3 ms·

It’s worth reading dang’s comment on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27068148 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27068148

bigfatfrock 2y ago
For all the times I've seen the quote reposted, I have never seen this context added - it should be perma-pinned as the first reply to OP! Thanks for the historical color.
qingcharles 2y ago
Wow, like my sibling poster, I've never seen this and it adds so much context completely changing my perspective of the original comment.
paulddraper 2y ago
This explanation doesn't add any context. > When BrandonM wrote "I have a few qualms with this app", he didn't mean the software. He meant their YC application. Of course. Criticism #3 (arguably the funniest one) was about monetization: "It does not seem very 'viral' or income-generating." -my sides- > The criticisms he was raising turned out not to be problems in hindsight, but were on point in 2007 They weren't really on point then, were they? --- This comment isn't an example of "ha ha, low IQ" it's an example of "ha ha, humans can be hilariously bad at recognizing opportunities."
- Teever 2y ago
  Yeah I agree, dang's comment doesn't really address any of the issues that I or other people have with the original comment that we're talking about. Dunno why dang felt hte need to write that comment. No one felt the need to write the same kind of comment from Commander Taco regarding the iPod.
  - paulcole 2y ago
    > Dunno why dang felt hte need to write that comment. Who writes the checks that keep the HN lights on?
paulcole 2y ago
> For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially… This is the part where he loses any sympathy. If it’s so trivial why was nobody doing it? It’s classic tech bro know-it-all-ism. Plus yeah wow, without the 3% of people who run desktop Linux whatever will a business do?
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > If it’s so trivial why was nobody doing it? It was commonly done, and still is.
  - paulcole 2y ago
    It’s probably why Dropbox failed.
    - JohnFen 2y ago
      I don't understand the snark here. The existence of restaurants doesn't imply that people don't cook their own food. That people have long come up with their own solutions for the problem that Dropbox addresses isn't incompatible with the notion that Dropbox can be a successful product. Obviously. The world is packed full of products and services that do things that people can easily do themselves, because plenty of people are happy to not have to do that thing regardless. That's Dropbox's target market.

bigfatfrock 2y ago

For all the times I've seen the quote reposted, I have never seen this context added - it should be perma-pinned as the first reply to OP! Thanks for the historical color.

qingcharles 2y ago

Wow, like my sibling poster, I've never seen this and it adds so much context completely changing my perspective of the original comment.

paulddraper 2y ago

This explanation doesn't add any context. > When BrandonM wrote "I have a few qualms with this app", he didn't mean the software. He meant their YC application. Of course. Criticism #3 (arguably the funniest one) was about monetization: "It does not seem very 'viral' or income-generating." -my sides- > The criticisms he was raising turned out not to be problems in hindsight, but were on point in 2007 They weren't really on point then, were they? --- This comment isn't an example of "ha ha, low IQ" it's an example of "ha ha, humans can be hilariously bad at recognizing opportunities."

Teever 2y ago
Yeah I agree, dang's comment doesn't really address any of the issues that I or other people have with the original comment that we're talking about. Dunno why dang felt hte need to write that comment. No one felt the need to write the same kind of comment from Commander Taco regarding the iPod.
- paulcole 2y ago
  > Dunno why dang felt hte need to write that comment. Who writes the checks that keep the HN lights on?

paulcole 2y ago

> For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially… This is the part where he loses any sympathy. If it’s so trivial why was nobody doing it? It’s classic tech bro know-it-all-ism. Plus yeah wow, without the 3% of people who run desktop Linux whatever will a business do?

JohnFen 2y ago
> If it’s so trivial why was nobody doing it? It was commonly done, and still is.
- paulcole 2y ago
  It’s probably why Dropbox failed.
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    I don't understand the snark here. The existence of restaurants doesn't imply that people don't cook their own food. That people have long come up with their own solutions for the problem that Dropbox addresses isn't incompatible with the notion that Dropbox can be a successful product. Obviously. The world is packed full of products and services that do things that people can easily do themselves, because plenty of people are happy to not have to do that thing regardless. That's Dropbox's target market.