In fact it isn't clear what this system offers over a LaTeX document started from a template and hosted privately on GitHub. The CI pipeline can even be set up to compile the document for the people who want to be able to do everything in a web browser.
As you noted, one needs a lot of fine tuning to meet publication rules & guidelines. Compared to a local LaTeX editor or Overleaf, this looks too generic to meet the needs I've had in the past. Sure, LaTeX can require a lot of tinkering, but PhD students ought be able to figure it out for themselves, whether through documentation, forums, or asking labmates.
"MonsterWriter assists students write exceptional academic papers"
should be
"MonsterWriter assists students to write exceptional academic papers"
or "helps students write..."
Optimize for that very strongly, or else you'll be a solid 60% of everything (after years of effort...) but you won't ever get the critical mass of switchers. Whereas being 95% for one thing almost guarantees you'll get the people whose problem you solve thoroughly.
For example, and not to toot my own horn, I wrote some notes for people who have only ever used Word and need just enough LaTeX to understand how to get started[0]. Nothing more.
https://sgurungp.github.io/2024/08/14/LaTeX-for-Word-users-p...
Show HN: MonsterWriter – Write a thesis, post, or organize notes:
:shrug:
There also needs to be an 'about' page, to explain what the motivation is.
Given the AI invasion, isn't this a product category that has to either provide AI or have a stance against it?
Some work needs to go into how this is marketed and sold. Compare with how a JetBrains IDE is sold, plus what the pricing is.
In reality, these company logos are always going to be deceptive. If one person at (say) IBM used the software for a minute then why not slap the IBM logo on there? Or, if someone with a Gmail address used the software once, then why not slap the Alphabet logo on there too?
I dont see how you can claim to be useful for scientific documents if you don’t handle the standard publication templates.
1. Clean up the formatting of the page a bit, it seems a bit choppy along the edges, especially for the visuals (at least as viewed on a laptop).
2. Refine the content for the selling points about what it offers. It's grammatically awkward and wooden. Neither is a good idea in sales copy, especially in a service designed to help writers.
Other than that, looks pretty good, and good luck.
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21994655 6 years ago, 27 comments
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31491709 3 years ago, 17 comments
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40112169 1 year ago, 30 comments
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44317242 4 months ago, 50 comments
Top atuff
brudgers•4mo ago
But I would advise any and every student against risking their academic work product on a small webservice because the long term economic viability of such services tends to be low.
So the risk of all a student's work disappearing overnight far outweighs the benefits because the tool is not going to cut a five year program into six months. Good luck.
spankalee•4mo ago
dickiedyce•4mo ago
superxpro12•4mo ago
qwertytyyuu•4mo ago
brudgers•4mo ago
The risk is a catastrophic event that might derail an academic career beyond recovery.
The economic viability assessment is based on the normal costs of doing all the things a company needs to do to stay in business relative to the unit economics, the size of the market, and the availability of alternatives with established track records.
If this was a product targeted at freshman students my take would be different. The stakes are much much lower for users; the market is much much bigger; and the norms of academic practice are far more fluid.
Grad school is not simply an extended undergrad…at least when theses and dissertations are required. People expect undergraduates to screw up. Part of graduate school is the expectation of maturity.
pjdesno•4mo ago
I trusted it because (a) I had a downloaded copy of the app on my machine, and (b) I had the latex files locally, and could go back to emacs if necessary. For the short term, at least, I was insulated from failure of the company.