[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":648},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-8373914":3},{"id":4,"name":5,"line":6,"line_source":7,"title":8,"url":9,"domain":10,"maker":11,"posted_at":12,"year":13,"points":14,"comments":15,"rank_in_year":16,"shown_in_year":17,"top":18,"tier":19,"category":20,"subcategory":21,"format":22,"keywords":23,"reception":27,"sentiment":28,"stance_mix":29,"scored_comments":34,"aspects":35,"strip":46,"post_text":48,"what":49,"said":89,"maker_in_thread":235,"shape":248,"grid":252,"attempts":612,"same_week":613,"maker_shows":39,"maker_hidden":640,"reader_version":641,"card":642},"8373914","Airtable","A real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid","title","Show HN: Airtable, a real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid","https:\u002F\u002Fairtable.com\u002Finvite\u002Fa3sz9t7b","airtable.com","howsta",1411754715,2014,361,125,32,2272,2,"legend","productivity","spreadsheet database","web_app",[21,24,25,26],"realtime collaboration","relational tables","mobile spreadsheet","mixed",0.231,{"positive":30,"neutral":31,"mixed":32,"critical":33},26,28,5,11,70,{"execution":36,"performance":38,"pricing":41,"idea":42,"privacy":43,"design":44,"docs":45},{"positive":37,"critical":32},3,{"positive":39,"critical":40},1,0,{"positive":40,"critical":40},{"positive":33,"critical":18},{"positive":40,"critical":39},{"positive":32,"critical":39},{"positive":40,"critical":40},[37,40,37,40,40,40,40,37,39,39,40,37,39,32,37,32,32,32,39,32,39,32,39,47,37,32,37,32,37,47,32,47,32,32,37,47,37,39,37,32],4,null,{"problem":50,"audience":48,"pricing":61,"motivation":48,"time_to_build":48,"stack":68,"openness":87,"stage":88,"team_size":87},{"value":51,"source":52,"evidence":53},"Spreadsheets are poor at structured data; people want a database that is easy to use and shared in real time","maker",[54,57],{"id":55,"by":11,"text":56},"8374310","Hi, the biggest differences between us and Bento\u002FFilemaker\u002FMSAccess (and even older products like Ashton Tate's dBase, Lotus Approach, etc) are: 1) Airtable is seamlessly…",{"id":58,"by":59,"text":60},"8374511","EvanMiller","This looks like a nice product. Software companies have been struggling to make a mass-market database program ever since Lotus 1-2-3 (the \"3\" was a database), but the…",{"value":62,"source":52,"evidence":63},"Free Basic plan; pricing is per user",[64,67],{"id":65,"by":11,"text":66},"8374804","Hi, yes it is, sorry for confusion! It's fixed now on https:\u002F\u002Fairtable.com\u002Fpricing",{"id":58,"by":59,"text":60},[69,75,81],{"value":70,"source":52,"evidence":71},"Node.js backend",[72],{"id":73,"by":11,"text":74},"8374546","Thanks! We use node on the backend, and have our own realtime database engine that supports relational data, and out-of-order undo. We also have a custom frontend framework that…",{"value":76,"source":52,"evidence":77},"Custom realtime database engine with relational data support",[78],{"id":79,"by":11,"text":80},"8374468","First off, we're huge fans of both Meteor and Asana. I spoke with Geoff @ Meteor a couple years ago when we were first starting to build out the Airtable product and was very…",{"value":82,"source":52,"evidence":83},"Custom frontend framework using Backbone routing and events",[84],{"id":85,"by":11,"text":86},"8374514","We have a custom frontend framework that supports realtime data synchronization. We use some pieces of other frameworks, like Backbone's routing and events library. Andrew Ofstad…","unknown","launched",{"praise":90,"objections":122,"requests":156,"questions":191,"alternatives":214},[91,107,118],{"value":92,"source":93,"evidence":94},"Polished UI and design","commenter",[95,99,103],{"id":96,"by":97,"text":98},"8374097","gwintrob","This looks beautiful! Love the database model, which reminds me of Salesforce's flexibility with an