I disagree. It was useful because the UI was (and is!) great. Easy to use markdown input, lists of answers sorted by votes, very limited ads, etc. The gamificat

I disagree. It was useful because the UI was (and is!) great. Easy to use markdown input, lists of answers sorted by votes, very limited ads, etc. The gamification was also well done. Compared to anything before it (endless phpBB forums, expertsexchange, etc.) it was just light years ahead. Even today compared the SO UI with Quora. It's still 10x better.