Date: 2007-11-27 23:32:00
prior art
It seems that every time I have a new idea for a nifty little web app, somebody else has already done it.

On that note, I recently discovered link.toolbot.com which does pretty much the same thing as lnk.nu but existed at least a year earlier. I know I looked for other similar link-shortening services at the time, and I don't know whether I would have even built lnk.nu if I had found link.toolbot.com back in 2004.

The question is, if I think I can do better than another implementation, or I've got a new idea that extends the other implementation in a novel way, should I continue to build it? I'm thinking yes.
[info]goulo
2007-11-27T13:45:07Z
That fractal explorer has an obvious problem of maximum zoom level. If you have a new idea that lets you keep zooming as deep as you like, you should build it.
[info]ghewgill
2007-11-28T06:59:07Z
Yes, that was exactly the limitation I was thinking of. Also, I was thinking about browsing Julia sets, which of course can't be reasonably precomputed...
[info]ivo
2007-11-27T20:57:12Z
...a new idea that extends the other implementation in a novel way, should I continue to build it?

For Regular People: No, are you crazy? It's already been done good enough.
For you: Of course, since when has this held you back!
[info]ghewgill
2007-11-28T06:59:18Z
You know me too well. :)
[info]decibel45
2007-11-27T22:29:33Z
If you know of the other implementation, I think it's best to try and work with them rather than out-do them. Of course, none of it truly matters unless one of you is planning on patenting the thing...
Greg Hewgill <greg@hewgill.com>