6 ms·

It'll be a sad day when this reference is posted and understood for the last time.

tptacek 2y ago
No it won't. The reference is universally misunderstood. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=dropbox%20by%3Adang&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
- radlad 2y ago
  I think the parent commenter used "understood" to mean "recognized." That said, I don't really understand the supposed misunderstanding you point out. It seems that dang argues that "the exchange was pleasant and successful." I've never seen someone claim otherwise. Rather, I've seen it used as an example of how technical users can fail to recognize the complexity inherent in their workflows, and therefore may also fail to see the real-world business value in creating (and selling) simpler interfaces. See also a SMOP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_matter_of_programming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_matter_of_programming
  - tptacek 2y ago
    No, it's not that simple. This is an instance of context collapse; people dunk on that exchange because they believe it's an HN person belittling Dropbox as a product, when in fact it was an HN person helpfully offering notes on a YC application.
    - radlad 2y ago
      Whether the poster was "belittling Dropbox as a product" or "helpfully offering notes" seems like a judgment one can make about the exchange, regardless of poster's intent. I never understood this to be the reason it was referenced, more the SMOP thing. But I hear what you're saying about the details getting warped over time. (edit: And I do think people sometimes use it as a case of "if you listen to everyone's feedback..." but I think that still rings true: regardless of the judgment you place on it, it could have been demoralizing to Dropbox's founders.)
    - fngjdflmdflg 2y ago
      They dunk on it because the author didn't see the the benefit of the product over using FTP. And it's hard to say the usage of "quite trivially" isn't "belittling" in some form, although I don't think using a loaded word is useful here. Even the followup response shows the same issue with the commenter's thinking: >You are correct that this presents a very good, easy-to-install piece of functionality for Windows users. The Windows shortcomings that you point out are certainly problems, and I think that your software does a good job of overcoming that. (emphasis added.) They still fail to understand that this is not a Windows or Linux issue but a reliability and ease of use issue. Not to mention the fact that the desktop Linux marketshare was probably less than 1% and therefore irrelevant in this context to begin with.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- eddieroger 2y ago
  I get it, words matter, but this itself was a reference to the "I understood that reference" meme from Avengers. Thank you for your concern.
swyx 2y ago
a fun thought exercise - what would have to happen to HN for this to come true? basically all the old guard have to age out and not pass on the reference?
- dmit 2y ago
  Ea-Nasir Us humans are kinda ok at preserving knowledge (and we're getting even better, but not in a good way).
  - swyx 2y ago
    brb destroying some magnetic tapes because i can just put them on the cloud
scarface_74 2y ago
How many people on HN today would get the structure - “less $x than $y. No $z. Lame”?
- romanhn 2y ago
  Here's the source for those not familiar with the classic: https://slashdot.org/story/21026 https://slashdot.org/story/21026. Can't believe it's turning 25 next year.

No it won't. The reference is universally misunderstood. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=dropbox%20by%3Adang&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

radlad 2y ago
I think the parent commenter used "understood" to mean "recognized." That said, I don't really understand the supposed misunderstanding you point out. It seems that dang argues that "the exchange was pleasant and successful." I've never seen someone claim otherwise. Rather, I've seen it used as an example of how technical users can fail to recognize the complexity inherent in their workflows, and therefore may also fail to see the real-world business value in creating (and selling) simpler interfaces. See also a SMOP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_matter_of_programming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_matter_of_programming
- tptacek 2y ago
  No, it's not that simple. This is an instance of context collapse; people dunk on that exchange because they believe it's an HN person belittling Dropbox as a product, when in fact it was an HN person helpfully offering notes on a YC application.
  - radlad 2y ago
    Whether the poster was "belittling Dropbox as a product" or "helpfully offering notes" seems like a judgment one can make about the exchange, regardless of poster's intent. I never understood this to be the reason it was referenced, more the SMOP thing. But I hear what you're saying about the details getting warped over time. (edit: And I do think people sometimes use it as a case of "if you listen to everyone's feedback..." but I think that still rings true: regardless of the judgment you place on it, it could have been demoralizing to Dropbox's founders.)
  - fngjdflmdflg 2y ago
    They dunk on it because the author didn't see the the benefit of the product over using FTP. And it's hard to say the usage of "quite trivially" isn't "belittling" in some form, although I don't think using a loaded word is useful here. Even the followup response shows the same issue with the commenter's thinking: >You are correct that this presents a very good, easy-to-install piece of functionality for Windows users. The Windows shortcomings that you point out are certainly problems, and I think that your software does a good job of overcoming that. (emphasis added.) They still fail to understand that this is not a Windows or Linux issue but a reliability and ease of use issue. Not to mention the fact that the desktop Linux marketshare was probably less than 1% and therefore irrelevant in this context to begin with.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
eddieroger 2y ago
I get it, words matter, but this itself was a reference to the "I understood that reference" meme from Avengers. Thank you for your concern.

swyx 2y ago

a fun thought exercise - what would have to happen to HN for this to come true? basically all the old guard have to age out and not pass on the reference?

dmit 2y ago
Ea-Nasir Us humans are kinda ok at preserving knowledge (and we're getting even better, but not in a good way).
- swyx 2y ago
  brb destroying some magnetic tapes because i can just put them on the cloud

scarface_74 2y ago

How many people on HN today would get the structure - “less $x than $y. No $z. Lame”?

romanhn 2y ago
Here's the source for those not familiar with the classic: https://slashdot.org/story/21026 https://slashdot.org/story/21026. Can't believe it's turning 25 next year.