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Why is HN obsessed with Yahoo ? See for example : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11013507 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11013507 https://news.yco

Why is HN obsessed with Yahoo ? See for example : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11013507 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11013507 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11121796 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11121796

parfe 11y ago
Nothing to do with yahoo. Mayer failing makes hn happy. Wonder why?
- cbeach 11y ago
  Yahoo is one of the oldest Internet companies. It's the first portal / search engine that some of us used on a regular basis. So it has a place in our hearts. It also pre-dates the era of gender hysteria and other assorted identity politics brought to tech by social justice warriors. Happier times.
  - threeseed 11y ago
    > It also pre-dates the era of gender hysteria and other assorted identity politics brought to tech by social justice warriors. Sorry but this pretty much only exists in the minds of a niche group of disaffected, geeky men. The rest of the world has found more constructive ways to deal with the opposite sex and would find the idea we are living in an "era" of it frankly bizarre.
    - cbeach 11y ago
      I don't think you understand my point. This isn't about eras of men or women. It's nothing to do with how men and women interact. My point was about eras of identity politics around gender.
      - threeseed 11y ago
        You specifically said "era of gender hysteria". But you're right maybe in the last 20+ years of being in IT I am yet to experience these mythical social justice warriors trying to infiltrate and corrupt the industry. Will definitely keep an eye out for them.
- qwtel 11y ago
  Actually, I'd like to know why.
- x1024 11y ago
  Because the Messiah complex is finally dying?
- meric 11y ago
  I was rooting for her. So much so I bought gobs of Yahoo stock when Marissa got the job. The stock didn't do too bad but when it was apparent she wasn't able to save the company I sold it for a profit. Still hoping she can turn Yahoo around. It's a really iconic company.
- rhaps0dy 11y ago
  Why? And I wonder if a sizeable (say, more than 10%) of the posters are actually happy about this.
- JoachimSchipper 11y ago
  Seriously: are you trying to start a flame war?
- threeseed 11y ago
  That is nonsense. Yahoo is one of the oldest and most important web companies around. It's always going to be newsworthy. And people are a bit critical of Mayer because she promised a lot and really hasn't delivered anything.
- mdorazio 11y ago
  HN likes it when overpaid, over-hyped leaders fail in general, especially after doing massively unpopular and short-sighted things like killing work from home policies. If Mayer had actually done a good job at Yahoo and turned things around, HN would be propping her up as a hero. Instead, she proved her inexperience, inflexibility, and narrow focus make her a poor CEO for a company like Yahoo, and the board and media should never have propped her up as the harbinger of amazing female CEOs.
  - cbeach 11y ago
    Yes - I think this comment sums it up well. Remember how the media celebrated her appointment, focussing on her gender, as if the silver bullet of "gender diversity" will resolve the many problems we have in tech management. The media did this before she'd demonstrated any leadership or success. For some who hold more interest in identity politics than technology, the mere appointment of a female CEO was success enough. Yet, ironically, it is this politically-fueled attention to her gender that now resonates as we observe her failure. Let's hope it doesn't create damaging prejudices against other female leaders. If it does, I hope the real culprits are as obvious to other readers as they are to me. We need to rein in the social justice warriors and stop tech being used as a vehicle for gender identity politics and virtue-signalling.
    - meric 11y ago
      The media has hyped up Mayer and Elizabeth Holmes too much, so much so now that their companies are embroiled in difficulties they're still the first female CEO's I can think of, when there are better examples where the female CEO's track record has already been proven. In my mind, to think of the corresponding female CEO to Steve Jobs, Holmes immediately comes to my mind, who leads a company with smoke and mirrors...
  - nickbauman 11y ago
    The ending work from home policies was a layoff in disguise. Brilliant in a Dilbert sort of way.
  - dang 11y ago
marcuskaz 11y ago
Historical sake, back in the early days Yahoo was king, it was Google before Google, the Google IPO wasn't until 2004, Yahoo went public in 1996. They were the biggest internet company for a decade.
booop 11y ago
For me, several years ago when the ISP technician finally setup my modem after spending hours doing do, the first site I visited in my life was www.yahoo.com :)
- partisan 11y ago
  It was one of the first for me as well. They used to have a section where users could post their favorite sites. I would go through, just clicking and exploring, and eventually learning.

