Perhaps, without being entirely stuck in the 1950s, OP experienced wife struggling to find a favorite recipe and thought, "I'm not much for makin' french toast, but I sure can organize information!"
Not all of us are as fortunate as I am to be a brilliant programmer _and_ purveyor of french toast.
As for the 1950s, my grandmother actually couldn't cook a lick, though she could bake, and my grandfather was the gourmet as well as the breadwinner. Before he passed he taught her to make her favorite of his dishes. I suspect as a child in that household, if dad wasn't around and you were hungry, you got a grilled cheese, because they were never really prevalent in my time until after bobo passed. ;)
It has a login and extensive help info, so is clearly targeting far more than his wife.
Why the downvotes? I wrote "Gives the impression", which is valuable feedback for someone trying to design an attractive product.
[EDIT] To answer icebraining: It's relevant to his marketing. It may also be indicative of his preconceptions of the market. If he's intentionally aiming at traditional women, then great. It will turn others off.
It's the presumption that traditional household structures are archaic. Plenty of modern households operate on the basis of traditional role separation, and it has nothing to do with oppression.
> It has a login and extensive help info, so is clearly targeting far more than his wife.
I tried to find the part where OP was turning this into a business and trying to market it to customers. I assumed this was like most other "Show HNs" and was simple something someone created for his wife and decided others might find it interesting or useful.
> Why the downvotes? I wrote "Gives the impression", which is valuable feedback for someone trying to design an attractive product.
Because your post gave the impression that you were misrepresenting what was fairly clear to many others. You are also giving the impression that you know far more than you actually do. You are finally giving the impression that Show HN is not the place for this. Frankly, all your comments give the impression of someone who isn't honestly contributing to this discussion.
That's probably why you are getting down votes. That, and your lack of HN etiquette.
Jim Poole like in Baseball (google result, still no idea who it is, but looks male)? You talk about this guy like everybody is supposed to know who that is. I know so many people with a name from the other gender (most prominent in my head a girl named David), that "Jim" is not a response to the question if the author is male or female to me.
I agree that it doesn't collapse the distribution, but from a Bayesian perspective it should probably shift the likelihood towards male. Certainly enough that using a slashy pronoun (he/she, etc.) isn't strictly necessary for a HN comment.
If I had to guess it went something like the OP's wife wanted a tool like this, the OP built the tool and made it to her needs but also public so that others could also have the same benefit. He's a HN user hence the Show HN and since it was an itch he scratched for his wife he put that in the title.
Not that complicated really. It could have been more clear with something like "A meal planner I made for my wife", but hey.
Show HN is not limited to startups out of Silicon Valley. It's literally just a prefix to say "Hey HN, I want to show you something I built..." In this case, you can add "for my wife..."
Of course, judging by some of the comments, he'd have to add: "because she wanted this thing, and I figured it others might find it interesting" for those that like to infer things that were never said.
Hackers build things to scratch itches, and then they share them. The fact that it's a particular other person's itch that got the ball rolling is interesting and potentially inspirational.
The visual documentation is a nice touch (http://www.mealdays.com/howto/) and couldn't have taken too long to create. Just in case my mother-in-law doesn't know what drag and drop means.
Cool idea. I had a tiny issue where the leaves on the Meal Plan box overlap the corners of Monday and Sunday, meaning you can't drag in these areas. You can sort it out with:
I've been using the meal planner that Allrecipes[0] has and I really like it. I'd love to try this too but having multiple meals or even side dishes per day is necessary.
And multi-recipe meals. As it is, I either get dinner or dessert. Seeing that I have the willpower of a Kennedy, I'd be eating a full tray of brownies for dinner each night.
> Can we please change the title from this very sexist and heteronormative language?
He made it for his wife, not for housewives in general (in fact for me there's no implication that it's specifically for housewives or that he does no cooking himself)
I completely disagree that there isn't a general implication that this is for wives of HN users.
Another example: "Show HN: SportsRank, Fantasy score prediction I built for my Bros."
Is this for just my Bro, or am I making a statement about who I think will use it, specifically Bros. Similarly "my wife" makes an implicit statement that your wife (who obviously cooks) will want to see this.
"Why hello Gerald, I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Kate."
"How very dare you, Cuthbert. That is a decidedly sexist way to refer to your spouse."
"My spouse? I do not possess zir, Kate is an independent human being associated with me through our mutual engagement in the social contract of marriage."
Yeah, the disputing of possession bugs me. Certainly it's true that I do not possess my wife, but I also don't possess my brother and he's still my brother and there's nothing weird about that phrasing.
Though it is worth noting that not many do get annoyed at that phrasing, and overgeneralizing to paint others with it and thinking that has any bearing on their concerns is poor reasoning.
So I'm actually not disputing the possession of my. I couldn't care less. I have a problem with painting this as something that "wives" would use, instead of something that you or I would use.
