Any progammers looking for a killer app to develop? How about a voice enabled forum?

[Matt]

Any progammers looking for a killer app to develop? How about a voice
enabled forum?

One of the most powerful, exciting, and engrossing experiences on the
Internet is the Forum. The first great Internet forums were the
Usenet newsgroups. Usenet is still a powerful force, but many
different types of forums are also very popular (such as message
boards like Vbulliten and XMBforum).

I love forums. Love em love em love em. My web site has a great one.
But I think the time has come for an important and breakthrough
evolutionary advance in Internet Forums. I will describe the idea to
you, and I hope you will take the idea and run with it. Create this
product. Develop it. Make millions of dollars. I offer this idea to
you-because I am not a programmer-and I want this to be made.

The idea is pretty simple. Any fairly savvy application developer
with some skills in MySQL should be able to do this. Whoever does it
right will make a lot of money.

I want someone to simply improve upon the Internet forum technology.

The amazing power of a forum is that you can walk into a forum and
have a conversation. You can ask a question and get insightful,
funny, and interesting answers. You can then reply and have a
dialogue. You can do all this at your own pace, your own convenience.
You can ignore people who don't interest you and you can be as patient
as you want in replying. It is a wonderful thing. And the time has
come to liberate this experience from the necessity of a keyboard and
full powered computer. The technology is here, we just need to take
advantage of it.

This is what I want.

I want to be able at any time of day, whether driving my car, or doing
dishes, or hiking through the woods -to ask a question of the world.
I don't want to have to find a computer, go to the website or
newsreader, and type up my question. I want to just be able to say
outloud, "What is the fastest any human has ever travelled?" or "What
the heck does a county commisioner do?"...and I want my question, an
mp3 recording of my actual voice, immediately posted in a forum. And
then I want to receive responses-but not responses i have to go sit
down and read. I want to hear the responses, in the voices of those
listening to my question.

Imagine, you could be driving in your car...and you have a question.
You simply say out loud, "Post this question: Can anyone give me more
details about the Xbox2? Or "Can anyone tell me real quick how to
make tomatoe soup?" Or while reading a history book...you could say
outloud, "Post this question: "Was Wyatt Earp a real person?"
Whatever you are interested in. For whatever reason you communicate
with people in Forums, you could do it-but simply with your voice-at
any time anywhere.

After you post a question, you might hear a little beep in a few
minutes letting you know you have responses. Then you could just say
out loud "Play replies" and the replies would start to play-not in a
computer voice but in the actual voice of the people answering
you-because they would be using the same technology.

With this type of voice message board-you could have engaging,
interesting, convenient, and fairly natural conversations over the
Internet. The experience could be liberated from sitting at a
computer-and it would be enhanced by being able to hear human
voices-rather than reading text. You could have all the fun and
convenience of natural conversation-but enhanced through the reach and
expertise and convenience available over the Internet.

That is the concept. It may seem daunting, but the technology already
exists and is available. All this idea requires is a MySQL based
message board (such as the XMB Forum) and a pretty basic client side
application. The SQL database could store all the voice messages in
mp3 format. The client side application would run on a pocketpc phone
or palm phone.All this application would need to do is

1) interface with the MySQL database (the message board). Be able to
upload and download the mp3 files in the appropriate thread-and play
them on demand.

2) encode into mp3 format as people recorded their posts.

3) This part is optional, but would be the ultimate addition: be able
to recognize some simple voice commands such as "Record" "Post"
"Replay" "Skip" "Next" "Back".

Thats it. If you can program or hack MySQL and make pocketpc Apps,
then you can make this amazing voice enabled internet forum.

Limitations:
Bandwidth for moble internet access is an obvious limitation. But
remember, voice forums will be just as fun and convenient on desktop
computers and where high bandwidth is available.

Webstorage. Voice messages will be much bigger. The MySQL database
will grow fast. But hey, it will be so fun, I think users will be
willing to pay the message board host a little to help cover storage
costs. Another alternative is to delete or archive all messages after
3 days-limiting discussions to fairly current threads.

Ok thats it. I know this will arrive someday. But why not sooner
rather than later? Any programmers out there interested in a little
project like this? If so, go for it. Make millions. I maintain no
copywrites on this idea. But if you are going to run with this idea,
please just let me know so I can use the forum on my website.

The best way for this to be developed is through an open source
project. Anyone who wants to collaborate on this project with other
programmers feel free to post on my website to make contacts. Or just
go for it if you already know how to do something like this. Good
luck. I look forward to hearing all about it!

Go here to find other people to help collaborate on this project:
http://www.thesearchforwisdom.com/community/boards/viewthread.php?tid=104

Submitted by Matt Ready
http://www.wisdomproject.net

 

[Victor Bazarov]

Any progammers looking for a killer app to develop? How about a voice
enabled forum?
[...]

