lol for real. weve heard about it quite a lot, actually - infact not a year goes by without someone rediscovering that html can load quite quickly if given the chance.
I was there, Gandalf, thirty years ago when they formed their first website...
Which was little more than scans of their catalog pages, and some fields. Really. Instead of getting all excited about the latest web tech, they took their gigantic catalog and more-or-less scanned it in (well, used source files, but still...).
McMaster-Carr has always been an amazing company. I was once in the field, and ordered a $5,000 part from a key supplier and a $30 box of screws from McMaster-Carr. The other supplier charged extra for shipping, and sent it two days later to my company instead of my location as specified. McMaster-Carr overnighted the screws without being asked to do so.
Back when this was making the rounds several years ago, I was intrigued that they request pages in the background on mouse-over, then swap on click. I decided to do similar on my blog, since my pages are about a dozen kb of HTML, and I aggressively cache things. My blog now feels super fast to navigate through, since I've eliminated a ton of network lag.
Built with asp.net and jQuery. Nowadays, it would probably be some React monstrosity that takes 30s to load and only shows one item per page (when did information density become evil?).
The UX wizards ensure your phone and 32-inch show upto 6 products so customers dont face too much info. A goal-oriented (vs browsing) app wont have whitespace or infinite scroll.
And they download directly as files, not wrapped in a zip that you have to mess around with before you can put the actual file you need where you want it.
That makes me wonder if "files" is a space that needs (in startup-talk) "distruption": what about a utility that applies rules to files, e.g. if you save a file in the directory unzip-me, it'll be unzipped. Or categorize files, e.g. "this email attachment is related to project A, this download is related to project B", and the utility will take care of them, e.g. by putting them in the correct directories?
Since this is HN it can't be a homebrew open-source solution, it'll have to be AI-enhanced and cost 25.99 a month. Who wants to fund me?
This sort of thing has existed for a while, but it's not picked up in the mainstream for two main reasons (at least based on my anecdotal evidence).
1. The friction between a zipped file and an unzipped file isn't enough to make the majority of users take the time to build out an automation. This is especially true now that in Windows you can open a zip file by double-clicking it, peruse the files, and open them from within the zip into your temp storage.
2. It's a little bit of a security risk. Downloaders are (generally) less vulnerable to side channel attacks, but the unzip software people usually use (7-zip, Window's native utilize, WinRAR) are slightly more vulnerable. This risk goes up with any automation software as a) you aren't auditing what you're actually unzipping, and b) the automation can be compromised.
But if you want to try this out, just search for "auto unzip" software and you'll find plenty of tools. You could also set up a cronjob on your Linux machine to run every so often and just scan a folder for zip files and unzip them automatically, with the option to trigger via alias'd command.
My father is a metalworker and I grew up with stacks of their encyclopedias all over my house. Was always amazed the sheer amount of stuff in them, probably saved a few trees with their website.
I've been a big fan of theirs for a long time. I used to sit and browse their huge printed catalog in my spare time just to discover more parts to consider for use in my builds.
It needs a few scripts for total functionality, but you can look at everything on site with just plain html, and it's fast.Internal search is good.And random external searches for aircraft stuff will land you there.
Having used both extensively, Geizhals doesn't hold a candle to McMaster. McMaster is, bar none, the single best e commerce website I've ever used (if you already know what you're looking for, and definitely still top shelf if you don't).
But McMaster and eg Amazon are optimizing for different things. McMaster knows its clientele isn't going shopping, they're solving problems. As such, McMaster focuses on helping your solve your problem and get back to work. Amazon, on the other hand, is focused on just selling you "as much 'anything' as possible" and wants you to spend as much time there as possible in the hopes that you'll stumble on an impulse buy.
We do! It recognises the 'Do Not Track' sent, at least on FF for me. I get a very small popup telling me it's respecting this setting, and no request for accepting anything else:
> "Do not Track"-Modus erkannt! Es werden nur technisch notwendige Cookies verwended. [Datenschutzerkl"arung](...)
Lovely. If only the rest of the web looked like this.
Previous and related:
how come a company founded over 100 years ago has the fastest site - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41883419 - Oct 2024 (15 comments)
McMaster-Carr: A refreshingly fast, thoughtful, and well-organized website - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34306793 - Jan 2023 (37 comments)
Best ecommerce UX practices from mcmaster.com - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34000502 - Dec 2022 (169 comments)
Mcmaster.com is the best e-commerce site I've ever used - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32976978 - Sept 2022 (494 comments)
McMaster-Carr: Beautifully organized and informational industrial product store - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24803857 - Oct 2020 (27 comments)
lol for real. weve heard about it quite a lot, actually - infact not a year goes by without someone rediscovering that html can load quite quickly if given the chance.
I was there, Gandalf, thirty years ago when they formed their first website...
Which was little more than scans of their catalog pages, and some fields. Really. Instead of getting all excited about the latest web tech, they took their gigantic catalog and more-or-less scanned it in (well, used source files, but still...).
