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New Soylent Website

soylent.me

30 pointslebek53 comments

Really wish they would focus more on SHIPPING Soylent instead of redesigning their website. I am aware that these tasks are not mutually exclusive but still it's been a ridiculous length of time and often without clear/timely updates from the Soylent team. If I knew what I knew now I doubt I would have pre-ordered it.

Yeah, same here. I ordered mine back in... October? November? I don't even recall, it has been that long.

I ordered mine in May of last year, the day their crowdfunding campaign launched [0] and before then I lurked their Discourse forums [1] and even went the DIY route in June [2][3][4][5] thinking I could keep that up until the official Soylent launched (Hahahaha). I ended up ending my DIY Soylent after 3 days due to how I felt on it but that was back before the DIY community was anywhere near as strong as it is today.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5745707

[1] http://discourse.soylent.me/

[2] http://joshstrange.com/soylent-day-1/

[3] http://joshstrange.com/soylent-day-2/

[4] http://joshstrange.com/soylent-day-3/

[5] http://discourse.soylent.me/t/just-started-soylent-today/357...

I have to agree. I've lost interest, which is disappointing. I was really psyched to try it out when they announced what now seems like ages ago. Then the ship date kept slipping and slipping and slipping, until the magic moment was "end of March". And now, I see it's 10-12 weeks for new orders. So it's another 3 month wait, which is just sopping any interest I had in it.

I'll try it eventually - and I'm still looking forward to that - but not until I can order it and it'll arrive a few days later.

Here's a blog post about their shipping.

http://blog.soylent.me/post/84472994397/5-1-shipping-update

I am glad that it looks like they are finally shipping (I did get an email on that) but here are a few other emails I received from them:

6/6/13 - "... we're possibly more excited than you guys are for our August ship date"

6/21/13 - "We believe that we will have reached v1.0 by the end of July, giving us the beginning/middle of August to begin manufacturing and shipping"

7/22/13 - "we will not be ready to ship Soylent in August, and are pushing our ship date back to the end of September"

8/27/13 - "We plan to have every Soylent preorder shipped out by the end of the year."

11/7/13 - "Original campaign supporter (May 21 - June 25): January 2014"

1/3/14 - "RFI has assured us that the full Soylent production run will be complete and ready for packaging by the third week of February and that all of the domestic orders will be shipped out by the end of March."

1/22/14 - "Our co-packer is still on schedule to provide the first pallets of Soylent for shipping by the end of February."

3/13/14 - "pushes back first shipping date to mid-April"

4/10/14 - "FedEx will begin shipping the first preorders Monday, April 21st" ALSO "Some Backerkit add-ons removed."

4/24/14 - "Soylent orders will begin shipping 4/25"

5/1/14 - "general Soylent 1.0 orders will begin shipping this week"

So yeah.....

Also, from the blog post you linked:

>> "You’ll surely agree that it’s been a long 11.66 months since we started the Soylent crowdfunding campaign."

Yes, yes it fucking has and it's be exacerbated by updates coming only every 1-3 months.

Now that they are (claiming to be) shipping, it seems like a perfect time to introduce their new site. It has new ordering options for getting it sent to you monthly. Once people get their orders, they will have an easy way to order more. The Crowdtilt powered "campaign" site isn't meant to stay long term. This is their transition from it. Makes sense to me.

>> Note: 10-12 week delay on orders

Great they've got a pretty site where people can order something they won't see for 3+ (and you can bet that will be a BIG "+") months...

>> Note: New orders ship in 10-12 weeks | Reorders in 1-2 weeks

I don't know if people who had already ordered from the campaign would be in the "reorder" group. They have said several times that they are trying to make it so people who have it won't run out. Not sure exactly what it means though.

Right, I believe that yes, they would be in the reorder group. That was something the Soylent team has wanted to make sure was possible from the start so that you didn't order some then run out before they could ship you more. In fact in the earlier emails they talked about shipping the month supplies out first so that everyone would have time to reorder more before they ran out.

Also interested on feedback from someone already using it. Any biological changes (stool, urine, sweat, etc.)? Still hungry after using it? Using Soylent only? If so, how are your energy levels?

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/05/12/140512fa_fact_...

More here. http://www.reddit.com/r/soylent

Why would anyone want to use this?

I'm a maniac about time management and do everything possible to not waste even a moment of the day (e.g. if I'm doing any trivial physical activity, I'll be listening to an audiobook at 2x speed). However, I would never want to get rid of eating. Since marrying a French woman, I've come to understand the importance of enjoying what you are eating...we aren't simply machines that need to be fed.

$4 dollars per meal is expensive!! My wife and I eat for the 2 of us on less than that in a day...and we eat fresh tuna, organic rice and loads of great vegetables. Just walk through the fresh produce section of your local supermarket...the cheapest stuff in the store and the healthiest is in the produce section.

What time has wasted in all of this exposure to inexpensive, healthy nutrition? None.