AWESOME front end. Really excited to see how people use it.",{"id":100,"by":101,"text":102},"8374446","mgulaid","Well-polished product.. can you u talk a little bit about the design and the front end. what did you use for the UI design and front end. it is clean..",{"id":104,"by":105,"text":106},"8374227","christiangenco","This looks fantastic! I was drooling during the demo video - you've improved on so many things from the standard spreadsheet at once. If I could make a request for the API: it's…",{"value":108,"source":93,"evidence":109},"Real-time sync and collaboration",[110,114],{"id":111,"by":112,"text":113},"8374364","kbd","The \"instantly syncs updates with all users\" bit caught my eye. I always wonder how people go about implementing that. Asana works that way, and they have their own framework…",{"id":115,"by":116,"text":117},"8374265","porter","At first I thought it was just a prettier, easier to use version of Excel. Then you showed me the filtering and I had an \"Aha\" moment. Excel is quick and easy, but it's hard to…",{"value":119,"source":93,"evidence":120},"Filtering makes it easier to ask questions of data than Excel",[121],{"id":115,"by":116,"text":117},[123,131,142,149],{"value":124,"source":93,"evidence":125},"Needs an API before it is useful",[126,130],{"id":127,"by":128,"text":129},"8374281","kolev","Great... but could be useless without an API.",{"id":104,"by":105,"text":106},{"value":132,"source":93,"evidence":133},"Hard to beat Google Sheets for everyday use",[134,138],{"id":135,"by":136,"text":137},"8374922","kbendyk","This really looks very nice! After defining 3 tables with related records, some thoughts: - Trying to enter some records, I pressed space in the checkbox column, \"zoom view\"…",{"id":139,"by":140,"text":141},"8375747","salimmadjd","Congrats! I got very excited when I first saw the video. Then I signed in to use it, but got stuck. For me the UI seems a bit heavy. Not sure what it is about the UI, but it…",{"value":143,"source":93,"evidence":144},"Mobile app loses offline cache when it restarts",[145],{"id":146,"by":147,"text":148},"8375484","tekacs","Any chance you could get the mobile app not lose its cache when 'closed' (or rather 'crashed'\u002F'restarted')? At the moment, offline support works fine unless the app closes or…",{"value":150,"source":93,"evidence":151},"Sluggish scrolling and low record density on large tables",[152],{"id":153,"by":154,"text":155},"8374293","Erwin","Here's one use case: i tried importing a 500+ row wine spreadsheet into it (it has columns like type, producer, name, vintage, rating, source etc). I had to save the file as CSV…",[157,166,177,184],{"value":158,"source":93,"evidence":159},"Public API, with JSON access to tables",[160,161,165],{"id":104,"by":105,"text":106},{"id":162,"by":163,"text":164},"8374346","addisonj","Very impressed. Spreadsheets have never quite \"clicked\" with me, but this did. It exposes a lot of functionality that your average person would want out of a spreadsheet in a…",{"id":127,"by":128,"text":129},{"value":167,"source":93,"evidence":168},"Android app",[169,173],{"id":170,"by":171,"text":172},"8374136","michaelmior","Looks pretty great. I'm not sure if I have a use case personally, but seems quite well-executed. Any plans for an Android app? Also, minor note. On the fifth step of the tour,…",{"id":174,"by":175,"text":176},"8379594","ccath","I read hacker news for a long time and decided to join just to congratulate you for this! I'm a developer and truly like the database aspect of the app. Linking tables is super…",{"value":178,"source":93,"evidence":179},"Scripting such as JavaScript",[180],{"id":181,"by":182,"text":183},"8374312","orbifold","Are there any plans to make this scriptable with say Javascript?",{"value":185,"source":93,"evidence":186},"Automation from email and other