4 ms·

Would you use 'Hacker News for books'?

I had pretty successful topic about books the other day https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34309671 And my mind just can't stop thinking about project 'Hacker News for books'. I know that reddit has r/books, but I would like to have a clean UI/UX like HN. Whare are your thougts?

jonahbenton 4y ago
I wouldn't read too much into the success of that one thread, but 20 years after "if you like this you might like that because" systems first appeared for movies, music, books, I personally remain frustrated that...this is still not an effectively solved problem. I continue to need human curators- Tyler Cowen being an astonishing prolific source for both books and music, but people I follow on Twitter before its implosion being a solid source as well- and/or to actually read/listen to a good sample myself, which takes professional level time and attention, which I cannot devote to a leisure activity. A chatgpt like dialogue- I liked x, y aspects of z content, suggest one to me, etc- seems achievable now. Cheers.
HardwareLust 4y ago
I like the idea, but what's going to stop it from devolving into the lowest common denominator like r/books did years ago?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
rishikeshs 4y ago
For your reference: https://hackernewsbooks.com/ https://hackernewsbooks.com/
- sasha_fishter 4y ago
  I saw that, but it doesn't provide info about what other are suggesting at first glance
rchaud 4y ago
HN's UX depends heavily on quality moderation that persists over the long term, thereby encouraging the thoughtful discussion to become the norm. A single-category site about books is also not necessarily going to attract the same breadth of voices as HN can.
mejutoco 4y ago
The first question I have is: how is it different from goodreads?
- sasha_fishter 4y ago
  Interface, GR is too cluttered
McNutty 4y ago
Visit /r/books using old.reddit.com
- sasha_fishter 4y ago
  Yeah, but again, you have to go to reddit to find topics about books, and there is a ton of other things there as well, like irrelevant ads, distractions, etc. I would love to have a clean UI
kingkongjaffa 4y ago
I want an up to date version of https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2/the-best-textbooks-on-every-subject https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2/the-best-t... there's also this, which I just found: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/GiEdQ79EDMjggtBKf/best-non-textbooks-on-every-subject https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/GiEdQ79EDMjggtBKf/best-non-t...

jonahbenton 4y ago

I wouldn't read too much into the success of that one thread, but 20 years after "if you like this you might like that because" systems first appeared for movies, music, books, I personally remain frustrated that...this is still not an effectively solved problem. I continue to need human curators- Tyler Cowen being an astonishing prolific source for both books and music, but people I follow on Twitter before its implosion being a solid source as well- and/or to actually read/listen to a good sample myself, which takes professional level time and attention, which I cannot devote to a leisure activity. A chatgpt like dialogue- I liked x, y aspects of z content, suggest one to me, etc- seems achievable now. Cheers.

HardwareLust 4y ago

I like the idea, but what's going to stop it from devolving into the lowest common denominator like r/books did years ago?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

rishikeshs 4y ago

For your reference: https://hackernewsbooks.com/ https://hackernewsbooks.com/

sasha_fishter 4y ago
I saw that, but it doesn't provide info about what other are suggesting at first glance

rchaud 4y ago

HN's UX depends heavily on quality moderation that persists over the long term, thereby encouraging the thoughtful discussion to become the norm. A single-category site about books is also not necessarily going to attract the same breadth of voices as HN can.

mejutoco 4y ago

The first question I have is: how is it different from goodreads?

sasha_fishter 4y ago
Interface, GR is too cluttered

McNutty 4y ago

Visit /r/books using old.reddit.com

sasha_fishter 4y ago
Yeah, but again, you have to go to reddit to find topics about books, and there is a ton of other things there as well, like irrelevant ads, distractions, etc. I would love to have a clean UI

kingkongjaffa 4y ago

I want an up to date version of https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2/the-best-textbooks-on-every-subject https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2/the-best-t... there's also this, which I just found: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/GiEdQ79EDMjggtBKf/best-non-textbooks-on-every-subject https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/GiEdQ79EDMjggtBKf/best-non-t...