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I don't mean to be rude but: why is this here? It would be a neat project to map out the changes in the types of stories and comments on HN over time. Over the

I don't mean to be rude but: why is this here? It would be a neat project to map out the changes in the types of stories and comments on HN over time. Over the years, HN has grown more and more in the direction of reddit front page and become less and less like an irc channel where people talk about technology.

lelf 7y ago
> Please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. It's a semi-noob illusion, as old as the hills. (c) https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html, should be in FAQ too ;-)
- mrfredward 7y ago
  I agree with you on the turning into the reddit part, but I have to say that the way I read the guidelines, this article fits the description for off-topic more so than it meets the description for on-topic.
  - moate 7y ago
    I would argue that at least 110 people (as of this comment's posting) disagree with you. Yay democracy!
    - mrfredward 7y ago
      True, but the lack of a downvote button on posts means we'll never know how many agree. This community is far bigger than 110, so the vast majority (as with every post) abstained from the vote, and we'll never know their reasoning.
andy_ppp 7y ago
Surely you already know the reason it’s here? Someone submitted it and the community upvoted it. Chances are it’s probably interesting.
is_true 7y ago
It's amazing. It's a story that connects us with a more simple life, with an unreliable communication method and involving lots of luck.
viach 7y ago
>> Over the years, HN has grown more and more in the direction of reddit front page and become less and less like an irc channel where people talk about technology. Here is HN snapshot from 2008: http://web.archive.org/web/20080105031416/https://news.ycombinator.com/ http://web.archive.org/web/20080105031416/https://news.ycomb... The top submissions is "Obama's Victory Speech". I don't think it's very technological, at least in common sense. Probably the only very true HN existed in 2007, for several month. Well, these were good times..
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  I feel like the comments are becoming more "reddit" than the submissions themselves. Seems like way more ideological up-voting/down-voting than there used to be ~2yr ago. It seems like on every issue there's a side (varies by issue) you can't criticize unless you water down your comment with weasel words.
  - ganoushoreilly 7y ago
    Sadly I think that is the by product of a larger issue where in almost all things in life have become victim to this stance of us vs. them. People pretend to want to have civil conversations around opposing views, but the reality is it's more of a "i'll listen to your view as long as you know your view is wrong" type thing instead of honestly being open to having your mind or principle changed with the right information. The other side effect is everything becomes a political point of contention at some point. It's almost like a new take on Godwin's law where not only is there a probability of Nazi's being referenced.. it's simpler that a conversation will become Democrat vs. Republican. .. Though we know that will eventually lead to comparisons of Nazis at some point too. I don't see this in real life though, it's only on hyper exposed platforms like the news, websites, social media. In person I find most people are actually still pretty civil (though It's largely based on who you associate with). Don't debate me on my opinion or else it's obvious you're a shill of "insert something here" ;D
JshWright 7y ago
> less like an irc channel How many IRC channels have you hung out in? Every channel I've ever been in with any sort of community has stuff like this pop up pretty regularly (things that may be "off-topic" by some definition, but are interesting, and spark some interesting conversation). Channels where there are hard and fast rules about keeping the discussion strictly "on-topic" don't tend to be channels I hang out in. The same would be true for HN.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Seconded. Any IRC channel I've been to that develops into a community spends 90+% time talking about everything else except the topic it's ostensibly about. It's weird from the POV of the newcomers, but for old-timers, most of the on-topic things were talked about to death many times over already.
postscapes1 7y ago
To be fair, the article mentioned the search team used night vision goggles and FLIR (forward looking infrared) technology :)
amadeusw 7y ago
It reminds the tech afictionados that there exists real value in primitive technology. If all you have is a cell phone with no battery or no reception, you can't get help, you can't hail rides etc.
chooseaname 7y ago
Because it was HNers wanted it here?
Apocryphon 7y ago
This family hacked a terrible situation and innovated a workaround that led to a satisfactory exit.

lelf 7y ago

> Please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. It's a semi-noob illusion, as old as the hills. (c) https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html, should be in FAQ too ;-)

mrfredward 7y ago
I agree with you on the turning into the reddit part, but I have to say that the way I read the guidelines, this article fits the description for off-topic more so than it meets the description for on-topic.
- moate 7y ago
  I would argue that at least 110 people (as of this comment's posting) disagree with you. Yay democracy!
  - mrfredward 7y ago
    True, but the lack of a downvote button on posts means we'll never know how many agree. This community is far bigger than 110, so the vast majority (as with every post) abstained from the vote, and we'll never know their reasoning.

andy_ppp 7y ago

Surely you already know the reason it’s here? Someone submitted it and the community upvoted it. Chances are it’s probably interesting.

is_true 7y ago

It's amazing. It's a story that connects us with a more simple life, with an unreliable communication method and involving lots of luck.

viach 7y ago

>> Over the years, HN has grown more and more in the direction of reddit front page and become less and less like an irc channel where people talk about technology. Here is HN snapshot from 2008: http://web.archive.org/web/20080105031416/https://news.ycombinator.com/ http://web.archive.org/web/20080105031416/https://news.ycomb... The top submissions is "Obama's Victory Speech". I don't think it's very technological, at least in common sense. Probably the only very true HN existed in 2007, for several month. Well, these were good times..

dsfyu404ed 7y ago
I feel like the comments are becoming more "reddit" than the submissions themselves. Seems like way more ideological up-voting/down-voting than there used to be ~2yr ago. It seems like on every issue there's a side (varies by issue) you can't criticize unless you water down your comment with weasel words.
- ganoushoreilly 7y ago
  Sadly I think that is the by product of a larger issue where in almost all things in life have become victim to this stance of us vs. them. People pretend to want to have civil conversations around opposing views, but the reality is it's more of a "i'll listen to your view as long as you know your view is wrong" type thing instead of honestly being open to having your mind or principle changed with the right information. The other side effect is everything becomes a political point of contention at some point. It's almost like a new take on Godwin's law where not only is there a probability of Nazi's being referenced.. it's simpler that a conversation will become Democrat vs. Republican. .. Though we know that will eventually lead to comparisons of Nazis at some point too. I don't see this in real life though, it's only on hyper exposed platforms like the news, websites, social media. In person I find most people are actually still pretty civil (though It's largely based on who you associate with). Don't debate me on my opinion or else it's obvious you're a shill of "insert something here" ;D

JshWright 7y ago

> less like an irc channel How many IRC channels have you hung out in? Every channel I've ever been in with any sort of community has stuff like this pop up pretty regularly (things that may be "off-topic" by some definition, but are interesting, and spark some interesting conversation). Channels where there are hard and fast rules about keeping the discussion strictly "on-topic" don't tend to be channels I hang out in. The same would be true for HN.

TeMPOraL 7y ago
Seconded. Any IRC channel I've been to that develops into a community spends 90+% time talking about everything else except the topic it's ostensibly about. It's weird from the POV of the newcomers, but for old-timers, most of the on-topic things were talked about to death many times over already.

postscapes1 7y ago

To be fair, the article mentioned the search team used night vision goggles and FLIR (forward looking infrared) technology :)

amadeusw 7y ago

It reminds the tech afictionados that there exists real value in primitive technology. If all you have is a cell phone with no battery or no reception, you can't get help, you can't hail rides etc.

chooseaname 7y ago

Because it was HNers wanted it here?

Apocryphon 7y ago

This family hacked a terrible situation and innovated a workaround that led to a satisfactory exit.