sources",[187],{"id":188,"by":189,"text":190},"8375354","ivankirigin","Congrats this looks awesome! Have you thought much about automation? For example, it would be awesome if every email I send\u002Freceive could create or update a row anchored on the…",[192,200,207],{"value":193,"source":93,"evidence":194},"How is real-time sync implemented and what stack is used",[195,196],{"id":111,"by":112,"text":113},{"id":197,"by":198,"text":199},"8374513","aikah","Impressive! can you tell us more about the stack used?",{"value":201,"source":93,"evidence":202},"Why Google sign-in is required",[203],{"id":204,"by":205,"text":206},"8374422","kdr77","Why does it require Google auth?",{"value":208,"source":93,"evidence":209},"How it compares to Bento and FileMaker",[210],{"id":211,"by":212,"text":213},"8374228","tunesmith","How does this compares to products like Bento (RIP) and Filemaker?",[215,220,224,228],{"value":216,"source":93,"evidence":217},"Google Sheets",[218,219],{"id":153,"by":154,"text":155},{"id":139,"by":140,"text":141},{"value":221,"source":93,"evidence":222},"Asana",[223],{"id":111,"by":112,"text":113},{"value":225,"source":93,"evidence":226},"Bento and FileMaker",[227],{"id":211,"by":212,"text":213},{"value":229,"source":93,"evidence":230},"Dabble DB",[231],{"id":232,"by":233,"text":234},"8375396","perplexes","Ah, another DabbleDB! I hope you stick around longer. :) http:\u002F\u002Fen.wikipedia.org\u002Fwiki\u002FDabble_DB",{"comments":236,"answered":237,"key":238},22,13,[239,242,245],{"id":240,"text":241},"8374243","Thanks very much! Re: API, yes absolutely. Our web and mobile apps already use an internal API that uses RESTful JSON routes for reading tables, updating rows, etc. If you want…",{"id":243,"text":244},"8374353","You can reach me at howie @ airtable.com It's fixed now if you try again",{"id":246,"text":247},"8374020","FYI, we require that you oauth in via a Google account purely for authentication right now. We don't request permissions for your email, calendar, contacts, or other data--only…",{"commenters":249,"max_depth":32,"maker_replies":236,"first_comment_mins":250,"lifespan_hours":251},85,15,108,[253,255,259,263,265,268,271,275,277,281,284,287,290,293,296,299,302,305,308,311,315,318,320,322,323,327,330,333,335,339,343,345,347,348,350,354,356,359,364,367,369,372,375,377,380,383,386,388,391,393,395,398,401,404,408,410,412,414,416,420,423,426,429,432,437,441,444,448,450,452,454,456,459,461,465,467,470,474,476,478,481,485,488,492,494,497,502,504,506,510,514,516,519,521,522,524,526,528,530,533,535,539,544,546,550,554,556,558,561,563,565,568,572,577,579,580,584,588,591,593,596,600,604,608,610],[153,40,37,254,154,40],"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fexecution",[256,40,37,257,258,40],"8374350","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","aofstad",[260,40,40,261,262,40],"8374437","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","shrig94",[264,40,40,261,258,40],"8374523",[266,40,40,261,267,40],"8374986","mikegioia",[269,40,40,261,270,40],"8376962","hughstephens",[272,40,37,273,274,40],"8377192","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fperformance","RA_Fisher",[58,39,37,276,59,40],"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fpricing",[278,39,40,279,280,40],"8374649","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fpricing","joshdance",[282,39,40,279,283,40],"8374718","yourad_io",[285,39,40,279,286,40],"8376090","taf2",[288,39,40,279,289,40],"8375082","alexeichemenda",[291,39,40,279,292,40],"8375321","lambda",[294,39,40,279,295,40],"8375451","dragonwriter",[297,39,40,279,298,40],"8376254","patmcc",[300,39,40,261,301,40],"8374930","sedachv",[303,39,40,261,304,40],"8375431","d--b",[306,39,40,261,307,40],"8376046","scotth",[309,39,40,261,310,40],"8376057","Pxtl",[312,39,40,313,314,40],"8376842","commenter\u002Fpositive\u002Fidea","atheken",[316,39,40,317,301,