Techs - How do you feel about a schematics/service app?

[canuckaudiog]

I am currently thinking about developing an app for tablets and phones that would essentially be a resource/tool to aid in fixing audio equipment.

The idea is this. Essentially, envision a version of hifiengine.com, but as an app. So, you would select the manufacturer, model number, and then choose the document you require.

You may ask, if we have this resource online already, why put it into an app? There are a couple of reasons. One is accessibility. If you are not able to connect to the internet, then you won't be able to access service manuals posted online. Two is ease of use. You would be able to access the information quicker than having to go online and find it. Also, with a dedicated application you could add tools that may be helpful in reading schematics. Perhaps better zooming options, or secluding certain information - having the ability to mark up the document or add notes. Stuff like that.

I want to know, though, if any of you think this might be useful at all? What I am trying to do is eliminate the need for paper documents. Right now what I do is I print off a schematic, and then refer to that while I do work. Then I thought, why not use my iPad? Although I could simply go onto the internet and find what I need, an app would be easier to use. Rather than going to my internet browser, typing in the search what I am looking for and then finding it, I could open an app up and find it much easier. Having the data local would speed up load times and I would not have to dig for it.

What do you think? Obviously I have a lot of ground to cover before I even consider doing this, such as figuring out how to even collect the data and if I am legally able to do so. What I wanted to do, though, is collect some feedback from the group here and see if this might be a viable idea. If something like this was available, would you use it?

I hope this does not break any of the rules, as I am not attempting to advertise a product to sell to the group here, I am only asking for feedback. If, however, this is seen as a breach of the rules, please let me know and close the thread.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

[DaveVoorhis]

The only benefit seems to be having a local repository of documents in the event that the Internet is unavailable. Fifteen years ago, on a flaky dial-up link without wifi, there might have been a justification (assuming apps existed then). These days, I don't know about anyone else, but "not able to connect to the internet" is roughly equivalent to not having electricity and almost as rare, and everything stops until it comes back.

If were going somewhere where a hifiengine.com schematic might be needed and internet access wasn't guaranteed, I'd simply download it beforehand.

 

[canuckaudiog]

The only benefit seems to be having a local repository of documents in the event that the Internet is unavailable. Fifteen years ago, on a flaky dial-up link without wifi, there might have been a justification (assuming apps existed then). These days, I don't know about anyone else, but "not able to connect to the internet" is roughly equivalent to not having electricity and almost as rare, and everything stops until it comes back.

If were going somewhere where a hifiengine.com schematic might be needed and internet access wasn't guaranteed, I'd simply download it beforehand.

Right, but I think beyond that it's more about the ease of getting to the document you need. On my iPad, for example, the steps are:

Open Internet Browser (Chrome) -> Type into address bar, http://www.hifiengine.com -> Login -> Go to Library -> Find Manufacturer by scrolling down page -> Select manufacturer, then find model number -> Select service document required -> Open via PDF app (Adobe)

With the proposed app, it would go like this:

Open app -> Using drop-down menu select manufacturer, then model -> Select appropriate document

It's quite a few steps to go about it the regular way. And even if you download the PDF document to your tablet, there are still a good number of steps to go and find the downloaded document and then open it up. It also varies between Android and Apple.

Of course the other benefit is if you were not going to have internet (or if you have shoddy internet where you work, such as in a garage for example) you would not have to worry about downloading it beforehand.

Thanks for your response and constructive criticism.

 

[JURB]

If you mean without internet, the problem would be the size of the database. If you mean with the internet then it kinda sounds like an elaborate macro.

Might not be so bad really, have it go to hifiengine (ad hifimanuals which is a well kept secret for some reason) and automatically log in, have the password saved and all that and be able to crawl through the library somehow.

then failing that, use a search string in Google like thus :

Brandname modelnumber free service manual. Look for a hit on electrotanya and Google takes you right to it. Detect when it refreshes, that is when it changes from "processing" to "get manual" and then hit that.

Should be doable. Offline is a different story because of all the data to be stored. Of course if you happen to have a server in the basement you cna download it al as long as you have the space for it. However, those websites don't like people doing that. Even this will not make them all to happy because alot of them want a crack at showing you their latest ads.

But I think it is doable, and then you can say...
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THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT !

LOL