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This is common on HN for a reason. The typical Y Combinator startup and the average HN reader does web programming for a living. This is HN's target group and t

by jasim 14y ago

This is common on HN for a reason. The typical Y Combinator startup and the average HN reader does web programming for a living. This is HN's target group and there is nothing wrong with that. Jeff Atwood has a point that desktop apps are dead. I would not build another business app on the desktop. Users are now used to being able to access their data and applications from anywhere, and without having to install any software. There must be other forums dedicated to scientific computing and similar topics. These topics do find a place in HN from time to time. However, they are not the norm.

rrreese 14y ago
>Jeff Atwood has a point that desktop apps are dead. Do you mean this literally? Or just business apps? I mean it doesn't seem likely that web or mobile apps are going to replace Photoshop, or Illustrator or Maya in the next decade.
- jasim 14y ago
  Business apps. However, Mobile Apps have become the new desktop apps - at least until HTML5 becomes good enough. But my point was that the typical readers on HN are interested in the kinds of posts here (it is a self-serving argument) - which is mostly about building web apps that help people communicate better, share content, connect people, remove middlemen, manage businesses, buy and sell stuff, increase productivity and consume content. Scientific computing, low level programming, language research, theoretical computer science and the vast array of other computing related stuff that we don't talk about here - they are extremely important. But it doesn't find a place here for a reason and that is just fine.
  - dagw 14y ago
    It's one things, and perfectly fine, for certain programming topics not to have a place here (although I find it a bit sad), it's quite another to talk as if they don't exist or are irrelevant to programmers.
- seancorfield 14y ago
  There are already web and mobile versions of apps like Photoshop etc. Adobe themselves created an online image manipulation program and there are several really good iPad apps too. So, yes, it's likely.

by jasim 14y ago

rrreese 14y ago

>Jeff Atwood has a point that desktop apps are dead. Do you mean this literally? Or just business apps? I mean it doesn't seem likely that web or mobile apps are going to replace Photoshop, or Illustrator or Maya in the next decade.

jasim 14y ago
Business apps. However, Mobile Apps have become the new desktop apps - at least until HTML5 becomes good enough. But my point was that the typical readers on HN are interested in the kinds of posts here (it is a self-serving argument) - which is mostly about building web apps that help people communicate better, share content, connect people, remove middlemen, manage businesses, buy and sell stuff, increase productivity and consume content. Scientific computing, low level programming, language research, theoretical computer science and the vast array of other computing related stuff that we don't talk about here - they are extremely important. But it doesn't find a place here for a reason and that is just fine.
- dagw 14y ago
  It's one things, and perfectly fine, for certain programming topics not to have a place here (although I find it a bit sad), it's quite another to talk as if they don't exist or are irrelevant to programmers.
seancorfield 14y ago
There are already web and mobile versions of apps like Photoshop etc. Adobe themselves created an online image manipulation program and there are several really good iPad apps too. So, yes, it's likely.