One of the biggest wastes of time in one's life is being sick and the other is early death. While I can't speak much about the latter, I'm sick once per year at the maximum and I have not had a debilitating sickness for the past 4 years that has prevented me from working, studying or coding for even a moment. I attribute much of this to my wife's refusal to eat food that is crap.

Maybe that is why the French are healthier...they don't try to reinvent the wheel and replace the thousands of healthy, inexpensive and delicious items that already exist for our pleasure...food!!

I can't tell if this an ad for France or not! First of all, $4 per meal is not that expensive. Are you saying you eat for < $4 a day? Or < $4 per meal per day? Either way, have you ever lived or visited any major American city? $4/meal would be welcome by many people who live in NYC.

The whole point of Soylent is to ENCOURAGE healthier eating. This is a meal replacement with all the vitamins and nutrients you need to live a healthy life. There are plenty of people outside of your worldview who are looking for a $4 meal that takes no thought or preparation time. I don't think Soylent is trying to eradicate home-cooked meals, but they are trying to create a healthy meal supplement for busy people.

It has next to nothing to do with France in and of itself. I'm utilizing a stereotype to make a point.

Yes, I've been living in Paris and London, 2 of the most expensive cities in the world. By the way, I've also lived in Mali, where it was not as easy as one would think to eat for less than $4 per day.

Soylent's tag line is "What if you never had to worry about food again?" If their goal is to focus on healthy eating, then they need to rethink their messaging. The entire message is about the speed of eating. "Eat quick...eat cheaper".

"...never had to worry about food again..." Where in that statement is there any ambiguity about their desire to take market share away from home-cooked meals?

Don't get me wrong, if they can make a business out of it, that is great. However, it strikes me that it would be far more profitable, on an individual level, to buy cheap food from the produce section of a grocery store, and healthier.

Yeah, I live on/near the coast, and locally caught Tuna, on sale, runs 8.99 a lb. Half a pound for two people would ruin your 4 dollar a day budget and that's not even a full meal let alone a day's worth of food.

4 dollars is certainly doable, but it's frugal level here, and lots of beans, rice and lentils, not organic fresh veggies and ahi tuna being a representative meal.

"I'll be listening to an audiobook at 2x speed"

Why would anyone want to do that? For me, if I listen to an audiobook at 2x speed, it saps all enjoyment from it. We're not simply machines that need to consume information, how we consume it is important too.

Only half in jest. To answer your question: for the same reason someone might choose to double the speed of an audiobook.

Well played!!

In fact, I agree with you...I only listen to non-fiction at 2x the speed. Most modern non-fiction has one main point that they stretch out over 200 pages.

I couldn't imagine listening to a novel at double to speed.

Going down the off-topic rabbit hole, but I have found that 1.2x speed makes it sound fairly normal but 20% faster!

Not everyone is you.

I enjoy a wonderful and varied diet since I moved near the coast in Australia... some days I would just rather not have to eat though (various reasons). For these days, why not use Soylent?

Soylent appears to mostly target the tech crowd, concentrated in SF/NYC. $4/meal is incredibly cheap in those places - raw ingredients of fresh produce will usually cost more than that. Not to mention that not everyone has time to cook.

Its fairly disingenuous to call $4/meal expensive and then spend time cooking - especially after you talk about the importance of not wasting time. You go from valuing your time above all else to claiming that its worth almost nothing.

Great argument! I think you are making a valid point. If I understand your point correctly, it is primarily a question of placing a value on different activities and comparing the price of a Soylent meal to the opportunity cost of lost time.

I agree with you. Hence, the reason that I completely support the idea that someone else may face a situation in which Soylent becomes the most valuable option. Without a doubt, I think it is better to eat a healthy Soylent meal than cheap fast food. While I do think that $4/meal is incredibly cheap for the cities in which I live, Paris and London, we still are able to eat on less than that amount per meal by shopping uniquely in the produce section of the market.

My logical jumping-off point is that healthy eating habits are the most important factor in long-term health, which leads to more time to devote to meaningful activities because of increased life span and a decrease of down-time due to sickness. In addition to the value derived from long-term health, I think there is also a value to be derived from the enjoyment of food and the exposure to a wide variety of culinary-styles. However, that is a valuation that other may not share.

> Why would anyone want to use this?

I don't usually eat breakfast but I know I should. Usually the reason is that I am not really hungry when I get up or before I leave for work. I could probably eat breakfast later after I get to work but then my choices are not as good/healthy. I usually just skip it. I am going to try this as a breakfast once I get to work.

I usually spend $8-10 a day going to lunch. I could certainly save some money by packing a lunch but I don't do it. So I eat out. I also don't always make the right choices at lunch. I often pick convenient over healthy. And I tend to eat too much of it. I am going to try this as a lunch at work. I think it might help me.

We usually have a decent home cooked meal for dinner at my house so, other than an initial attempt to go a few weeks on 100% Soylent, I am probably not going to have this for dinner very often. It won't really save me time/money as I'll already be cooking for the rest of the family.

So that is why I want to use this.