McMaster-Carr has always been an amazing company. I was once in the field, and ordered a $5,000 part from a key supplier and a $30 box of screws from McMaster-Carr. The other supplier charged extra for shipping, and sent it two days later to my company instead of my location as specified. McMaster-Carr overnighted the screws without being asked to do so.
And if you are in the area (western Chicago suburbs), you can get it by 1p the same day.
Back when this was making the rounds several years ago, I was intrigued that they request pages in the background on mouse-over, then swap on click. I decided to do similar on my blog, since my pages are about a dozen kb of HTML, and I aggressively cache things. My blog now feels super fast to navigate through, since I've eliminated a ton of network lag.
https://theandrewbailey.com/
Built with asp.net and jQuery. Nowadays, it would probably be some React monstrosity that takes 30s to load and only shows one item per page (when did information density become evil?).
The UX wizards ensure your phone and 32-inch show upto 6 products so customers dont face too much info. A goal-oriented (vs browsing) app wont have whitespace or infinite scroll.
I've been doing more and more web dev with JQuery recently. I learned it in high school and I think most of the new JS frameworks are probably worse.
https://github.com/stratolark/NextMaster
I think there's also some Yahoo UI in there too.
Note they have CAD files for almost all of their products which - in combination with a 3D printer - can come in very handy.
Fusion 360 integrates this, letting you include their products in your designs/assemblies.
And they download directly as files, not wrapped in a zip that you have to mess around with before you can put the actual file you need where you want it.
That makes me wonder if "files" is a space that needs (in startup-talk) "distruption": what about a utility that applies rules to files, e.g. if you save a file in the directory unzip-me, it'll be unzipped. Or categorize files, e.g. "this email attachment is related to project A, this download is related to project B", and the utility will take care of them, e.g. by putting them in the correct directories?
Since this is HN it can't be a homebrew open-source solution, it'll have to be AI-enhanced and cost 25.99 a month. Who wants to fund me?
This sort of thing has existed for a while, but it's not picked up in the mainstream for two main reasons (at least based on my anecdotal evidence).
1. The friction between a zipped file and an unzipped file isn't enough to make the majority of users take the time to build out an automation. This is especially true now that in Windows you can open a zip file by double-clicking it, peruse the files, and open them from within the zip into your temp storage. 2. It's a little bit of a security risk. Downloaders are (generally) less vulnerable to side channel attacks, but the unzip software people usually use (7-zip, Window's native utilize, WinRAR) are slightly more vulnerable. This risk goes up with any automation software as a) you aren't auditing what you're actually unzipping, and b) the automation can be compromised.
But if you want to try this out, just search for "auto unzip" software and you'll find plenty of tools. You could also set up a cronjob on your Linux machine to run every so often and just scan a folder for zip files and unzip them automatically, with the option to trigger via alias'd command.
This makes great business sense, since you can fit-test any part and know you're getting the right one before ordering.
IIRC, there's even plugins for some CAD programs to grab models by part number.
My father is a metalworker and I grew up with stacks of their encyclopedias all over my house. Was always amazed the sheer amount of stuff in them, probably saved a few trees with their website.
I've been a big fan of theirs for a long time. I used to sit and browse their huge printed catalog in my spare time just to discover more parts to consider for use in my builds.
On my browser the screen jumps around while vertically scrolling on the McMaster homepage. It's not all rainbows and sunshine.
yeah, must be McMaster and not you.
You need to enable JavaScript.
https://www.barnstormers.com/
Wana buy a bolt?(aircraft), or a fighter jet?
It's been stable since the internet.
It needs a few scripts for total functionality, but you can look at everything on site with just plain html, and it's fast.Internal search is good.And random external searches for aircraft stuff will land you there.
Imagine an alternate universe where Amazon has a similar interface. It would be the most amazing tool.
Germans have https://geizhals.de
Having used both extensively, Geizhals doesn't hold a candle to McMaster. McMaster is, bar none, the single best e commerce website I've ever used (if you already know what you're looking for, and definitely still top shelf if you don't).
But McMaster and eg Amazon are optimizing for different things. McMaster knows its clientele isn't going shopping, they're solving problems. As such, McMaster focuses on helping your solve your problem and get back to work. Amazon, on the other hand, is focused on just selling you "as much 'anything' as possible" and wants you to spend as much time there as possible in the hopes that you'll stumble on an impulse buy.
Except for the annoying cookie popup. If only we had a simple browser setting/header that could answer this question without another click. Hmm
We do! It recognises the 'Do Not Track' sent, at least on FF for me. I get a very small popup telling me it's respecting this setting, and no request for accepting anything else:
> "Do not Track"-Modus erkannt! Es werden nur technisch notwendige Cookies verwended. [Datenschutzerkl"arung](...)
Lovely. If only the rest of the web looked like this.
i live in the area and this place is one of the most toxic workplaces to have ever existed.
[2022]
love metalwork & buy parts but seriously; F@##% anyone that messes with my navigation back.
So true... I immediately close the page and move on.
[dead]