Comment by mrob
17 hours ago
These are not pixel art because they don't use a regular pixel grid. Additionally, the style is inconsistent, and there are many obvious artifacts. They're also large, which means they don't have to rely so heavily on specialized pixel art techniques. When you're working with images as small as was common in the golden age of pixel art, you have to think carefully about the meaning of every pixel.
Good pixel art is designed around human interpretation of ambiguity. The clearest examine I can think of is in Chrono Trigger. The starting room contains a representation of a typewriter, where the keys are drawn as a checkerboard dither pattern. This doesn't look anything like a real typewriter keyboard. Only the context makes it clear what it is, and in a different context it could be interpreted as a flat expanse of color. I don't think the standard diffusion model architecture is capable of this kind of judgment.
I appreciate the honest feedback. Thank you.
Your comment reminds me of this one on Dropbox's Launch HN post:
> I have a few qualms with this app:
> 1. For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.
> 2. It doesn't actually replace a USB drive. Most people I know e-mail files to themselves or host them somewhere online to be able to perform presentations, but they still carry a USB drive in case there are connectivity problems. This does not solve the connectivity issue.
> 3. It does not seem very "viral" or income-generating. I know this is premature at this point, but without charging users for the service, is it reasonable to expect to make money off of this?
So I'll take your comment as a positive signal. I think I'm on to something good :)