C++ has no mechanism for voice recording/playback, nor does it have
any DB interface mechanism. What made you post to comp.lang.c++?

 

[Nils Petter Vaskinn]

Any progammers looking for a killer app to develop? How about a voice
enabled forum?
No.

One of the most powerful, exciting, and engrossing experiences on the

[snip: the joy of voice enabled forums]

I want someone to simply improve upon the Internet forum technology.

[snip: even more joys of voice enabled forums]

This is what I want.

I want to be able at any time of day, whether driving my car, or doing

[snip: surprise surprise more about the joys of voice forums]


All that text and you were not able to make me think the _idea_ was any
good. Nevermind the technical matters but the whole concept seems tedious
time consuming and unflexible compared to regular forums. Quickly browsing
the forum would be out of the question. And unless you can come up with
some revolutionary new voice recognition technology, searchnig for
information in old posts is out too.

That is the concept. It may seem daunting, but the technology already
exists and is available. All this idea requires is a MySQL based
message board (such as the XMB Forum) and a pretty basic client side
application. The SQL database could store all the voice messages in
mp3 format. The client side application would run on a pocketpc phone
or palm phone.All this application would need to do is

1) interface with the MySQL database (the message board). Be able to
upload and download the mp3 files in the appropriate thread-and play
them on demand.

Why MySQL. Does MySQL have some property that makes it more suitable for
this kind of application than any other database?
If you have already decided on MySQL why is this posted to an oracle group?

2) encode into mp3 format as people recorded their posts.

Patented technology, might require lisencing fees.

3) This part is optional, but would be the ultimate addition: be able
to recognize some simple voice commands such as "Record" "Post"
"Replay" "Skip" "Next" "Back".

Heavy prosessing on server side. Clients can not be trusted not to be
tampeed with so all data would need to be verified. And that includes
scanning for data hidden in the mp3 files so you don't become a
distribution channel for illegal data without even knowing it.

Thats it. If you can program or hack MySQL and make pocketpc Apps,
then you can make this amazing voice enabled internet forum.

Limitations:
Bandwidth for moble internet access is an obvious limitation. But
remember, voice forums will be just as fun and convenient on desktop
computers and where high bandwidth is available.

Nevermind bandwith for the clients, the server will have to have that much
more bandwidth, and pay for it by the byte.

Webstorage. Voice messages will be much bigger. The MySQL database
will grow fast. But hey, it will be so fun, I think users will be
willing to pay the message board host a little to help cover storage
costs.

Why did you think all those dot-com bubbles burst? Part of it was
overestimating the publics willingness to pay for services on the internet.

Another alternative is to delete or archive all messages after
3 days-limiting discussions to fairly current threads.

Ruining the searchability meaning all regulars will see is repeats of the
same old questions. And since scanning for interesting questions will be
more time consuming than on a text based forum, you will lose the experts.

Ok thats it. I know this will arrive someday. But why not sooner
rather than later? Any programmers out there interested in a little
project like this? If so, go for it. Make millions. I maintain no
copywrites on this idea. But if you are going to run with this idea,
please just let me know so I can use the forum on my website.

It will not arrive until voice recognition is way better than today, and
handheld machines are powerful enough to perform it.

If you think it's possible to "Make millions" on this idea why not do it
yourself? Get someone to invest and pay some programmers to do it, or
learn what you need to do it yourself. After all when the millions rolls
in it will be worth it.

And you can't copyright an idea. You might have patented some of it as a
business process but now that you've posted about it here it's too late.

The best way for this to be developed is through an open source
project. Anyone who wants to collaborate on this project with other
programmers feel free to post on my website to make contacts.

Why? We already have usenet, what makes you website a better place?

 

[Aggro]

Any progammers looking for a killer app to develop? How about a voice
enabled forum?

What you described is a dump idea, like you were told. A better and yet
your requirements filling idea would be:

Translate text into speech and speech into text. And put that translator
in the between usenet and human. You could search, messages wouldn't
take much space, and the forum is already build. Only think you need is
that translater. Now, go and implement it ( Actually there are some
versions of it already existing. But there is some tuning with the
performanse to do. )

 

[David]

Any progammers looking for a killer app to develop? How about a voice
enabled forum?

<snip>

Matt,

Several technologies allow this today. They are not off the shelf
but non-hackers can get set up if they find the time and money.

First read up on wearable comuters. Other portable/mobiles may
suffice for your needs until we can plug into your brain.

The question-response concept could be from an always-on
experience (e.g. all incomming relevant traffic is supplied to you)
or agent based (e.g. new questions trigger agent activites that
respond with answers).

David

 

[jeffc]

Any progammers looking for a killer app to develop? How about a voice
enabled forum?

