Honestly I was watching the demo video and I thought it was a joke. Log on to any computer with a web browser, and bam! There's a computer!
Kind of like dehydrated water:
Anyway, it was: (a) hilarious and (b) maybe suggests that you want to zoom in a little bit closer when you show the browser becoming the desktop.
@malcolm_ocean@danielkobran Agree on that video, I loved it. Still seems like there's work to do before it's as simple as DropBox. Specifically, the part of the video that says "you just need an ethernet cable for the Paperweight, a keyboard, a mouse, and a monitor. Connect all those things, and you're ready to go!"
My parents can install Dropbox. I'm not confident they could do the above to install Paperweight. Do you guys have anything in the works that further simplifies setup?
Edit: I just saw the FAQ that says you also don't need a Paperweight to access a Paperspace cloud computer. So... that's more parent friendly! But then what's the Paperweight for? :)
@malcolm_ocean@danielkobran@staringispolite I could see a case for putting a paperweight in my summer cabin, rather than dragging my laptop across the country. I'd imagine if I was really using a remote computer, in the future I'd want to spend my $$ on a sweet keyboard or monitor, so Paperweight seem to fit that well.
Anyway, this is a super cool product, I'm just so skeptical it could replace my MB Pro (but it's cuz I loves my MB Pro =)).
@malcolm_ocean@danielkobran@dshan Ah I see, so the Paperweight is just the last bit of hardware that lets you replace your current computer (if you want).
I'm also curious how this handles hardware. For instance: for DJing, I need my NS7 (connects via two USB cables). For RockSmith, I need a 1/4" guitar plug to USB cable. For arduino projects, photography, etc I also need USB plugs. It looks like the Paperweight supports 0 USB cables at the moment? (Can HDMI be made to support a USB hub?)
Network computers have been in the collective consciousness for a while — so long we almost kind of forgot about them! But Paperspace and the super cheap $50 Paperweight device show us that these things have just reached the point where they're totally viable as everyday devices.
The entrenched players use totally outdated technology, and this is potentially one of the most disruptive companies I've seen come out of YC to date.
@eriktorenberg Definitely. So my co-founder and I were working as architects (the building kind) and needed access to more powerful computers for doing simulations, 3D modeling etc. We sort of stumbled upon all this amazing cloud technology that just wasn't really accessible to the masses. 95% of Fortune 500s use virtual desktops but the technology is really complicated to deploy and manage. As a result, smaller companies and individuals don't really benefit from the technology at all. So what we're doing is trying to take that infrastructure and wrap it in a really simple layer and make it available to everyone else. Kind of the way Dropbox made cloud storage so simple that it could be use by anyone.
Impressive, but I'm naturally skeptical of the latency. I used to work in the PC game space and followed Gakai and OnLive very closely. Amazing technology but lag and low resolution video killed the experience. I'm curious to hear how Paperspace has solved that problem.
@rrhoover OnLive made a custom video codec to get their latency down SUPER low. I understand hardcore gamers didn't like it, but I'd be surprised if casual computer users noticed.
Though I will admit that when I read the tagline, I was thinking it was a play to make computers accessible to more people (esp low-income). I really like the idea of getting to "use" a Mac powerhouse via the internet, or experiment with Linux without buying the machines myself. Existing solutions for that, eg EC2, are still pretty technical.
So I'm curious to hear what Paperweight sees as their target customer(s).
And that video is friggin' hilarious.
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@rrhoover this is exactly what I was thinking. Possible lag is the key issue but non the less great idea. Just wish the shipping was a little less :)
So how does this work when it comes to business software people need? Like the AutoCADs, Photoshops but also GIS products and more specific stuff. How do you handle the licensing structure?
@dereckbreuning Sorry for the delay. You can install any program you would normally install on a regular computer. There are no limitations with respect to licensing that we know of. I use all of the programs you just mentioned (completely serious, I used to be an architect). Ultimately, we would like to offer pre-configured machines and on-demand software. So much to do!
@danielkobran thanks ok so you just deliver the desktop OS and updates etc. Al fully preconfigured set of apps for certain types of jobs would be cool yeah! Thanks for the info :)
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How is Paperspace dealing with latency? It is not a matter of your bandwidth (pipe), but the fact that packets take time to travel around. If I am in San Francisco, am I hitting the paperspace servers here in SF, or am I traveling all the way to North Virgina?
@johnny5sf Latency is definitely key. I'm from the east coast but just moved out to Mountain View for Y Combinator. I left my VM in Virginia and I do all types of photoshop work/3D modeling stuff 2,200 miles away with no lag. Sounds crazy but we'll have a demo up soon for you to check out. You need to be under about 60 ms latency (when the human eye can begin to detect lag) which is very manageable most places in the states. You can transfer a VM easily but I've been out here for 2 months and don't plan on it. I think this is about the limit but I depend on this VM every day for work. It's actually my only computer--you have to eat your own dogfood, right?.
I believe this to have utilities in a lot of business use cases. In Investment Banking / Business Consulting, excel financial models can get to a size that is no longer suitable to be run on personal computers.
Of course, analysts are not going to all of sudden learn programming and they are still going to use Excel to do their work. If you could get the UI smooth enough, this could be the answer to running large excel model.
As an anecdote, some excel models I have seen can take 20 minutes to compute on a personal computer.
@sidazhang Sidney--that's a really great potential use-case. A lot of people ask us why everyone can't just use a Chromebook these days and the reason is because they have about the same sized processor as a smartphone and sometimes you need a bit more than that... Thanks!
@danielkobran Another area is the rendering for 3D animations. It requires a lot of computing power and takes too long to run on a local machine.
I will give this a try and see if the experience is smooth. I am yet to see anything remote to work nicely
Awesome! What are the most common use cases amongst consumers using Paperspace? I assume this could be a great, low-cost alternative for SMBs as well who don't want to purchase and maintain relatively expensive virtual desktop solutions.
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