"2507112",17,"other\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea","_delirium",[361,357,32,362,10,47],"2508076","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[364,33,47,235,365,32],"2506971","naz",[97,33,32,292,10,47],[368,369,44,370,371,32],"2506769",19,"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","iworkforthem",[373,374,30,283,375,32],"2508108",20,"jbseek",[377,378,32,379,380,32],"2506884",21,"other\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing","pitdesi",[382,378,32,383,284,32],"2507189","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone",[385,378,32,386,10,47],"2507970","maker\u002Fpositive\u002Fpricing",[],[389,394,399,404,408,413],{"id":390,"name":391,"points":392,"category":393},"2515612","Machine learning cheat sheet",166,"learning_science",{"id":395,"name":396,"points":397,"category":398},"2502173","Minimal Lisp in ~70 lines of Haskell",76,"languages",{"id":400,"name":401,"points":402,"category":403},"2495859","Timeslot",71,"productivity",{"id":405,"name":406,"points":407,"category":403},"2503193","YC Interview Demo",50,{"id":409,"name":410,"points":411,"category":412},"2501495","BrowserCrawler",43,"infrastructure",{"id":414,"name":415,"points":416,"category":417},"2502150","my Hackathon Project",42,"consumer_social",false,"v2",{"id":421,"name":5,"line":6,"ai":418,"cat":19,"year":12,"points":13,"comments":14,"rec":27,"s":422,"top":17,"kw":423,"maker":10,"domain":424,"tier":18,"attempts":32,"strip":425,"url":-1,"mix":426,"praise":113,"objection":119,"sub":20},2506627,-0.42,[23,24,25,26],"","1011311331100010511503110113033511001350",[30,31,32,33],1793990872623]