It's like saying: "Show HN, SportsRank. Fantasy score prediction I built for my Bros"
Sure, you could use it, but really I built it for Bros, not you. Because you and I have an implicit connection. We are both probably nerdy programmers, and I'm saying that I don't use it so you probably won't either.
edit: I'm shadowbanned, so I'll edit here.
So I don't think it actually is that different, bro vs wife. The implication is that we are a homogeneous group that doesn't necessarily include the "other" group. But more importantly, I think there are better and less exclusive ways to say that someone elses itch encouraged you.
MealDays: Meal planner inspired by my wife.
MealDays: Meal planner designed by my wife.
MealDays: Meal planner idea from my wife.
To me, "for my wife" implies a somewhat passive wife who is going to use this thing. The ones above imply the wife taking an active role in helping and specing, which based on the OPs comments and programming best practice is more realistic anyway.
@jrock08 (I can't respond directly because your comment is already dead, but I don't think it was actually non-constructive):
I didn't mean to suggest that you did contest the "my" - I was just agreeing that I've seen that before and that it is obnoxious and reading more into language than is there at any level. My second part was intended to emphasize, however, that that objection only applies where it applies, which as you say is not your comment.
I still think the title is substantively different than your "bros" example; it is referring to one particular person, and I think that matters a lot. As I said elsewhere, "Hackers build things to scratch itches, and then they share them. The fact that it's a particular other person's itch that got the ball rolling is interesting and potentially inspirational."
Reading the title, I was sure that feminist trolls will be on a hunt. I am not disappointed ;)
Your project could be useful to others, if you want to push it further my advice would be: find a graphic designer (it's not bad, but it's a bit too much), improve the experience (in did a meal / day is not my usual habits).
Maybe you could monetize by connecting with online grocery shops or suggesting extra items (like wine).
At least now I know how to phrase it if I ever make something for my partner(s) of non specified gender and sexual orientation with whom I have an equal relationship
The one downside is that many women are very proud to be housewives. Marketing to everyone in this context despecializes, considering they make up a very considerable margin of the stay-at-home parents and mealmakers worldwide.
As much as I would hate for this to be the case, in a marketing context it makes absolute sense to go after housewives.
I feel like there's a big difference between "for my wife" versus "for wives". The former makes no assumption about the roles of other people who use it (except, presumably, that they're interested in planning meals).
Too late to edit, but I'd like to add that "for your wife" would be as bad as "for wives", outside of a context where you are talking to a specific person and you know they have a wife who would be interested.
"Maybe you could monetize by connecting with online grocery shops or suggesting extra items (like wine)."
I've always wondered why grocery loyalty programs that track what I buy don't expose to me what I buy. Then I'd have some incentive to help them keep it accurate, and it could be of much benefit to both of us.
I think the styling definitely could use some improvement, for a broader audience, as well. It's really all my wife's artsy flare (she has an architecture degree) :) She drew it up and then I just replicated in code.
Multi-meals per day sounds like the way to go for sure. I always had that in the back of my mind
I'm just adding another voice for the "Open Source it!"
I'd love to use that with my girlfriend (shit, is it sexist to say that?) as we love to plan our meal in advance but usually fail to do it as much as we could.
Using this would be great, and we could add our own specific functions if we'd like.
And put it on our home server.
"I'd love to use that with my girlfriend (shit, is it sexist to say that?)"
It's not sexist at all to say "I'd love to use that with my girlfriend." It might be a bit sexist to say "I wish my girlfriend would use that", maybe. It's at least a little jerky, and possibly a little sexist, to say "shit, is it sexist to say that?"
I like the idea of meal planning, but most applications don't work for me. Most meal planners I've come across are similar to this one. You randomly pick recipes and a grocery list gets generated for you.
I want to work the other way around. Each week we get sales flyers from our local grocery stores. We look to see what's available, and make our shopping list. Then we try to plan meals based on our list plus items we may already have.
Using this workflow, it would be nice if a menu planning tool could be given a list of ingredients, and then make suggestions for recipes.
To some degree, although I'd really like a more thorough pantry management system - which tracks expiration dates, estimates quantities, &c, and integrates with meal planning and shopping.
On a related note, some knowledge of substitutions could be another great feature.
Wow:) looks like my usage limits for calling recipes exceeded for the day! I have very limited calls, otherwise I'd have to pay out a lot per month to increase. Might have to if more people start using it.
79 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 146 ms ] threadNot all of us are as fortunate as I am to be a brilliant programmer _and_ purveyor of french toast.
As for the 1950s, my grandmother actually couldn't cook a lick, though she could bake, and my grandfather was the gourmet as well as the breadwinner. Before he passed he taught her to make her favorite of his dishes. I suspect as a child in that household, if dad wasn't around and you were hungry, you got a grilled cheese, because they were never really prevalent in my time until after bobo passed. ;)
Heh, french toast was the first thing I cooked for my (now) wife.
Why the downvotes? I wrote "Gives the impression", which is valuable feedback for someone trying to design an attractive product.
[EDIT] To answer icebraining: It's relevant to his marketing. It may also be indicative of his preconceptions of the market. If he's intentionally aiming at traditional women, then great. It will turn others off.
