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* The Business of Software

Saw this earlier somewhere and had to share:

http://www.trixietracker.com

It records nap times for babies, and charts them.  And thats all.  (My mind *boggles* at how brilliant that is.  Ask any mother you know whether she loves her baby enough to pay $9 a month to make sure the baby is sleeping properly.  Oh, added bonus, she and dad get some extra shuteye, too.) 

Its a great Web2.0-y one-man-uISV success story without the usual Web2.0 "Well, we were kinda hoping to get bought out by YGM so as to conceal our total lack of a revenue model" angle.

Brilliant.  There's a lot of money to be made catering to type A, near obsessive compulsive parents.

This is the kind of thing parents do to feel good about themselves.  It doesn't actually accomplish anything.  A "sleep probability chart"?  lmao.

I like to encourage developers when I can, but as a parent of 3, I now realise that none of that stuff is important for keeping a child happy and healthy. A mother or father will/should instinctly know when it's ok to have a shower. If they don't, they need professional help, not a web app.

I like to think of it sort of like the newborn line at a hospital.  You know, the one with a nurse whose job it is to listen patiently to your description of symptoms and say "Don't worry dear, thats perfectly normal."  If the webapp makes them feel like they have a handle on this whole newborn thing and prevents needless anxiety, then hey, thats a win for everybody (and a price which is downright cheap when talking about babies -- the premium built into diapers you see advertised on television is much more extortionary).

Next stop - a baby monitor with WiFi :-)

> "needless anxiety"

In my experience, alot of these things can actually increase anxiety. The 'What to expect' books (global best sellers) are all that most people need.

Having said that, I understand your environment and youthful perspective, and respect your opinion.

"the premium built into diapers you see advertised on television is much more extortionary."

You mean the Elmo printed on them that becomes your child's third word, and his fourth primal need after food, water, and shelter?  That's pretty dastardly.  Seriously.

+1 to Gerry Smith.

I have a daughter and I just don't see why I'd need this app. I'd much rather spend my time relaxing or cleaning than fill in stuff in a web page when your kid is a few months old.

Also, things like the "sleep probability chart" will make you nervous if it's your first child and your child is supposed to sleep and it's not.

All you need to to when having a child is go with the flow. Everything will sort itself out.

Don't forget guys this app is not aimed at anyone on this board. I think it's genius. I told my wife about it and she wished she knew about it when our son was born. Would have been much easier than writing everything down on paper which is what she did.

It can also be used to track when the wife doesn't have a headache.  "But, Honey, the chart says that you're good to go!"

Long before Ben launched Trixie Tracker, I was following the interesting pictures he posted of his daughter Trixie - she was born not long after our daughter:
http://www.trixieupdate.com/tpod/archives/2007/tp070130.php

>> All you need to to when having a child is go with the flow. Everything will sort itself out. <<

Oh boy, how I wish that was always true. Unfortunately, it's not.

Her name is actually Trixie?

No mother I know of is gullible or anal-retentive enough to go off typing irrelevant details into a web page all the time, and to pay $9 for the privelege.

Sheesh, talk about over-computerization. What's next, a Dump Tracker so you can monitor the state of your digestive system?

>http://www.trixietracker.com

Arse. That looks *exactly* like an app I was thinking of writing (but didn't have the time or web programming skills).  Looks like he has done a nice job of implementing it as well.

Maybe he should have a landing page:

Do you care about your child? Yes/No

'Yes' takes you straight to the payment page. ;0)

"Arse."

My thoughts as well.  My wife was suggesting that we work on something similar.  We never got past "yeah that sounds like it might work", though.

Looks like Trixie is not the only one with obsessive parents.  :)

The Dump Tracker is not a terrible idea.  It was a very common topic in our house for the first year.  Add some photos with descriptions of possible causes (this exists as a  book in Japan) and there's probably a product.

TT blog:
http://www.trixieupdate.com/2007/03/08/trixie-tracker-turns-one/#comments

FWIW, I think this is an excellent idea.

Are there any possible legal expenses if parents screw something up using this application?

From the site, referring to stored breast milk:

"Have your Marker Handy
Now, instead of the date and time, you write the inventory # on the storage bottle/bag."

This is horrible way of encouraging dependence on this web app. If the power goes out, you'd want to know when the milk was stored. But since you wrote an inventory number instead of the date, you have no idea when the milk was pumped.

Who would really use this app in this way?