howacarworks.com
Dev tools
reference website
SHOW HN2012
242points
104comments
#57of 1,677 in 2012
Top 4%of 2012 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
13 positive, 26 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 10 critical, out of 49 comments about the project. Thread score +0.08.
Idea: 9 for, 1 againstDocs: 0 for, 5 againstDesign: 1 for, 3 againstExecution: 1 for, 0 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Useful content with great illustrations
From 2 comments
this is great, actual useful content with great illustrations. It's refreshing to see something with some practical use. Growing up I remember being obsessed with this: DK The…
braveheart1723 on HNLooks like your site is already number 3 on my google search for "how a car works". The homepage is a bit boring. You have a lot of pretty pictures, you should some how use them…
vinhboy on HN
Good idea to convert out-of-print books
From 2 comments
The obvious next step to me would be for you to repeat this process with another out of print book now that you've established a market and proven its viability. Offer the…
darkxanthos on HNI've always wanted to see the entire library of haynes manuals put online or even in an ipad/iphone app. This looks a bit like a proof of concept to it. Perhaps the OP could…
TamDenholm on HN
Objections
Content needs proofreading
From 1 comment
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned how badly in need of proofing this content is. I just looked through a handful of sections but the ones I saw were littered with missing words,…
brightghost on HN
Design looks unpleasant and ads look bad
From 2 comments
It's a lovely idea, but from a design point of view, the site looks really quite unpleasant: the green pastel background, ugly font choices, an uninviting table of links as the…
quasque on HNJust a thought: I might consider a different monetization strategy than AdSense. The ads really look awful and make the site seem significantly less 'quality' than it actually…
jessepollak on HN
Requests
Offer an ebook or epub version
From 3 comments
Questions: Why are there comments on the page? How difficult would it be to compile it into an ebook and make it available on kindle/itunes/wherever else? Seems like you'd only…
citricsquid on HNI'd go on https://leanpub.com/ and turn it into an ebook.
StavrosK on HNI don't know what your ad income is -- and I'm not asking -- but just looking at the HowIDidIt page, this is a book that screams for you to redo it for the iPad in iBooks Author.…
mikecane on HN
Add images to homepage and pages
From 2 comments
Those images on the right side of each page are great; They could be used to good effect to make the site more appealing visually as well as unique, if you displayed one or more…
pitchups on HNLooks like your site is already number 3 on my google search for "how a car works". The homepage is a bit boring. You have a lot of pretty pictures, you should some how use them…
vinhboy on HN
Questions
Are you violating the original author's copyright?
From 1 comment
this is awesome - I'm curious though - aren't you theoretically violating the copyright of the actual author?
kamakazizuru on HN
What are the expenses and hosting costs?
From 1 comment
what did/do you count as your expenses? surely you do not pay 60$/month for hosting. did you add the work you had to do?
aw3c2 on HN
Alternatives named
Haynes manuals
From 1 comment
I've always wanted to see the entire library of haynes manuals put online or even in an ipad/iphone app. This looks a bit like a proof of concept to it. Perhaps the OP could…
TamDenholm on HN
DK The Way Things Work
From 1 comment
this is great, actual useful content with great illustrations. It's refreshing to see something with some practical use. Growing up I remember being obsessed with this: DK The…
braveheart1723 on HN