We've been seeing a lot of these idea threads lately. Maybe someone should make an "I have an idea" site :D
It would be nice to have a page per idea, plus commenting, and maybe some sections for research (other competitors in the area, probable market sizes, etc).
If I had unlimited funds, I always thought it would be cool to start a company that did nothing but churn out little ideas. People could put idea synopses on a big board on one wall and either grab the idea off the wall when they wanted to build it, or write their name under it to let people know they were working on it. Then other people who were also interested in the idea could collaborate. Or compete, whatever.
Have a look at http://www.halfbakery.com/ - it's pretty much exactly what you describe in terms of an ideas site.
Also, there are companies which churn out little ideas - my girlfriend works for one. It's pitched as an innovation consultancy, aimed at opening up new markets for companies big enough to afford their fees. Not sure if that's exactly what you were talking about, but maybe kind of similar?
Perhaps I should whip something up more central to web businesses than halfbakery is?
I mean, it's a good concept of course, but if I'm looking for entrepreneurial web ideas, I have to figure out whether they're in 'business', 'computing', 'culture', etc.
Also, many of those ideas suck, which is fixed easily enough with moderation, but it makes you wonder how many people would have upvoted Twitter or Facebook as an idea? I'm guessing far fewer than use the service, for sure.
I'd always thought halfbakery was mostly use for joke ideas; but looking at it again makes me think perhaps it is being used more seriously than I thought.
I want to go work where your girlfriend works, it sounds like fun (and yes, that's roughly what I was talking about :D )
I've built an application called ideaKIN. It's basically a place where you enter in ideas, and look at other people's ideas, add them to your 'container', etc. The ideas are treated more like simple 'tasks' where you can either complete or not.
Anyway, I just built this a few days ago, and it's still in its super early phase. http://ideakin.com
It would be nice to have a page per idea, plus commenting, and maybe some sections for research (other competitors in the area, probable market sizes, etc).
If I had unlimited funds, I always thought it would be cool to start a company that did nothing but churn out little ideas. People could put idea synopses on a big board on one wall and either grab the idea off the wall when they wanted to build it, or write their name under it to let people know they were working on it. Then other people who were also interested in the idea could collaborate. Or compete, whatever.