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Hackernews is skeptical of many things though, sometimes hard to filter through the noise.
by lpellis 7y ago
Hackernews is skeptical of many things though, sometimes hard to filter through the noise.
- chid 7y agoWhat are some examples where HN is too skeptical? I find that it's a good filter to view "news"
- seibelj 7y agoblockchain
- iosonofuturista 7y agoIf anything, HN is not skeptical enough about THAT.
- wpietri 7y agoAgreed! It has been coming around in recent years, surely helped by the fact that "blockchain for X" has never panned out. But it has taken a painfully long time.
- pjc50 7y agoThe famous Dropbox comment? HN is overly skeptical of startups that take something possible and simplify the UX. Although I can't think of a recent example.
- randycupertino 7y agoWhat was the famous Dropbox comment? I'm out of the loop. Thx.
- leesec 7y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 basically someone belittling Dropbox before it went on to be worth billions.
- cookie_monsta 7y agoGoing by the general sentiment in that thread, I'm sure there are better examples. There are a few people saying how or why they thought Dropbox wouldn't work, but overall the reception is very positive. By contrast, any mention of WeWork here causes an instant pile-on of quite impressive vehemence. There are always going to be isolated nay-sayers for whatever reasons. When you get a near-consensus on HN that something's a PoS that's something that's worth bearing in mind.
- Viliam1234 7y agoArticles warning against buying bitcoins were highly upvoted for years, and bitcoin costs several thousand dollars now.
- fiala__ 7y agoI find in tech, being skeptical by default is usually a good thing - perhaps not if you're an entrepreneur, but certainly if you're a developer or engineer.
- jacquesm 7y agoOr an investor. It is interesting how often investors goals accidentally line up with early employees.
- dredmorbius 7y agoHow so?
- jacquesm 7y agoBecause both end up eventual minority shareholders in the same company. The difference of course being one of magnitude and that the investors are likely more diversified.
- JohnFen 7y ago> perhaps not if you're an entrepreneur It's an essential thing if you want to be a successful entrepreneur -- as long as you don't confuse skepticism with cynicism. Skepticism and optimism make a powerful combination.
- driverdan 7y agoThe key is to look at evidence. Ignore drive by commenters who make a negative post with nothing to back it up. Theranos and WeWork are two great examples of companies hated by HN because there's evidence supporting negative opinions.
- QuadrupleA 7y agoIt's interesting, a while back I searched early HN comments about Theranos' announcement and they were mostly glowing and positive. Edit: here's the thread - not 100% positive but close: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6349349 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6349349
- tomc1985 7y agoIt's be dumb not to be with the amount of crap, optimism, and snake oil shoveled at us