IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

I'm building a parallel internet, and it's called The Thinnernet

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

3 Prevalent Themes

1. Steve‑Jobs nostalgia & critique of “design‑by‑committee”
- “You're listening to WWSJD, the Los Altos FM station where Apple pilgrims tune in to the station that Steve Jobs did!" – initramfs
- “That sounds like a false dichotomy. You want opinionated software? Great, so do I.” – wmf

2. Desire for a lean, low‑bandwidth “thin” web
- “250KB Club seems like a nice place to start with websites.” – initramfs
- “The trouble is, people keep extending Markdown to add HTML features … Nothing gets simpler.” – Animats

3. Exploration of a parallel or alternative internet stack
- “It's all of the above, integrated with a maximum latency for each tier level. Not a new protocol, but adopting the best of the best, like QUIC over UDP.” – initramfs
- “Make that three.” – arjie

🚀 Project Ideas

MarkLite Publishing#Summary

  • A minimalist, open‑source markdown publishing platform that eliminates tracking, ads, and heavy JavaScript.
  • Offers a one‑click “publish to federation” button and automatically serves low‑bandwidth, text‑first renders.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Independent writers, niche communities, privacy‑focused users
Core Feature Markdown editor with instant federation sync and optional low‑data mode
Tech Stack React‑lite front‑end, Go backend, IPFS/Filestore, WebTransport for P2P sync
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: SaaS tier with custom domain hosting ($5/mo) and optional premium analytics (ad‑free)

Notes

  • HN commenters repeatedly called for “anti‑commercial” or “browser‑less” publishing, citing projects like 1kb.club and Gemini.
  • Directly addresses bloat and tracking frustrations by providing a deterministic, script‑free publishing pipeline.

Thinnernet Prioritizer

Summary

  • A lightweight overlay service that lets developers tag critical web‑app actions (email, health‑checks, prescription refills) as “low‑latency” and have ISPs prioritize those packets.
  • Provides a simple API and dashboard for monitoring latency guarantees for essential services.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Developers of communication‑heavy apps, health‑tech services, real‑time chat
Core Feature Request‑based QoS flagging and automatic path optimization via carrier partnership
Tech Stack Node.js API, gRPC, QUIC transport, OpenTelemetry for telemetry
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: Usage‑based subscription (first 10 GB free, then $0.01/GB)

Notes

  • Multiple HN users discussed QoS “express lanes” for essential services; this product turns those ideas into a concrete developer tool.
  • Integrates with existing mobile carriers’ QoS APIs, directly fulfilling the “Thinnernet” concept and the need for predictable load times.

WebLite Browser Extension

Summary

  • A browser extension that transforms any visited page into a stripped‑down, text‑first view (markdown‑compatible) with optional low‑data mode and built‑in ad‑blocking.
  • Includes a curated directory of vetted low‑footprint sites and a one‑click “publish to TinyBlog” feature.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience General web users on limited data plans, privacy advocates
Core Feature Dynamic content sanitization to plain markdown/HTML, bandwidth throttling, quick publish
Tech Stack Chrome/Firefox extension (Manifest V3), Rust WASM for parsing, SQLite for site whitelist
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Frequent HN complaints about website bloat, tracking, and the desire for “anti‑tracking” experiences echo the need for a simple, privacy‑first browsing layer.
  • Offers an immediate, practical solution while longer‑term alternatives are explored.

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