Because it is a feature. It is one of the last and most triumphant remnants of the era of forums. You log in when you want; you read things you want to read,

Because it is a feature. It is one of the last and most triumphant remnants of the era of forums. You log in when you want; you read things you want to read, when you want to read them. It is not a cult of personality revolving around who replies to what. The idea, the object is centre stage -- and that's the way it should be. It is not a social network. It is a news aggregator where comments add to, and revolve around, the links submitted and the ideas they represent. This is a place for exchanging knowledge. There really aren't many places like HN around, and I treasure it.