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Stephen King, whose success is similarly depressing to some, mentions this specifically in 'On Writing.' His great gift, as he put it, is to entertain those of

Stephen King, whose success is similarly depressing to some, mentions this specifically in 'On Writing.' His great gift, as he put it, is to entertain those of similar intellect to himself. Fortunately for him, he's on the top half of the fat part of the bell curve, so there are many such similar intellects to entertain. I am glad to be one. While I find 'The Oatmeal' to be somewhat boring and trite, I don't begrudge those who like it their enjoyment, nor do I begrudge the author his income.

stcredzero 16y ago
Stephen King, whose success is similarly depressing to some, mentions this specifically in 'On Writing.' His great gift, as he put it, is to entertain those of similar intellect to himself. I think this is an exercise in awareness, which would be of particular value to the HN crowd. Apple's products are often castigated because their construction/composition/stats go against the preferences of a part of the highly tech-savvy crowd. However, this criticism doesn't take into account the intended audience. There is something similar at work with Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Certain purists might find the language impure and the Rails DSL too focused on a particular way of doing things, but there is a large audience that really likes and benefits from using that software. While I find 'The Oatmeal' to be somewhat boring and trite, I don't begrudge those who like it their enjoyment, nor do I begrudge the author his income. Well said! (Better than I did.) I don't begrudge either of those. I also hope no one in this society [1] begrudges my right to express my opinion. [1] - Deliberately ambiguous, as it's widely applicable.
blacksmythe 16y ago
<< nor do I begrudge the author his income I don't think any of us begrudge the author his income. I imagine many people are looking at that and thinking what I am which is "why couldn't I do at least as well". This is much unlike reading xkcd, where I know quite well that I couldn't do as well.

Stephen King, whose success is similarly depressing to some, mentions this specifically in 'On Writing.' His great gift, as he put it, is to entertain those of similar intellect to himself. Fortunately for him, he's on the top half of the fat part of the bell curve, so there are many such similar intellects to entertain. I am glad to be one. While I find 'The Oatmeal' to be somewhat boring and trite, I don't begrudge those who like it their enjoyment, nor do I begrudge the author his income.

stcredzero 16y ago

Stephen King, whose success is similarly depressing to some, mentions this specifically in 'On Writing.' His great gift, as he put it, is to entertain those of similar intellect to himself. I think this is an exercise in awareness, which would be of particular value to the HN crowd. Apple's products are often castigated because their construction/composition/stats go against the preferences of a part of the highly tech-savvy crowd. However, this criticism doesn't take into account the intended audience. There is something similar at work with Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Certain purists might find the language impure and the Rails DSL too focused on a particular way of doing things, but there is a large audience that really likes and benefits from using that software. While I find 'The Oatmeal' to be somewhat boring and trite, I don't begrudge those who like it their enjoyment, nor do I begrudge the author his income. Well said! (Better than I did.) I don't begrudge either of those. I also hope no one in this society [1] begrudges my right to express my opinion. [1] - Deliberately ambiguous, as it's widely applicable.

blacksmythe 16y ago

<< nor do I begrudge the author his income I don't think any of us begrudge the author his income. I imagine many people are looking at that and thinking what I am which is "why couldn't I do at least as well". This is much unlike reading xkcd, where I know quite well that I couldn't do as well.