I tried to find the part where OP was turning this into a business and trying to market it to customers. I assumed this was like most other "Show HNs" and was simple something someone created for his wife and decided others might find it interesting or useful.
> Why the downvotes? I wrote "Gives the impression", which is valuable feedback for someone trying to design an attractive product.
Because your post gave the impression that you were misrepresenting what was fairly clear to many others. You are also giving the impression that you know far more than you actually do. You are finally giving the impression that Show HN is not the place for this. Frankly, all your comments give the impression of someone who isn't honestly contributing to this discussion.
That's probably why you are getting down votes. That, and your lack of HN etiquette.
Not that complicated really. It could have been more clear with something like "A meal planner I made for my wife", but hey.
Show HN is not limited to startups out of Silicon Valley. It's literally just a prefix to say "Hey HN, I want to show you something I built..." In this case, you can add "for my wife..."
Of course, judging by some of the comments, he'd have to add: "because she wanted this thing, and I figured it others might find it interesting" for those that like to infer things that were never said.
[0]http://allrecipes.com/menus/main.aspx?e3=TB_3.0.0_Menu-Plann...
It would be great to have more than 1 meal / day.
He made it for his wife, not for housewives in general (in fact for me there's no implication that it's specifically for housewives or that he does no cooking himself)
This is yet another instance of PC gone mad
Another example: "Show HN: SportsRank, Fantasy score prediction I built for my Bros."
Is this for just my Bro, or am I making a statement about who I think will use it, specifically Bros. Similarly "my wife" makes an implicit statement that your wife (who obviously cooks) will want to see this.
"How very dare you, Cuthbert. That is a decidedly sexist way to refer to your spouse."
"My spouse? I do not possess zir, Kate is an independent human being associated with me through our mutual engagement in the social contract of marriage."
"Oh, that is such a monogamist way to put it.."
Though it is worth noting that not many do get annoyed at that phrasing, and overgeneralizing to paint others with it and thinking that has any bearing on their concerns is poor reasoning.
It's like saying: "Show HN, SportsRank. Fantasy score prediction I built for my Bros"
Sure, you could use it, but really I built it for Bros, not you. Because you and I have an implicit connection. We are both probably nerdy programmers, and I'm saying that I don't use it so you probably won't either.
edit: I'm shadowbanned, so I'll edit here.
So I don't think it actually is that different, bro vs wife. The implication is that we are a homogeneous group that doesn't necessarily include the "other" group. But more importantly, I think there are better and less exclusive ways to say that someone elses itch encouraged you.
MealDays: Meal planner inspired by my wife.
MealDays: Meal planner designed by my wife.
MealDays: Meal planner idea from my wife.
To me, "for my wife" implies a somewhat passive wife who is going to use this thing. The ones above imply the wife taking an active role in helping and specing, which based on the OPs comments and programming best practice is more realistic anyway.
I didn't mean to suggest that you did contest the "my" - I was just agreeing that I've seen that before and that it is obnoxious and reading more into language than is there at any level. My second part was intended to emphasize, however, that that objection only applies where it applies, which as you say is not your comment.
I still think the title is substantively different than your "bros" example; it is referring to one particular person, and I think that matters a lot. As I said elsewhere, "Hackers build things to scratch itches, and then they share them. The fact that it's a particular other person's itch that got the ball rolling is interesting and potentially inspirational."
Your project could be useful to others, if you want to push it further my advice would be: find a graphic designer (it's not bad, but it's a bit too much), improve the experience (in did a meal / day is not my usual habits).
Maybe you could monetize by connecting with online grocery shops or suggesting extra items (like wine).
Thanks for sharing!
You can't argue with the size of the target market, at least.
As much as I would hate for this to be the case, in a marketing context it makes absolute sense to go after housewives.
I've always wondered why grocery loyalty programs that track what I buy don't expose to me what I buy. Then I'd have some incentive to help them keep it accurate, and it could be of much benefit to both of us.
Multi-meals per day sounds like the way to go for sure. I always had that in the back of my mind
Great idea for monetizing.
Thanks!
Also, if you plan the meals ahead for all week, grocery shopping can be really efficient.
I would love it if you open source this project, I will definitely develop/use it.
Kudos! great idea and nice execution.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Using this would be great, and we could add our own specific functions if we'd like. And put it on our home server.
It's not sexist at all to say "I'd love to use that with my girlfriend." It might be a bit sexist to say "I wish my girlfriend would use that", maybe. It's at least a little jerky, and possibly a little sexist, to say "shit, is it sexist to say that?"
I want to work the other way around. Each week we get sales flyers from our local grocery stores. We look to see what's available, and make our shopping list. Then we try to plan meals based on our list plus items we may already have.
Using this workflow, it would be nice if a menu planning tool could be given a list of ingredients, and then make suggestions for recipes.
This would be a great feature to add.
On a related note, some knowledge of substitutions could be another great feature.
Thanks all