Your breakfast point and eating out during lunch are exactly my problems too. I'll add to that - when I get home, I am tired and I can either work-out or cook for myself and eat. If I can have soylent, then I can save energy to work-out or even relax on the days I am really tired.

I haven't tried Soylent; but, its price range and ease of use is making me start to consider it for nights / weekend times that I'm not working and don't feel like going out to eat.

How does it taste? Do you still feel hungry after eating it? And, is there a way to supplement it with other foods, like ... 2/3rds a regular portion + oatmeal, or something? Or maybe flavoring like those syrup pump bottles?

They don't address how it tastes, but from the articles I have read, it isn't super tasty. That's not the point though. As long as it's palatable enough to get down, it's good enough for me.

If you could snap your fingers and never have to worry about eating food again, would you?

I've always been more of the 'Eat to live, don't live to eat' mindset, but thats not to say I don't enjoy eating, its just at times I find it to be a chore.

I think I'm going to try Soylent to substitute a majority of my meals, dropping in a few real meals here and there, and see how I fare.

Interesting. I think about it in the reverse. I'm more interested in eating the majority real meals, but dropping in Soylent for the times when eating is a chore, or is inconvenient, etc.

This is what I do. I eat a slightly modified version of the People Chow 3.0.1 from the DIY site for breakfast every day. I don't think I could stomach it for every meal, but it's an excellent breakfast food that leaves me feeling energized, and I have no problem eating it with my normally poor early morning appetite.

"We know what we're made of, and that's what Soylent is."

Hilarious. Did anyone else catch that? At 1:10 in the video.

Also their website is soylent.ME

Is this intentional, lol?

No, I'm sure it's because they're big fans of Montenegro.

Prices seem to be going up. I ordered a week supply yesterday off of their crowdtilt for $65 (3 meals/day => 21 servings) and the same is now $85 on this site. It is still available[1] so may want to save money while you can?

[1]https://campaign.soylent.me/soylent-free-your-body

I think that should have been expected. Don't a lot of crowdfunding campaigns work by offering a slightly lower price for people willing to put up the money to get things started?

Hmm, according to the article in the new yorker the food costs for doing it oneself is 50 dollars a month and it was a significant time saving from making food or going out to eat, now if I figure out that it actually works as advertised - why wouldn't I just do what the original inventor did instead of buying it?

Prep time? I like to cook a large pot of chili or a stew for the work week. It's still a tedious thing to procure the ingredients and make it, even if all the prep is one afternoon and 2 minutes of reheating each work day. If there's no single source for the ingredients you need to establish a purchasing routine and a time every week or month to mix up a new batch. Compare to just ordering it if the markup isn't too high.

"Soylent Me"? No, no I don't want anybody to "Soylent" me. Of all the TLDs to choose, this one? really?

Click on "Fiber" from the list of ingredients at the bottom. I think something might be wrong with that picture. LOL.

In case you're curious, here's a great article giving a nice history of the development of this company / product:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/05/12/140512fa_fact_...

The site looks nice, but the loading indicator is disappointing. I expect they will lose visitors whose knee-jerk reaction is to back out instead of wait one more second.

I have been thinking of trying out Soylent. Are there folks here you have tried it consistently for more than a few weeks? If yes, then how do you feel about yourself?

Most of us are still waiting for our shipment to arrive. I did a DIY Soylent for a month. It was alright. So I'm excited to try the official thing.

I'm interested about what your diet was before your DIY project. I'm a meat eater, love a proper steak.

Did you notice any drop in energy, fatigue, etc?

Did you feel full?

Thanks!

Before I tried the DIY Soylent I ate a typical american diet. Hamburgers, fries, pizza, popcorn, etc.

I tried two of the popular DIY Soylents (for a month each). I didn't feel stuffed like after a big meal, I just didn't feel hungry anymore. I often didn't finish the day's worth. Despite getting less calories, I felt great and made some great progress at the gym. It made me very excited to try the real thing.

So why did I stop? A few reasons. Eating with friends is a lot more about the social interactions than the food. I actually noticed friends drifting away because I didn't go out to eat. The DIY Soylent also didn't taste very good. I had to chug it down. And I missed chewing. That sounds strange but I actually had cravings just to chew on something. Gum helped a little but it wasn't the same.

Out of everything you wrote, "I missed chewing" definitely wasn't the strangest thing. I think I'd miss it as well. Thanks for the insight.

Feeling full is a hugely important part of this. I'd be interested in that part as well.

Is anyone else having trouble with this site on Chrome? All of the content is behind a slightly transparent white foreground, nothing is selectable.

Working fine for me on Chrome v34

Uhg, I found the problem: HTTPS Everywhere. This is probably the 3rd time posting on here to say this extension is the problem. Thanks for making me double check.

Happened to me with FF 29. I wonder if one of their stylesheets/scripts didn't load fast enough because of the traffic. A reload fixed everything, but it drove the point home even more that I really hate the latest trend of having things zip around and animate as I'm scrolling down a page.