40],"8391273","commenter\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea",[319,39,40,261,295,40],"8375447",[104,18,32,321,105,40],"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fidea",[240,18,40,257,11,39],[324,18,39,325,326,40],"8374347","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fnone","victorantos",[328,18,40,261,329,40],"8374559","j_s",[331,18,39,325,332,40],"8374961","adrenalinup",[232,37,37,334,233,40],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[336,37,40,337,338,40],"8375402","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","zmanian",[340,47,39,341,342,40],"8374282","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fprivacy","heartbleed",[344,47,40,261,128,40],"8374288",[346,47,40,261,342,40],"8374337",[243,47,40,257,11,39],[246,32,40,349,11,39],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fprivacy",[351,32,37,352,353,40],"8374219","project\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","foobarqux",[355,32,40,257,11,39],"8374260",[139,357,37,358,140,40],6,"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fdesign",[360,361,39,362,363,40],"8375987",7,"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fexecution","KMag",[365,361,40,337,366,40],"8377180","rbonvall",[368,361,40,261,363,40],"8393105",[370,361,37,257,371,40],"8378663","syrnick",[170,373,32,374,171,40],8,"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fdesign",[376,373,40,257,11,39],"8374161",[111,378,37,379,112,40],9,"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[381,378,40,261,382,40],"8374418","fdsary",[384,378,40,261,385,40],"8375308","throwaway001920",[79,378,40,387,11,39],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fexecution",[389,378,32,390,283,40],"8375386","maker\u002Fpositive\u002Fexecution",[392,378,40,387,11,39],"8375428",[394,378,37,334,283,40],"8375452",[396,378,32,390,397,40],"8375503","Hytosys",[162,399,32,400,163,40],10,"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fperformance",[402,399,37,403,258,40],"8374397","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fperformance",[405,33,32,406,407,40],"8374206","project\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone","dannyking",[409,33,32,406,258,40],"8374225",[115,411,32,321,116,40],12,[135,237,39,413,136,40],"project\u002Fcritical\u002Fdesign",[415,237,40,257,11,39],"8374966",[417,418,40,337,419,40],"8375292",14,"clyfe",[421,418,40,337,422,40],"8375400","radiowave",[424,250,32,321,425,40],"8375892","benackles",[427,250,40,337,428,40],"8376205","dang",[430,250,40,337,431,40],"8377502","tptacek",[433,434,37,435,436,40],"8374544",16,"project\u002Fmixed\u002Fdocs","sharp11",[438,434,39,439,440,40],"8374678","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea","livestyle",[442,434,40,443,11,39],"8374877","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fdocs",[445,446,37,334,447,40],"8375767",17,"inthewoods",[174,449,32,321,175,40],18,[451,449,37,257,258,40],"8380114",[146,453,39,362,147,40],19,[455,453,40,387,11,39],"8375531",[457,453,37,387,458,40],"8376863","yoshyosh",[96,460,32,374,97,40],20,[462,463,37,435,464,40],"8375006",21,"jcavin",[466,463,40,257,11,39],"8375037",[468,236,32,321,469,40],"8374223","cmls587",[471,472,39,362,473,40],"8374872",23,"shawn-butler",[475,472,40,387,11,39],"8374901",[188,477,32,321,189,40],24,[479,477,40,480,11,39],"8375374","maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[482,483,32,321,484,40],"8375524",25,"claar",[486,30,32,321,487,40],"8379912","tisakowi",[489,490,39,362,491,40],"8375838",27,"iancarroll",[493,490,37,387,258,40],"8375849",[495,31,37,379,496,40],"8376217","13hours",[498,499,32,500,501,40],"8374363",29,"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fexecution","jashkenas",[503,499,40,257,11,39],"8374378",[505,499,40,261,501,40],"8374433",[507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