With HOMEPAQ there is a new player in the media trading market which competes with Exsila, Hitflip et al. The media trading service is part of a software and web-service bundle called HOMEPAQ. The goal of HOMEPAQ is to help people organize stuff at home, such as recipes, books or dvds.
The value of HOMEPAQ is not straightforward. There are a gazillion of features and it’s very hard to get an overview of the value proposition. I needed a 30 min personal pitch of Paul Ryatt to "get it" all. There is definitely a lot of potential to make the whole thing easier to understand. The most interesting thing about HOMEPAQ is the integration of local software and internal and external web-services. Example: You use the local software to organize your book inventory at home (the software uses Amazon API, so you won’t have to put in all data manually). You find 10 books that you don’t want to keep anymore. So you export those books to the media trading service and get new ones (or dvds or cds) in return. The new items are automatically added to your local inventory, so you always have a complete overview.
The main question I asked myself is why to use local software at all (because I hate the unflexibility). My reasoning was: "We’re living in the web-service era, so local software doesn’t make sense anymore". And I’m still not 100% convinced that local software is the way to go for HOMEPAQ. What made change my mind a little was the issue of security and privacy. What if I could organize my financial data with HOMEPAQ? Would I want to do that through a web-service? I don’t know. What I know is that with services like Wesabe people are apparently doing so already.
Remo,
I think that before I dive into the “Swiss Made Entrepreneurship“ – and what it takes to be an Entrepreneur, and why very little exists in Switzerland, let me correct you on some facts.
We have a lot of customers who use our software – the Tausch-Center is new and the solution has been branded. Our customer don’t need a 30 minute presentation, rather they find the software very intuitive. We never get support calls about “how do I do this“.
You received a 30 minute presentation about our strategy, which you confused with “this is how it works“. As a serious journalist, where you have freedom of expression, you need to make sure that you get the facts right, before you blast someone, just to show your community that you are neutral and non-bias
Why use the software?
1. Not everyone wants to trade everything. Some DVDs, Games, Books, we just want to keep and not give away. If people want to just trade and not keep their favourites, then they don’t need our software, which we are giving away for FREE.
2. We offer 7 modules and for every module you can find about thousands of similar products, or web sites that allow you to do the same. The trouble is that you no longer have an overview of what is going on. On which site do I have my finances? Where did I publish my recipe list? What is the password for this site again?
3. What is missing today is a “MS Office for the home“ and that is what we have developed. One place to store everything.
4. Do I have to use all features ? Of course not. Do I use everything in MS Office, or any other site? Never. The point is that everything is in once place, easy to organize and find.
5. Having a software is fine, but the problem is that people don’t have time to enter all the data, and this is the value of Web Services. We make it easy to find and import the content. We do this for recipes, wines and, also Media.
6. WEB 2.0 is integrated into the software. Do you want to share recipes with the community, then just right-mouse click and publish!
Why do people need Fast client when there is the Web?
The thin-client interface has done wonders to the web revolution, but we see its drawbacks. Google has started to swing the other way – they are providing Free software, such as tool bars, and Picasa, to mange information on the desk top.
AJAX is also a solution, and over the long term this might be where new development will wind up.
Why should I switch if I am already on Exsila?
1. Join and get FREE Software and 25 NUGGETS. This means free DVDs, etc.
2. Organize your private collection, which you can’t do with Exsila or Hitflip.
3. Loan your private items to friends and reminder will remind you.
4. If anybody in your family buys wines, you get more NUGGETS as a bonus.
Swiss Made Entrepreneurship
Why is that most of the innovations and crazy ideas that “make it“ come from the US and not from Europe? The main reason is that US culture encourages people to try new things instead of being intellectuals who just want to criticize others, like your blog seem to do.
If you want to help promote Swiss Entrepreneurship, then your blog should recognize efforts and help support young Swiss companies to challenge the US leadership. We have a lot of talent in Switzerland, and we need to help work as a community to make our ideas work. We need to collect constructive input to make our products better, but not to slander.
This is counterproductive, and just discourages others from trying.
Is our product perfect?
Certainly not. Can we make it perfect? Most definitely we can do this. How? With the support of the early adapters, the readers of your newsletter.
They are the ones who can provide constructive and helpful feedback, that actually motivates us to put in even more energy to make the solution better, and tailored to their needs.
So my message to your readers is “Signup on HOMEPAQ, and please do tell us what is missing, what you really want.“
What can we do to make a SWISS product into a real success story.
Hitflip did it, and so can we. Help us and we will help you.
Paul Ryatt
CEO
Innosoft AG
Innovative Software
Dear Paul
Thank you a lot for your statement. I think you clarified some important things. Let me sum up my point of view:
#1: With the 30 minute pitch and the “get it all” I was referring to your company, your value proposition, your businessmodel, i.e. the “big picture”. I wasn’t referring to the software. I’m sorry if this part caused a misunderstanding.
#2: I like the term “MS Office for the home”. You should use that more!
#3: I certainly do support Swiss entrepreneurship and it’s never my intention to slander. I’m sorry if you got that impression.
#4: I’m no journalist, I’m a blogger. There is a huge difference: I’m not being objective here, I’m being extremely subjective. This is my opinion as an individual. And this opinion may be brutal and may be undifferentiated. I’m aware that I’m facing a massively conflict of interest here, but I’m also aware that I just can’t please everybody. Here in my blog I decided to remain honest and to remain true to myself. I’m afraid everyone has to live with that.
Paul, you’re an intelligent and experienced business man and I’m sure you are able to draw the right conclusions of my posting. You’ve put a lot of thought and hard work into your product and I’m convinced that there’s a huge potential for you. Just get going and go get it :-).
Best, Remo