parfe 11y ago

Nothing to do with yahoo. Mayer failing makes hn happy. Wonder why?

cbeach 11y ago
Yahoo is one of the oldest Internet companies. It's the first portal / search engine that some of us used on a regular basis. So it has a place in our hearts. It also pre-dates the era of gender hysteria and other assorted identity politics brought to tech by social justice warriors. Happier times.
- threeseed 11y ago
  > It also pre-dates the era of gender hysteria and other assorted identity politics brought to tech by social justice warriors. Sorry but this pretty much only exists in the minds of a niche group of disaffected, geeky men. The rest of the world has found more constructive ways to deal with the opposite sex and would find the idea we are living in an "era" of it frankly bizarre.
  - cbeach 11y ago
    I don't think you understand my point. This isn't about eras of men or women. It's nothing to do with how men and women interact. My point was about eras of identity politics around gender.
    - threeseed 11y ago
      You specifically said "era of gender hysteria". But you're right maybe in the last 20+ years of being in IT I am yet to experience these mythical social justice warriors trying to infiltrate and corrupt the industry. Will definitely keep an eye out for them.
qwtel 11y ago
Actually, I'd like to know why.
x1024 11y ago
Because the Messiah complex is finally dying?
meric 11y ago
I was rooting for her. So much so I bought gobs of Yahoo stock when Marissa got the job. The stock didn't do too bad but when it was apparent she wasn't able to save the company I sold it for a profit. Still hoping she can turn Yahoo around. It's a really iconic company.
rhaps0dy 11y ago
Why? And I wonder if a sizeable (say, more than 10%) of the posters are actually happy about this.
JoachimSchipper 11y ago
Seriously: are you trying to start a flame war?
threeseed 11y ago
That is nonsense. Yahoo is one of the oldest and most important web companies around. It's always going to be newsworthy. And people are a bit critical of Mayer because she promised a lot and really hasn't delivered anything.
mdorazio 11y ago
HN likes it when overpaid, over-hyped leaders fail in general, especially after doing massively unpopular and short-sighted things like killing work from home policies. If Mayer had actually done a good job at Yahoo and turned things around, HN would be propping her up as a hero. Instead, she proved her inexperience, inflexibility, and narrow focus make her a poor CEO for a company like Yahoo, and the board and media should never have propped her up as the harbinger of amazing female CEOs.
- cbeach 11y ago
  Yes - I think this comment sums it up well. Remember how the media celebrated her appointment, focussing on her gender, as if the silver bullet of "gender diversity" will resolve the many problems we have in tech management. The media did this before she'd demonstrated any leadership or success. For some who hold more interest in identity politics than technology, the mere appointment of a female CEO was success enough. Yet, ironically, it is this politically-fueled attention to her gender that now resonates as we observe her failure. Let's hope it doesn't create damaging prejudices against other female leaders. If it does, I hope the real culprits are as obvious to other readers as they are to me. We need to rein in the social justice warriors and stop tech being used as a vehicle for gender identity politics and virtue-signalling.
  - meric 11y ago
    The media has hyped up Mayer and Elizabeth Holmes too much, so much so now that their companies are embroiled in difficulties they're still the first female CEO's I can think of, when there are better examples where the female CEO's track record has already been proven. In my mind, to think of the corresponding female CEO to Steve Jobs, Holmes immediately comes to my mind, who leads a company with smoke and mirrors...
- nickbauman 11y ago
  The ending work from home policies was a layoff in disguise. Brilliant in a Dilbert sort of way.
- dang 11y ago

marcuskaz 11y ago

Historical sake, back in the early days Yahoo was king, it was Google before Google, the Google IPO wasn't until 2004, Yahoo went public in 1996. They were the biggest internet company for a decade.

booop 11y ago

For me, several years ago when the ISP technician finally setup my modem after spending hours doing do, the first site I visited in my life was www.yahoo.com :)

partisan 11y ago
It was one of the first for me as well. They used to have a section where users could post their favorite sites. I would go through, just clicking and exploring, and eventually learning.