I don't think the solution you posted is the one I'd want. I'd still want
text posted. I don't want to have to listen to a whole bunch of talk if I
don't want to. Imagine someone leaving a message on your phone answering
machine. It's a 2 minute message, and there's an important detail like a
phone number to call them back. What if you don't want to listen to the
whole message again to get that number? Especially if you didn't catch it
the first time. Sound familiar?

No, what we need is simply to be able to convert voice to text, and back.
That technology already exists.

With this type of voice message board-you could have engaging,
interesting, convenient, and fairly natural conversations over the
Internet. The experience could be liberated from sitting at a
computer-and it would be enhanced by being able to hear human
voices-rather than reading text. You could have all the fun and
convenience of natural conversation-but enhanced through the reach and
expertise and convenience available over the Internet.

I think you're missing the point. That's what I *don't* want. You're
describing "chat". Chat rooms and forums are 2 different things. A real
conversation is real-time. I don't want real-time for these forums. That
would be BAD. Do you know why email is so successful? Hint: it's not
real-time. Conference calls are real-time.

Go here to find other people to help collaborate on this project:
http://www.thesearchforwisdom.com/community/boards/viewthread.php?tid=104

Now how you are going to put something like that in a voice message?

 

[Haximus]

Hate to burst your bubble but the system already exists, it's called Usenet
and one can attach files to posts (say, sound files containing verbal
queries). Also, the idea that you can simply make a verbal query and expect
a credible response in a timely fashion is ludicrous. Whan was the last
time a search engine gave you exactly the answer you wanted on the first
try? Human response is no more accurate, not unless your forums are
populated *only* with certified authorities on the subject matter at hand.

 

[Charlie-Boo]

Hate to burst your bubble but the system already exists, it's called Usenet
and one can attach files to posts (say, sound files containing verbal
queries). Also, the idea that you can simply make a verbal query and expect
a credible response in a timely fashion is ludicrous. Whan was the last
time a search engine gave you exactly the answer you wanted on the first
try? Human response is no more accurate, not unless your forums are
populated *only* with certified authorities on the subject matter at hand.

I was just passing through and this caught my eye. I couldn't resist
responding. "Hate to burst your bubble" - "already exists" -
"ludicruos". Man, you are totally out of it. Do you know what people
said to Dave whats-his-face, the founder of Wendy's, when he said that
he's going to open a hamburger chain (named after his daughter)?
"Stupid idea. There's already McDonald's"

Albert Einstein summed it up well: "Great spirits have always
encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." I know. I don't
like to brag, but just this once: I made an 800 on my math college
board in High School. I'm a friggin' genius. So I have TONS of
ideas. (I once wrote a 186 page book based on a survey of only about
5% of my collection of ideas over a 3 year period. I add about a page
a day - about 10-12 ideas a day. The book sold about 10-15,000
copies.) People will always be resistant to those who "think outside
of the box" or try to get ahead or to make things better. I have seen
it hundreds of times over the years. I see all sorts of stupid things
that can be greatly improved. George Bush didn't think of guarding
the border into Pakistan when he invaded Afghanistan and bin Laden
just walked away before we got there. People are stupid! There's
tons of room for improvement to almost every aspect of our society.

To whoever posted the original idea: DON'T LET THE IDIOTS GET IN YOUR
WAY! PLEASE!! YOU WILL GET THE LAST LAUGH!

Charlie Volkstorf

 

[Nils Petter Vaskinn]

I was just passing through and this caught my eye. I couldn't resist
responding. "Hate to burst your bubble" - "already exists" -
"ludicruos".

Man, you are totally out of it. Do you know what people
said to Dave whats-his-face, the founder of Wendy's, when he said that
he's going to open a hamburger chain (named after his daughter)?
"Stupid idea. There's already McDonald's"

People called X a bad idea.
X turned out to be a good idea.
People called Y a bad idea.
Y is a good idea.

Do you see the flawed logic?

And your comparison doesn't hold either. Your story is talking about
someone that was going sell a product that's basically the same as the
existing one. (I don't know Wendys but fast food hamburgers are all the
same IMHO). What we're dealing with here is someone that wants to push
different product, and then gets told that his product doesn't do some of
the things that makes the competition popular.

Albert Einstein summed it up well: "Great spirits have always
encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

And people with bad ideas have always encountered violent opposition from
those that know better (especially on usenet). He asked for an opinion in
a public forum so he got it.

I know. I don't
like to brag,

Good for you.

[snip bragging]

You don't like to brag but you included that when it's in no way relevant
to the discussion. (If you think it is, then tell me how you thinking
you're a genius makes the OP's idea any better)

But with qualifications like that you can probably do the OP's project for
him, and prove us all wrong when you make those millions.

People will always be resistant to those who "think outside
of the box" or try to get ahead or to make things better.

