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The comments typically boil down the article from a bunch of fluff that would take me 20 minutes to read to getting straight to the point. That’s why I go to th

The comments typically boil down the article from a bunch of fluff that would take me 20 minutes to read to getting straight to the point. That’s why I go to the comments first. To find out if the article is even worth reading. It’s the equivalent of scrolling down to the bottom of a recipe page and skipping all of the “my grandma made this during the depression” nonsense.

krapp 5y ago
>It’s the equivalent of scrolling down to the bottom of a recipe page and skipping all of the “my grandma made this during the depression” nonsense. That "nonsense" is the interesting part, though. I feel like you're missing the point of Hacker News if your only interest is getting the Cliffs Notes version as quickly as possible.
- lethologica 5y ago
  If I’m looking up a recipe I want to know the ingredients and the method, maybe a few pictures and details like temperatures and cooking times and that’s it. The rest, the “my grandma made this apple pie and it cured world hunger” fluff isn’t for me, the reader. It’s to please the SEO gods instead.
  - krapp 5y ago
    No one posts recipes to Hacker News, though. They post articles which are supposed to gratify intellectual curiosity. That implies an interest by the reader in taking the journey, not in reaching the destination as quickly as possible.
    - lethologica 5y ago
      It’s an analogy. Doesn’t matter what the content is. It applies to most content these days. You’ve never seen a YouTube video on here extended to 10+ minutes to get ad revenue when the main point could have been boiled down to a sentence or two?
      - krapp 5y ago
        >You’ve never seen a YouTube video on here extended to 10+ minutes to get ad revenue when the main point could have been boiled down to a sentence or two? I can't remember seeing that very often. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of Youtube videos well over 10 minutes that were worth the effort. And the list of submissions from youtube doesn't seem that awful.
- Tomte 5y ago
  That nonsense is oftentimes simply invented or a straight lie, the only reason it's there is to let the recipe get copyright protection.

krapp 5y ago

>It’s the equivalent of scrolling down to the bottom of a recipe page and skipping all of the “my grandma made this during the depression” nonsense. That "nonsense" is the interesting part, though. I feel like you're missing the point of Hacker News if your only interest is getting the Cliffs Notes version as quickly as possible.

lethologica 5y ago
If I’m looking up a recipe I want to know the ingredients and the method, maybe a few pictures and details like temperatures and cooking times and that’s it. The rest, the “my grandma made this apple pie and it cured world hunger” fluff isn’t for me, the reader. It’s to please the SEO gods instead.
- krapp 5y ago
  No one posts recipes to Hacker News, though. They post articles which are supposed to gratify intellectual curiosity. That implies an interest by the reader in taking the journey, not in reaching the destination as quickly as possible.
  - lethologica 5y ago
    It’s an analogy. Doesn’t matter what the content is. It applies to most content these days. You’ve never seen a YouTube video on here extended to 10+ minutes to get ad revenue when the main point could have been boiled down to a sentence or two?
    - krapp 5y ago
      >You’ve never seen a YouTube video on here extended to 10+ minutes to get ad revenue when the main point could have been boiled down to a sentence or two? I can't remember seeing that very often. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of Youtube videos well over 10 minutes that were worth the effort. And the list of submissions from youtube doesn't seem that awful.
Tomte 5y ago
That nonsense is oftentimes simply invented or a straight lie, the only reason it's there is to let the recipe get copyright protection.