Yes we will. Which is why most of us didn't dwell too long on analyzing
why we thought the idea was bad. The OP got feedback on technical
obstacles to his idea. And he got feedback on what todays existing
solutions has that his solution (as described) lacks.

Now if he was to take that feedback and perhaps use it to improve on his
original idea he might be on the right track. But people like you telling
him to stick to his original idea and not take any feedback isn't going to
lead hin to success.

To whoever posted the original idea: DON'T LET THE IDIOTS GET IN YOUR
WAY! PLEASE!! YOU WILL GET THE LAST LAUGH!

No he won't. He didn't believe enough in the idea himself to make an
effort to realize it.

Now if he does try to make something out of his idea I wish him luck. I
think the idea would fail, but instead of trying to "get the last laugh"
people told him why they thought that, in an effort to stop him from what
we would consider a waste of effort..


Followup set to comp.databases where this was the least off topic.

 

[Haximus]

hand.

I was just passing through and this caught my eye. I couldn't resist
responding. "Hate to burst your bubble" - "already exists" -
"ludicruos". Man, you are totally out of it. Do you know what people
said to Dave whats-his-face, the founder of Wendy's, when he said that
he's going to open a hamburger chain (named after his daughter)?
"Stupid idea. There's already McDonald's"

I said the capability already exists. If you want to make verbal queries to
forums, record a sound file and post it, I'm sure most wireless PDAs and
notebooks could be programmed to do this even while flying down the highway.
So you make the query and now what happens? The same thing that happens
when you post a text query to Usenet or any other peer forum - you sit and
wait until someone answers, maybe five minutes or five days. The OP thinks
by voice enabling a forum he's going to get realtime answers. Possible of
course, but I've never seen a public forum perform quite that fast.

Albert Einstein summed it up well: "Great spirits have always
encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

Thomas Edison also said genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine
percent perspiration. Real genius is having an idea THEN making it work.
Lots of people have lots of great ideas but someone actually has to build
it. I can't tell you how many people I know who had the absolute "killer
idea" and invested time/money just to find out someone else had already done
it or it wasn't feasible/practical/economical. No harm in trying but people
who have ideas need to learn how to do research because 999,999 out of
1,000,000 times someone has already thought of it. There, I just typed in
"voice enabled forum" into yahoo and got several hits going back to 2000.
Creativity is a wonderful thing but the wheel only needs to be invented
once.

I know. I don't
like to brag, but just this once: I made an 800 on my math college
board in High School. I'm a friggin' genius. So I have TONS of
ideas. (I once wrote a 186 page book based on a survey of only about
5% of my collection of ideas over a 3 year period. I add about a page
a day - about 10-12 ideas a day. The book sold about 10-15,000
copies.) People will always be resistant to those who "think outside
of the box" or try to get ahead or to make things better. I have seen
it hundreds of times over the years. I see all sorts of stupid things
that can be greatly improved. George Bush didn't think of guarding
the border into Pakistan when he invaded Afghanistan and bin Laden
just walked away before we got there. People are stupid! There's
tons of room for improvement to almost every aspect of our society.

To whoever posted the original idea: DON'T LET THE IDIOTS GET IN YOUR
WAY! PLEASE!! YOU WILL GET THE LAST LAUGH!

So even though you don't like to brag, you go ahead and brag. Save it for
your mom, I'm sure she will be quite impresssed.

 

[paul vudmaska]

Screw these people. I think it's an interesting idea.

I saw some service(for xx$ a month) the other day where you call and
people try to answer your question. Automate this and make a killing.

Paul

 

[Alan]

Sounds like tech support at any software or hardware company

 

[Haximus]

Like Microsoft tech support, 100% perfectly correct answers that are
completely useless.

 

[Bret Pehrson]

How about a forum where the initial author of a thread is the moderator for
that thread?

Seems to me that would be the single-most useful way to control (in-thread)
flame wars, and massive divergance from the original topic and other (very
common) nonsense.

 

[Bob Badour]

How about a forum where the initial author of a thread is the moderator for
that thread?

That would only result in a million threads all flaming each other, and no
way to filter the whole mess.

 

[puppet_sock]

That would only result in a million threads all flaming each other, and no
way to filter the whole mess.

Can you say "usenet?" I new you could.
Socks

 

[Lou G.]

The Killer app idea is a GOOD one and most likely beeing worked on at
present.
Imagine if you restrict this idea to an enterprise. Then people could
ask questions aloud and get answers later from a certified knowledge
repository. The repository is organized and very well kept up to date.
for example a question might be. When did we shiped the last box to
Irak? The answer would appear in a pda or MPA3 player, cellphone etc.
There is a product to organize knowledge and exchange it with others
at www.thebrain.com

"Alan" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...